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Custom Painting of Locomotives

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Custom Painting of Locomotives
Posted by thatboy37 on Wednesday, June 10, 2009 4:54 PM

are there any guys out there who do custom painting of locomotives and dont charge an alot. i know its not cheap but some of the prices i have been quoted i think are rediculous. if anbody knows of someone who does a great job and are reasonably priced. could you please chime me in on them as i am about to buy 3 sd70's undercorated and i want them painted in the canadian national north american scheme.

 thanks in advance 

LIVE LIFE AS IF YOU ONLY HAVE ONE LIFE TO LIVE ! UNTIL NEXT TIME PEACE !!! REGGIE thatboy37@hotmail.com
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Posted by moochie on Thursday, June 11, 2009 8:44 AM

Be very careful on getting pricing, VERY.  Remember you get what you pay for!  Some people go above and beyond when doing a job of this classification, i.e. a lot more that just slapping on paint.

Check with other modelers, you know and your local hobby shops. 

Last but not least have the bidders explain their procedures to you in detail.

 

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Posted by NSlover92 on Thursday, June 11, 2009 10:46 PM

 Can you possibly tell us the prices you were qouted? Thanks, Mike

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket Modeling PRR transition era operations in northern Ohio
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Posted by thatboy37 on Thursday, June 11, 2009 11:09 PM

NSlover92

 Can you possibly tell us the prices you were qouted? Thanks, Mike

 

yes it was $120 per loco and i provided all decals. i been searching on-line and have found a guy that goes by the name of brian he's in the army and he has a web site with all of his work that he has done and i think his prices are very reasonable. here's his web site address http://www.briansnscale.com/ hope he doesn't get mad at me for naming him as i hope he will agree to do my loco's for me when they arrive.

LIVE LIFE AS IF YOU ONLY HAVE ONE LIFE TO LIVE ! UNTIL NEXT TIME PEACE !!! REGGIE thatboy37@hotmail.com
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Posted by 1train1 on Friday, June 12, 2009 8:30 PM

Pricing depends on what the end result is requested. I have not attempted to paint a locomotive but I have had locomotives painted to my specs and have been more than satisfied. You get what you pay for - so be choosy.

Paris Junction Mile 30.73 Dundas Sub Paris, Ontario http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/ppuser/3728/cat/500
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Posted by Hudson on Friday, June 12, 2009 9:27 PM

I really don't know about plastic but brass takes quite a bit of time to paint right. I know my painter works upwards of 20 hours per model (Steamers especially). He's worth every penny, he painted for Overland Imports for 25+ years.

 I'd say $120 per locomotive is pretty cheap.

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Posted by Hudson on Friday, June 12, 2009 9:29 PM

thatboy37
have found a guy that goes by the name of brian he's in the army and he has a web site with all of his work that he has done and i think his prices are very reasonable. here's his web site address http://www.briansnscale.com/ 

 

His work looks pretty darned good on the website.

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Posted by thatboy37 on Saturday, June 13, 2009 1:54 PM

1train1

Pricing depends on what the end result is requested. I have not attempted to paint a locomotive but I have had locomotives painted to my specs and have been more than satisfied. You get what you pay for - so be choosy.

 

are these paint job's a fantasy or an actual one for canadian national. also do you custom paint locos.

DSCN1857

DSCN2040

 02111

 

LIVE LIFE AS IF YOU ONLY HAVE ONE LIFE TO LIVE ! UNTIL NEXT TIME PEACE !!! REGGIE thatboy37@hotmail.com
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Posted by 1train1 on Saturday, June 13, 2009 3:32 PM

CN in heritage colours - fantasy scheme / locomotive type ( CN doesn't run AC4400's)

CN  lease units - prototypical

CN - grey - fantasy locomotive -

No these were commisioned projects from other painters to my specification.

 

 

Paris Junction Mile 30.73 Dundas Sub Paris, Ontario http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/ppuser/3728/cat/500
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Posted by swoodnj on Saturday, June 13, 2009 6:43 PM
I do some custom painting for hire. Pricing is a very touchy issue. For a somewhat complicated paint scheme (3 color, pilot striping, etc) I need to get $125 US as a minimum. Why? Besides being labor intensive, the cost of materials has gone up. Paint is 4-5 dollars a bottle, decals are 5-10 dollars a pop. I need to have various thinners and solvents on hand. And I do include in that price some light weathering, Kadee couplers supplied by me, and misc details or decals like builders plates, warning stickers etc. But it's really the amount of time. I try and do a good job, and spend a lot of time with careful masking, attention to detail, etc. At the end of the day I'll spend at a minimum 10 hours on a complex loco. At $125 that amounts to $12.50/hr before deducting all expenses. Not trying to defend those that charge insane prices, just trying to convey what I, as one example of a custom painter, thinks about the market and it's current pricing. An example of an inexpensive paint job? A one color scheme with decals, no weathering or extra details...I would maybe do it for $50-60.
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Posted by ford86 on Saturday, June 13, 2009 11:44 PM

I've done locomotives for people ranging from $50-$100 per, I've also painted loco's for buddies for free im not that greedy where I need to start charging my friends for something that I enjoy doing.

Not trying to rain on any custom painters parade but I suggest talking to some you know who has done custom painting and perhaps ask how to do it/be taught,  in the long run you have to think about cost if your willing to pay 100 ish per locomotive that is going to add up over the years. 

For $300 I bought a compressor airbrush and spray booth which is a very cheap investement considering I averaged 4-5 loco's per month for about the past 6 years for my own roster, now that I have all the modern locomotives I want in my fleet so I began to start painting 1970's BN loco's simply because I enjoy doing it also im going to model two different time periods (not at the same time though).

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Posted by rstaller on Sunday, June 14, 2009 12:36 PM

I've been looking for someone here in Ohio to paint and decal, since my guy I used before got transfered to California.  Any Ohio painters out there?  Contact me please.  Randy Staller

                                                                                              randystaller@hotmail.com

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Posted by BumpyJack68 on Tuesday, September 8, 2015 10:35 AM

swoodnj
I do some custom painting for hire. Pricing is a very touchy issue. For a somewhat complicated paint scheme (3 color, pilot striping, etc) I need to get $125 US as a minimum. Why? Besides being labor intensive, the cost of materials has gone up. Paint is 4-5 dollars a bottle, decals are 5-10 dollars a pop. I need to have various thinners and solvents on hand. And I do include in that price some light weathering, Kadee couplers supplied by me, and misc details or decals like builders plates, warning stickers etc. But it's really the amount of time. I try and do a good job, and spend a lot of time with careful masking, attention to detail, etc. At the end of the day I'll spend at a minimum 10 hours on a complex loco. At $125 that amounts to $12.50/hr before deducting all expenses. Not trying to defend those that charge insane prices, just trying to convey what I, as one example of a custom painter, thinks about the market and it's current pricing. An example of an inexpensive paint job? A one color scheme with decals, no weathering or extra details...I would maybe do it for $50-60.
 

How do I contact you?
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Posted by BumpyJack68 on Tuesday, September 8, 2015 10:36 AM

ford86

I've done locomotives for people ranging from $50-$100 per, I've also painted loco's for buddies for free im not that greedy where I need to start charging my friends for something that I enjoy doing.

Not trying to rain on any custom painters parade but I suggest talking to some you know who has done custom painting and perhaps ask how to do it/be taught,  in the long run you have to think about cost if your willing to pay 100 ish per locomotive that is going to add up over the years. 

For $300 I bought a compressor airbrush and spray booth which is a very cheap investement considering I averaged 4-5 loco's per month for about the past 6 years for my own roster, now that I have all the modern locomotives I want in my fleet so I began to start painting 1970's BN loco's simply because I enjoy doing it also im going to model two different time periods (not at the same time though).

 

How do I contact you?
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Posted by doctorwayne on Tuesday, September 8, 2015 12:13 PM

BumpyJack68
How do I contact you?

You may be able to contact those Members by starting a "Conversation":  click on their avatar or forum name, which will open their profile page.  There's an option there where you can start a "Conversation" which is the MR site's term for a private message.  You'll need to do this individually for each.

SWOODNJ was last here in mid-August, while FORD86 hasn't been here since late June in 2013 - this thread dates from June of 2009, after all.
These individuals may or may not have e-mail notification of "Conversations" enabled and they may or may not be subscribed to this thread - if not in both cases, it may be difficult to track them down.

Wayne

 

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Posted by lsi3009 on Monday, September 14, 2015 2:14 PM

I do custom painting, what are you looking for? Cn . I can give u a quote on each locomotive. 

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Posted by PRRT1MAN on Monday, September 14, 2015 3:27 PM

I do custom painting too and 125 is about right. For 3 colors I would probably be a bit more from all the masking etc.  I really prefer to do Brass steamers but at the moment I am too busy to take on any more work. 

Sam

Sam Vastano

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