I want to repait some of my diesel locomotives, I do have a little k-line switcher that I think will be a good way to start, and make sure I do it ok. First of all, is it a special paint you have to use? Or can it be just simple hardware store spray paint? I want to do this engine with CSX colors (YN3, since its just 2 colors). Any suggestions on what paint to use?
Thanks,
Grayson
"Lionel trains are the standard of the world" - Jousha Lionel Cowen
The most important tning is to get all of the graphics off of the loco before re-painting.If you don't the previous markings will show through.You can use most paints as long as you primer the pieces first.This will keep the paint from crazing the plastic and assure a uniform coverage.Take your time and let the pieces dry completely (at least a couple of days) before handling the pieces.It takes longer but will result in superior work.
Ed
You can get actual railroad colors in bottles or spray cans from Weaver.
http://www.weavermodels.com/page7.html
magicman710 wrote: I want to repaint some of my diesel locomotives, I do have a little k-line switcher that I think will be a good way to start, and make sure I do it ok. First of all, is it a special paint you have to use? Or can it be just simple hardware store spray paint? I want to do this engine with CSX colors (YN3, since its just 2 colors). Any suggestions on what paint to use? Thanks,Grayson
You cannot use just any paint...unless starting from bare plastic with the primer. If you use acrylic enamel based spray paint, the vehicle (Thinner) the paint is in will likely eat into the paint your covering up. Latex paints are available and may work for a cover up job but still test first.
Roland
Grayson, first you might try doing an advanced search here on repainting as this topic has been discussed by me and others at great length.
Sounds like this is a first time project for you. In that case, you have selected a somewhat tough paint scheme for a first attempt as you will need to make paint masks. You don't say what kind of K-Line switcher this is: the MP-15 and S-2's will be far easier to do than the Plymouth switcher, since the Plymouth has a lot more added details that will need to be carefully removed.
A brief summary of what I have said before in other threads:
A) You will want to strip the paint and lettering off your current shell. Various things will work depending on how your original was painted: Isopropyl alochol, original formula PineSol or automotive brake fluid. Just as a side note, MTH shells are very troublesome to strip if not almost impossible. After stripping, you need to clean the shell with warm soapy dish detergent.
B) There are a number of commercial spray paints that are plastic friendly and some that are not. Rustoleum is not, not until you prime the loco first. Krylon makes an advertised plastic safe paint, as well as some others types that still are safe like Krylon Short-Cuts. Spray-N-Go, Perfect Paint, PlasticKote (in the small cans, non-automotive) are several that come to mind without looking. And there's also the Weaver marked colors mentioned by Jefelectric aboove - and they come in spray cans too. You will want to prime the shell first so that it is opaque, and primer also helps the final coats of paint to adhere better. Once you completely cover the plastic train shell with a PLASTIC SAFE primer, then you can go ahead and use something like Rustoleum.
C) When doing multi-color schemes, you need to do the light colors first. Paint masks can be made using a good quality masking tape and plastic. A trick to help minimalize paint fuzz is once you have the paint mask on after the yellow has dried, is to then spray yellow on again over the masking tape to help seal the tape.
D) Glossy paint has to be used for good decaling. Or if semi-gloss or flat is used, then you need to put on a couple of coats of clear gloss (a museum quality that is non-yellowing) do to decals.
I could go into a great deal more detail here. I might suggest you try a simplier paint scheme if this a first repaint attempt. The all orange CSX MOW scheme would be a good one, as would the stealth grey scheme. Microscale still makes a variety of CSX decals: sometimes large hearlds and logos from HO scale work fine for smaller 0 scale items like a switcher.
Decaling is another art on to itself. I have seen very good decal jobs and some real bad ones. When I first started decaling, I was hesitant because of some real bad HO jobs I had seen. I used dry transfers at first, but that is also an art on to itself. There's no room for error when doing dry transfers. But then a friend who did HO custom work told me, it wasn't the decals but the methods some use to apply them. You can do it RIGHT or you can do it wrong. Microscale are without question the very best quality of all the decals I have ever used. And they currently have the best selection, even though many are being discontinued - especially in 0 scale, so get 'em while you can.
Sometimes I wish I didn't have to repaint so much to get the roads I like on smaller traditionally sized 027 trains. But I do enjoy repainting too. Experience is the best teacher and patience is a good friend when repainting. When I started doing this, it was almost tantamount to treason to repaint Lionel trains... so I learned the hard way, on my own. I'd suggest also buying some junkers or some common gondolas or cabooses to attempt your first repaints. Better to make mistakes and learn from them on ordinary inexpensive common items, rather than something more costly that you wish you hadn't messed up.
brianel, Agent 027
"Praise the Lord. I may not have everything I desire, but the Lord has come through for what I need."
brianel027 wrote: Grayson, first you might try doing an advanced search here on repainting as this topic has been discussed by me and others at great length.Sounds like this is a first time project for you. In that case, you have selected a somewhat tough paint scheme for a first attempt as you will need to make paint masks. You don't say what kind of K-Line switcher this is: the MP-15 and S-2's will be far easier to do than the Plymouth switcher, since the Plymouth has a lot more added details that will need to be carefully removed.A brief summary of what I have said before in other threads:A) You will want to strip the paint and lettering off your current shell. Various things will work depending on how your original was painted: Isopropyl alochol, original formula PineSol or automotive brake fluid. Just as a side note, MTH shells are very troublesome to strip if not almost impossible. After stripping, you need to clean the shell with warm soapy dish detergent.B) There are a number of commercial spray paints that are plastic friendly and some that are not. Rustoleum is not, not until you prime the loco first. Krylon makes an advertised plastic safe paint, as well as some others types that still are safe like Krylon Short-Cuts. Spray-N-Go, Perfect Paint, PlasticKote (in the small cans, non-automotive) are several that come to mind without looking. And there's also the Weaver marked colors mentioned by Jefelectric aboove - and they come in spray cans too. You will want to prime the shell first so that it is opaque, and primer also helps the final coats of paint to adhere better. Once you completely cover the plastic train shell with a PLASTIC SAFE primer, then you can go ahead and use something like Rustoleum.C) When doing multi-color schemes, you need to do the light colors first. Paint masks can be made using a good quality masking tape and plastic. A trick to help minimalize paint fuzz is once you have the paint mask on after the yellow has dried, is to then spray yellow on again over the masking tape to help seal the tape.D) Glossy paint has to be used for good decaling. Or if semi-gloss or flat is used, then you need to put on a couple of coats of clear gloss (a museum quality that is non-yellowing) do to decals.I could go into a great deal more detail here. I might suggest you try a simplier paint scheme if this a first repaint attempt. The all orange CSX MOW scheme would be a good one, as would the stealth grey scheme. Microscale still makes a variety of CSX decals: sometimes large hearlds and logos from HO scale work fine for smaller 0 scale items like a switcher.Decaling is another art on to itself. I have seen very good decal jobs and some real bad ones. When I first started decaling, I was hesitant because of some real bad HO jobs I had seen. I used dry transfers at first, but that is also an art on to itself. There's no room for error when doing dry transfers. But then a friend who did HO custom work told me, it wasn't the decals but the methods some use to apply them. You can do it RIGHT or you can do it wrong. Microscale are without question the very best quality of all the decals I have ever used. And they currently have the best selection, even though many are being discontinued - especially in 0 scale, so get 'em while you can.Sometimes I wish I didn't have to repaint so much to get the roads I like on smaller traditionally sized 027 trains. But I do enjoy repainting too. Experience is the best teacher and patience is a good friend when repainting. When I started doing this, it was almost tantamount to treason to repaint Lionel trains... so I learned the hard way, on my own. I'd suggest also buying some junkers or some common gondolas or cabooses to attempt your first repaints. Better to make mistakes and learn from them on ordinary inexpensive common items, rather than something more costly that you wish you hadn't messed up.
So I strip the paint first, the add primer, and then paint whith plastic safe paint, right?
I dont understand why the CSX paint sheme is so difficult, its just 2 colors, and the whole sides are blue, and only the logo and ends are yellow.
Yes, its a S-2 switcher, from a K-Line set. But I can always try on a gondola or box car.
Don't just use any paint. There are paints out there for plastics. I recently restored 2 sante fe 2343's with Krylon Fusion paint that is specific for plastics. It worked great for me. I went right over the old stuff so I didn't strip and use primer...but the easy off oven cleaner thing worked on some other pieces i had and didn't harm the plastic at all.
Masking tape is ok for some things but I use car detail/ pin striping. It is superior in every way(except price, about $7). You can bend it in almost a full circle and the crisp line it makes will make you glad you didn't mess with masking tape.
Good luck
Any color is better than CSX colors. Here is a switcher that was CSX and now the great Norfolk Southern Stallion.
Sure looks a lot better NS than CSX. Send me an email and I will tell you how I convert them.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
Hey aurora, good idea on the substitute for masking tape. But I have used all the paints I usggested and all work on all plastics (except Rustoleum, without using a plastic safe primer first) I have repainted, including trains, Plasticville and K-Lineville buildings.
The reason I strongtly suggest a primer is two-fold: it will help with final coat paint adhesion and even coating, and it prevents light from shining through illuminated items like a locomotive shell. Lionel in the past used colored plastic, but K-Line used white styrene. Light colors like yellow, orange, red, and white will allow light to glow through the shell.
I haven't used the Krylon Plastic Fusion paint yet, but others here have and say they like it. But in my experience, without stripping first is that logos, hearlds and lettering from the previous paint scheme WILL show though on your new paint job with a slightly raised area where the old lettering, logos were.
My experience on the K-Line S-2's is that the old lettering will also show through without stripping first.
Yes, Grayson, in a nutshell that's it. You do need to wash the shell after stripping, or if you should decide not to strip it, before you begin any painting. Now I don't know what S-2 shell you have. Some of the older ones had shells in molded color, which helps with the opaque/translucent issue. But those older S-2's also had a deep channel between the side hood doors. K-Line later modified the shell to fill in this channel which made decoration for them much easier... and will make decaling much easier for you.
If you have one of these older shells, I'd strongly suggest using some Plastruct styrene to fill in some of the depth of those channels between the side hood doors. The window insert doesn't come out of most very easily: try banging the shell against your hand or a padded chair holding the hood side of the shell. That will get the back window insert out, but you'll probably have to break the lucite light tube that is glued to the inside of the hood and goes to the front headlight. The rear headlight lens can be tough to get out too. Once in a while I've had to drill it out and just call it a loss.
I think you must be referring to the new CSX "C&O Heritage" scheme?? The deep blue body and the golden yellow ends. That's the only blue and yellow only scheme I'm familiar with. There's the early stealth all grey, then the stealth ones with the blue cab/hood roof, and then later yellow was added to the ends. Then there's the most common modern scheme with the slanted blue and yellow on the cab. And then there's the variation on that scheme with the black outlined yellow lettering. Plus the all orange MOW scheme.
This new "heritage" scheme also has a white cab roof. I ironically have already done a K-Line S-2 up in this newer scheme and it looks great. I also cut out the window in the back door, added marker lights, custom headlights, a strobe light, painted the molded handrails and a few other little details. Microscale makes a set of decals for this one in the correct darker yellow that CSX used.
No, it's not the most difficult scheme to mask off for certain. I've done much harder ones like the New Haven. But if this is your first attempt, you might want to do a trial run on something not too important to you, just to learn from it. It's been a long time since replacement shells were available from K-Line... you can see them from time to time on eBay, but why chance it. Also, if you've never applied decals, it's a good chance to practice that too. It's not rocket science, but there is an art to it. And as I said before, I've seen some amazingly bad decal jobs over the years, which can make or break your repaint.
www.csxmodelrailroading.com/csx%20yn3%20c44.jpg
Brianel, that picture is paint scheme I'm talking about. Its called YN3 or "Dark Future". Thanks for the help Brian, I think Ill try it on a car first, and then try to do it on a switcher.
Chief, nice repaint, I do like NS, they do have a yard in Savannah, but im a CSX guy. I have a friend thats a NS supervisor for Norfolk, recentely lived in Savannah. Nice guy, he said that NS has the most wrecks and collisions than any other railroad, mainly because alot of there engineers and conductors are new and not experienced, and thats coming from a NS employee!!
NS: Destroying America CSX: Building the future
i paint engines for mth for their catalog and we use automotive paints , acrylic enamels. but for what you want to do i would choose polly scale paint with a nice airbrush. the colors i would use for the dark future scheme are missouri blue with a little yellow in it and the yellow would be cand o yellow.
ChiefEagles wrote:Some folks. I love CSX!!!!!!
Really Chief? I didnt know you loved CSX!
Isnt it past your bedtime?
Hey Grayson, I read elsewhere on this forum that you're a teen. Hey great, and I want to encourage you, so I hope I wasn't harsh with my advice. I want to see you do the job right, but you also might not have the same amounts of discretionary money to spend on train projects that some of the "grown-ups" (go ahead and laugh at some of us, we don't mind) might have.
If you have more specific questions about kinds of paint, decals etc. feel free to drop me a line via this forum through my email or ask 'em right here. I remember doing my first repaint project when I was a teenager - and it's not like I had lots of money to spend on it. Be kinda cool if I still had that loco today so I could see how well I did back then.
I didn't know half then what I know now. I'm sure I never stripped the shell back then. I do remember it was a late 1950's postwar Alco of some kind. Couldn't have been too valuable as I bought it on my allowance. I remember too I did it in Lehigh Valley and I remember being pretty darn proud of it too.
Here's some links to help you out.
http://www.railgraphicsdecals.com/Rail_Graphics_Decals_Generic_Data_Sets.htm
These guys make some great data sets. They make them by order so you can get some other colors like yellow for CSX freight cars. The 0 scale work very good, but for some of the smaller 027 kinds of cars or flat cars, having a set of S scale is mighty handy.
http://www.mgdecals.com/frtlistbystk.htm
This company makes some neat sets not done by Microscale. I have found over the years, that you can use HO sets made for larger cars or locos for smaller 0 guage cars.
http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT
There's the Microscale website. There's a set for HO freight cars in CSX for which the logos and road numbers are usuable for smaller 0 guage items. Then for the data you could use the MG Decals data sets. Microscale makes a nice data set, but it's $9.00. You'd probably do better of price at a hobby shop for Microscale decals, but they might not have what you are looking for. Check the MR Magazine for ads with discounted Microscale decals... you might do better.
Here's a few photos that are older but show a little of what I've done. You have to futz things a little when comparing prototype photos to trying to decal traditionally sized 0 gauge cars.
This next one is a modified S-2 done in NS. You'll notice the headlight and marker lights upfront and the replaced Lionel type bell on the hood, and the added handrail. If you screw up the K-Line window insert, you can make a new one from the plastic off a gallon milk jug. I measure and cut a piece long enough to do all 3 sides, folding the plastic like a "U" and then it stays put right inside the cab. The striping on the frame is done with good quality electrical tape that I cut with a razor blade on a piece of clean glass to get a nice even clean cut. On this one loco, I left the included K-Line side handrails off since I added the handrail to the hood. I have a bunch of S-2's and like making them all look a little different from eachother so they don't look like the same exact type of engine.
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