Wayne,
If I decide to paint, I will certainly refer back to your post for a guide. Thank you for the information.
Take the motor out before painting, and, if you wish, disassemble the running gear, although I usually don't bother. If the loco has a gearbox, remove it (on an older loco, it's usually a good idea to disassemble it anyway, to clean out any hardened lube, metal flakes, etc.). Put the frame, drivers, etc. (the entire chassis, minus the motor and gearbox) in some hot water and dish detergent, and let it soak for a short time, and as you remove the parts from the water, rinse them thoroughly. This should remove any oil, grease, or other things that would contribute to poor paint adhesion. Let everything dry, and if you've not disassembled the chassis, now is a good time to see that there are no binds in the mechanism. To do this, place the chassis on a sheet of glass, then give it a bit of a shove - it should continue to roll for at least a short distance. If it doesn't, remove all binds before continuing. I prefer to use a brush to paint the frame area, particularly behind the drivers, the back side of the rods and valve gear, and, if the drivers are unpainted brass, the spokes of the wheels. You can paint the entire running gear with a brush, but I like to switch to an airbrush for the balance of the work. I place the rolling chassis on a piece of track on the spray booth, then manually roll it back and forth as I spray - this puts paint on all surfaces that will be visible as the loco runs, although recessed areas (like the frame behind the drivers, and the sides of the wheel spokes) won't get good coverage unless everything else gets too much: hence the reason for the earlier brushwork. After you've cleaned your airbrush, re-install the motor and gearbox, put the loco up on blocks and run it for a few minutes. This will remove any paint that's made its way between moving parts and could hinder running qualities if left to harden. Now, lightly lube all moving joints in the rods and valve gear, plus, if you haven't done it earlier, the axle bearings. The reason for doing this after, rather than before, painting, is that oil will begin to spread as soon as it's applied, resulting in poor paint adhesion around these areas if applied before painting. It doesn't seem to affect the paint when applied afterwards, even though the paint is not yet fully cured. To do white driver tires, hook some test leads to the loco, then run it at low speed on your bench while holding a brush, loaded with paint, lightly against the tire. To clean paint from the tire treads, I run the loco on the bench, as for painting whitewalls, and touch a brush that's been dipped in lacquer thinner to the tread, followed by a touch with a clean rag as the drivers spin.
While this isn't the only way to do this job, I've had good success with this method for over 30 years.
Wayne
Andy Sperandeo MODEL RAILROADER Magazine
secondhandmodeler wrote: wjstix wrote: Only thing I think you have to be careful of is Neo-lube will conduct electricity, so it's possible if you paint say the entire driving wheel with it, it could connect the metal tire to the insulated hub at the center of the wheel causing a short. Would you paint the wheels, then use the neo lube on the other moving parts? The problems I see with painting are; paint adhesion to the metal parts, not gumming up said parts, paint wearing off, and getting paint in the motor. Since I'm re-motoring this beast, maybe I could paint with the old motor?How do you keep the neo lube from causing a short?
wjstix wrote: Only thing I think you have to be careful of is Neo-lube will conduct electricity, so it's possible if you paint say the entire driving wheel with it, it could connect the metal tire to the insulated hub at the center of the wheel causing a short.
Only thing I think you have to be careful of is Neo-lube will conduct electricity, so it's possible if you paint say the entire driving wheel with it, it could connect the metal tire to the insulated hub at the center of the wheel causing a short.
How do you keep the neo lube from causing a short?
The Micro-Mark site has some pics and such that kinda explain better what I'm talking about:
Neo-Lube
Basically it's just saying to use common sense. For example, if you have a steam engine with metal tires and metal axles, but plastic wheels (the black part in the pre-Neo-Lubed picture on the Micromark site), if you 'paint' the whole thing with Neo-Lube, the black plastic may no longer be insulating the metal tires from the metal axle, if the Neo-Lube has gotten into where the plastic and metal axle touches.
I would give it a try, I would much rather paint on Neo-Lube with a brush than try to spray something and have to try to clean it up and mask stuff off so I'm not painting areas I don't want to paint. Plus I suspect the Neo-Lube will last longer than the paint, especially on metal. (Neo-Lube is a lubricant designed to be used on metal moving parts like gears etc.)
I've used Neo-lube on track with good results. It seems to me it dries in a relatively even coat, but then track and siderods usually aren't perfect, they're usually a mix of shiny, dull and dirty. I can Neo-lube to have a very even coating, but I don't mind if it's not perfect since even on dirty weathered track a little shinyness will pop thru there and there.
I go back with a brightboy after "painting" Neo-lube on the rails with a brush to remove any that got on the tops of the rails, and to make the tops shiny. It takes a little rubbing to get it off, it adheres to the track quite well.
I know this has been covered before, but I would like some new answers. For those of you that paint the running gear on your steamers, which method do you prefer?
1. I've heard of brush painting, which doesn't sound like a great idea to me. I don't see how you could get an even coat on the rods and wheels.
2. Airbrush, which I don't have yet, but will be getting soon. How do you keep the paint from getting in the motor if you paint with the wheels moving?
3. Neo lube, which sounds easy and tricky all at the same time. It doesn't sound very permanent, and I may have trouble with it's conductive properties.
4. Blackening agent, which doesn't sound very realistic to me. Most older locos I've seen pictures of have painted gear and wheels, not a metallic finish.
I've decided that if I'm going to spend the time to fix this old thing, I should probably do the most realistic job my limited skills allow. I would like to hear your opinions on the methods I've mentioned. If you have a better way, any and all tips would be appreciated.
Thank you for your time.