I recently purchased an American Flyer No. 767 Illuminated Branford Roadside Dinner 1950 - 1954 model. A lot of the paint has peeled off. I was hoping if someone out there can tell me the best way to repaint the accessory, any special type of paints I can use, etc. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
I suggested these folks on another thread:
www.henningstrains.com
When you get to their homepage, scroll down to "Collectors Colors" and click on that. You might find the paints you're looking for.
Good luck!
One of the first considerations you might have is that many collectors are of the opinion that once you have repainted an item you have devalued it, because you have altered it's "original" condition. Lucky for you this is not a high value item to AF collectors; prices range from $50 to $150 depending upon physical condition. But if that is a consideration for you then you might just stick to giving it a good cleaning.
A second consideration is whether you wish to spend the time and money to get custom-made paints that are an exact match, or if you are content to use commercial paints that are "close enough". If your plan is just to touch up damaged areas you should probably go the custom paint route. There are sources online for custom matched AF paints. Hemmings is one, Port Lines Hobby Supply is another. Port Lines can also sell you the rubber stamps and red ink you will need to restore the signs on the side of the diner.
But if you are thinking about repainting the entire object basically you need three colors; yellow, green and red, and you can probably find good matches for all in your local hardware or paint store.
Do you have a pre or post 1952 diner? If the former, the body is unpainted yellow plastic with red lettering, and only the base is painted. If the later then the yellow body shell is also painted.
Other than that is just painting. The parts must be clean and rust free, and if you have had any experiece with painting model cars or military minatures it's the exact same process.
I have figured out what is wrong with my brain! On the left side nothing works right, and on the right side there is nothing left!
Many thanks....checked out website....found everything I could want.
Thanks for responding. It's a post 1952 diner. Yellow diner, green base. Lots of rust. Basically being used as a town set piece.
You're welcome Maverick!
love to see before and after pics of your diner!
Dave
It's a TOY, A child's PLAYTHING!!! (Woody from Toy Story)
I had a diner that lost it's paint also. It is a common problem with the painted version of the diner. Since the shell is bakelite it is easy to strip the remaining paint off. I repainted mine yellow with a black roof and got reproduction dry transfer lettering like the original had. You can get lettering from Port Line hobbies on line. Once the paint starts to flake off there is no good way to stop it. Good luck on your restoration.
If the paint's sloughing off the bakelite shell I'd suspect there was never a primer coat put on before the color coat was. I'd suggest anyone repainting one of those shells to prime it first before the main color goes on.
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