Painting a locomotive BN or BNSF

[Anonymous]

I have an Athearn SDP40 (MRL) that I got a couple years ago and it does not fit what I want to model now. I bought a couple SDP undecorated shells on ebay and I want to paint them to BN or BNSF SDP40 and add a few detail pieces like a plow, wipers, mu hoses, and shades.

I do not have an air brush, so I was thinking of using spray paint cans. Will the results look ok?

Also what color do I need for my green (and black and white?)

Should I paint the shell and then add detail or should I add the details and then paint?

Thanks for any insites.

Greg

[Anonymous]

You can use spray cans and achieve exellent results. Its just in learning how to work with them. (I run my own custom paint shop, so I hope I am an authority on this stuff. [8D]) Spray cans put out a constant volume of paint at a constant pressure and thus the user has to adjust the aplication of paint to the spray, rather than adjust the spray to the aplication like an air brush.

It is generally better to paint and decal your locomotive with the holes predrilled for the detail parts and then add the detail parts after painting, as this prevents "shadow" or a small area of paint behind the part that does not get paint.

For BN the colors you want are iether "Cascade" green, which was used in early days. or (BN Green) which is slightly lighter and used up to the BN merger. (The matter of which color is really irrelevent once you start wheathering as all BN Units I have seen seem to wheater to the same bright Forest grunge color after several years in service") As for the black, I like the look of Testors Flat black my self.

I am glad I could be of service,

James.

[Anonymous]

Greg,

I would reccomend BN Green, Engine Black, and Reefer White for paint colors. I would also reccomend using a primer coat, my color of choice is SP Letter Gray. After applying the primer and allowing it to dry, make sure you spray the lightest color first (in this case white if you are painting a "white face" engine), mask of any areas that are to remain white, spray the BN green on, mask all areas that are to remain green, then apply the Engine Black.

I'm not the most expercienced custom painter, but I have custom painted a couple locomotives, and frieght cars with great results. Feel to ask more questions if you are unsure about anything.

Josh Ziegler
Spokane, WA