This article first appeared in The Clearing House, the quarterly journal of the British Railway Modellers of Australia.
Since returning to the fold of British prototype modelling, I have been trying to catch up with the new directions that have taken place in finescale modelling in my ten-year absence. One of the great advances has been in the area of locomotive and rolling stock chassis construction. In fact, one of the best buys I ever made was Iain Rice's Locomotive Kit Chassis Construction in 4mm (Wild Swan, 1993) which is a book that I would thoroughly recommend to anyone building locos from kits or from scratch. I have long admired Iain Rice's very practical approach and easy writing style, and found this book to be no exception. After a start in 00 to get things moving, I decided to return to EM and proper finescale modelling for a new exhibition layout. And so I was back into the business of kit-building locos and stock, just where I left off with the old Somersetshire Midland.
With Alan Gibson wheels and Ultrascale gears, I came face to face with the problem of fixing them to axles and shafts. In the past I had used superglue, but with very uncertain results. Well, in his writings Rice goes on somewhat about Loctite 601 and 242. He swears by the stuff, but have you ever tried to get it at your local BBC Hardware? No-one has ever heard of it here! Undaunted, I found that Loctite have an office in Sydney, and a phone call to them told me who their local distributors were. And so I was able to buy it locally.
But before I tell you how to get it, let me tell you about these Loctite retaining compounds. Please read this, because when you buy the stuff it comes without instructions (you are supposed to have their catalogue, I gather, which apparently reveals all). First and foremost, it is not superglue, in fact it is not any sort of glue. It is a retaining compound, and is used commercially to retain pinions on shafts (Loctite 601 Retainer) and nuts on bolts (Loctite 242/243 Nutlock). It is a dark blue fluid of watery consistency, and smells like apples! The bottle calls it an ester, which my schoolboy chemistry told me was the taste and smell in organic compounds (such as apples, bananas, rum, etc). Anyway, Loctite works by expanding, thus locking the objects together, rather than by sticking them as superglue does. To work it needs steel as a catalyst and air to be excluded. (Later information has it that other metals, such as brass, also work as a catalyst with Loctite. I have not tried this, but others say that it works.) Therefore, sliding a plastic-centred Gibson wheel over a steel axle smeared with Loctite 601 sets up the required conditions, and it goes off. Mind you, the excess fluid outside to joint will not go off - so don't sit there waiting for it to cure, for it won't! Being very liquid, it flows into a close joint by capillary action, thereby exactly centring a slightly loose fitting gear wheel on an axle. It takes about 30 seconds to a minute to grab, and an hour or so to cure. Once set, it is a very tight bond, but it can be overcome by brute force, aided by some heat (but don't try that with plastic-centred wheels!).
Loctite 242 (also available as 243) is called Nutlock, and that is what it is for. It looks and smells the same as 601, but does not bond as strongly. It is used to lock nuts onto steel screws so they won't come loose, or steel grub-screws into gear-wheels or collars. Being weaker it can be overcome using ordinary tools, but it won't come loose in normal use. It is excellent for retaining those tiny nuts on Gibson crank-pins, or preventing Romford gear-wheels coming loose. But it won't work on brass screws unless you use steel nuts. Remember, these Loctite retainers need steel to set them off. Of course, it goes without saying that you don't use a steel pin or nail to open or seal your Loctite bottle. If you do, you can kiss that bottle goodbye, because it will set up solid!
Another useful Loctite compound is 290, which is known as Super Wicking. As the name implies, it has a real capacity for flowing into a joint under capillary action. This can be very handy when you have a wheelset properly set up and you don't want to disturb it. It works.
I have found these compounds easy to use, and they work exactly as described. No more setting up solid gears, wheels, chassis and fingers with superglue! These Loctite retaining compounds come in 10ml plastic bottles and cost $9.89 each. In Sydney they can be bought retail from:
J Blackwood & Son Ltd
13 Cooper Street
Smithfield 2164
(02)9203-0111 Fax (02)9203-0533
Just phone through your order, no matter how small, and it will be ready for you to collect from their sales counter when you get there. If you aren't in Sydney, then Blackwoods are suppliers to the engineering trades and would probably supply your needs through a local retailer. Outside Sydney and interstate, ring Loctite Australia on (02)9525-8366 and they will tell you who your local distributor is. I don't believe that they sell direct to the public. And here in Karratha where I live, I have found that Atom Supplies carry stocks (all you Pilbara residents take note).
So, if you haven't tried these Loctite retaining compounds yet, can I encourage you to give them a go? I know that you will find them very effective and very easy to use.
Phil Knife