Thank you all for your comments. I could try to smooth out the deflector a little but I don't think it will ever look quite right. My plan is to turn this AT&SF version of a NYC Mohawk into the proper NYC livery. I'm hoping to accomplish that with out a total repaint but just removing the lettering from the engine and the very large number from the tender. Maybe while I'm doing that I'll work on the deflector. Any one ever strip the lettering of an MTH steamer? Any hints would be appreciated.
@coach joe posted:Thank you all for your comments. I could try to smooth out the deflector a little but I don't think it will ever look quite right. My plan is to turn this AT&SF version of a NYC Mohawk into the proper NYC livery. I'm hoping to accomplish that with out a total repaint but just removing the lettering from the engine and the very large number from the tender. Maybe while I'm doing that I'll work on the deflector. Any one ever strip the lettering of an MTH steamer? Any hints would be appreciated.
A light wipe with lacquer thinner does the trick,.....it won’t remove the black,...just do light wipes until the letters or digits disappear,..
Pat
Joe, I think you could straighten the deflectors some with heat and some smooth duck bill pliers, grabbing a bit at a time.
As for the lettering, lacquer thinner will have it off in seconds. Wipe on, wipe off.
Pete
If I use the lacquer thinner do I have to neutralize it somehow once the letters and numbers are gone?
@coach joe posted:If I use the lacquer thinner do I have to neutralize it somehow once the letters and numbers are gone?
Nope, it will evaporate so fast your head will spin Coach,...
Pat
Coach I am curious did you still apply heat prior to each squeeze as originally planned? Turned out great and is a big improvement.
Rich I used a heat gun on the low setting for a few minutes to warm the end of the roof before each new turn of the screw. Nothing crazy just to warm the metal slightly.
Thanks for this post Coach. I wouldn't have thought something like this would have worked on the diecast metal.
Looks like a successful outcome to me 🤓. Nice.
Okay I couldn't leave well enough alone and put the cab roof back under pressure. This time I flip my mold around to expose both ends of the roof to my less than perfect arc. I feel it did make it a little better, especially the right side that was bent to a sharper than original curve.
I even worked on smoothing the deflector a little with a tack hammer. No to get some lacquer thinner to rid this Mohawk of the ATSF markings and dress it properly in NYC decals.
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Looks good Coach!....keep hold of your newly made tool set, ....I’ll be sending you a box of bent up boiler shells!......you're hired!....great work!.
Pat
Another one rescued from a life of deformity, good job. 
Thank you both. It means a lot coming from craftsmen like you.
So it has been six months since I finished straightening out the bent cab roof and stripping the Santa Fe markings from this MTH RailKing Mohawk. The plan always was to dress this engine in proper New York Central livery. I found a wonderful article on the Late Mohawks on the NYCHS web site. This RailKing engine is creditable representation of an L3A Mohawk, however the size of the tender is closer to those pulled by the L2Ds. I got some NYC steam decals and began planning the transformation. The set of decals had a 3056 number in series. This was an actual Mohawk road number, however it was an L3C, but I wasn't about to start piecing together a number for an L3A. As I started looking through photos for proper placement and size of lettering it became apparent the decal set was for O scale engines and the selective compression employed by MTH to make a good looking engine in less than scale dimensions started giving me problems. The engine numbers appear larger than those on actual Mohawks. The tender lettering came in two sizes, I guess one for road engines with longer tenders and one for short tenders or switch engines. The available number for the back of the tender appears small than actual. Pictures I've sen have that number the same size as the numbers on the cab. Actual L2D tenders had a 28 ton coal capacity, the closest I could come is 21 tons. But she's finally in the right livery and can finally be put into revenue service. Further details added are a water scoop, an engineer and fireman on some homemade seats, painted the valve handles red, should have used a brighter shade, paint the gauge faces and built a fire in the fire box to get it under steam.
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Coach!….WOW!!….looking good!….sure is a nice representation of a NYC Mohawk!..great job!..
Pat
Looking good, I like the firebox. 
Joe,
Very nice. All the lettering looks fine to me. How about some pictures of the completed engine and tender - say 4 views of each?
MELGAR
Nice work Joe. Looks great!
Very nicely done, Joe! I did something similar to a 2018 2-6-4 a while back - my right rear corner of the roof had about a 60 degree deflection which I straightened over approx 2 months using a large vice grip and 2 blocks of oak and a strong hair dryer for preheating. I did daily adjustments but found that as things got closer to the normal shape, the progress slowed considerably. I finally quit tweaking it, fearing a very slightly bent corner looks much better than a broken corner! Sorry, no pics to show.
I do have one question - the numbering on your cab, was it stamped, heat stamped, painted on somehow, or what? I know heat stamping leaves an impression in the underlying black paint, making numbering changes a bit more obvious. Yours looks really good, hence my question!
George
George the original numbers and lettering were painted on. I used Pat's, Harmon Yard's, suggestion and a quick wipe with lacquer thinner and I had an undecorated MTH RailKing Mohawk.
John, I like the way the firebox turned out also. Found a picture on the interweb, some resizing and a two test prints and voila, almost as good as firebox glow.
