The Laserkit jigs are fine as long as you don't flood everything with paint. It can be kind of tough to cover the axles and backs of the wheels well. Lacquer thinner will wipe paint off the axle tips.
I can do wheels almost as quickly with one of the green foam-tipped Microbrushes.
Prep consists of a bath in diluted Simple Green followed by air drying.
wp8thsub Doughless I think [Accurail wheelsets] use plastic axles and aren't very good, and i don't know if they come 36 inch... They are terrible one piece plastic things, which is why I throw them out. They also are 33" only. I wasn't sure if you were looking for something that would actually roll, or for a scenic item, or what.
Doughless I think [Accurail wheelsets] use plastic axles and aren't very good, and i don't know if they come 36 inch...
They are terrible one piece plastic things, which is why I throw them out. They also are 33" only. I wasn't sure if you were looking for something that would actually roll, or for a scenic item, or what.
I agree, I get rid of the stock Accurail wheelsets too.
There was a time when Athearn was selling BB kits with the fine details and knuckle couplers that had to be installed. They also had 36 inch wheelsets for the contemporary hoppers. Typical metal axles but black delrin wheels. Great rolling.
They sold them as replacement parts and LHSs wouldstock them. But I think they were only offered for a few years, and now the wheels are metal when they switched to RTR.
- Douglas
DoughlessI think [Accurail wheelsets] use plastic axles and aren't very good, and i don't know if they come 36 inch...
Rob Spangler
TMZ the mag that exposed Michael Jackson's propofol abuse, posts a pair of pics, one photoshoped to remove 5 things, and calls it What's the Dif?
I've tried painting the wheel faces with a microbrush. It's easy but the paint looks too thick and consistent to me.
I recently weathered some Walthers, Bachmann metal wheels that came with the rolling stock and some Intermountain wheels and Walthers bulk wheels.
I prepped the wheels with a Q-tip soaked in 70% isopropyl alcohol. I put them in the wheel mask that some have no use for and shot them with the airbrush. The paint beaded up on the Walthers and Bachmann stock wheels but not Intermountain, or Walthers bulk metal wheels.
The explanation would seem to be that they weren't clean enough. Do I need to clean those wheels with something stronger like laquer thinner?
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
wp8thsub Doughless I wish somebody would produce brown plastic wheelsets. Try Accurail. I throw their stock wheels out, but the recent examples I've seen were the same brown plastic as the Accumate couplers. If I'd known I could've saved you some.
Doughless I wish somebody would produce brown plastic wheelsets.
I wish somebody would produce brown plastic wheelsets.
Try Accurail. I throw their stock wheels out, but the recent examples I've seen were the same brown plastic as the Accumate couplers. If I'd known I could've saved you some.
I think they use plastic axles and aren't very good, and i don't know if they come 36 inch, since most of their cars are not very contemporary era.
The Athearn BB plastic wheelsets are some of the best, IMO. But they made very few 36 inch types, and they had to be painted brown, which can come off during use.
I think Walthers had brown plastic wheelsets at one point - the same tan/light brown color as their plastic cushion underframe coupler pocket.
And some of the chemically darkened metal wheelsets out there have a brownish cast., although still to shiny.
Dave Nelson
Train Miniature used to offer brown plastic wheels on metal axles, but they had at least one run of them where some wheels were out-of-round.This is a re-painted and re-lettered TM car, and you can see the original brown wheel tread on the inboard wheel of the left truck, under the re-painted dimensional data...
The colour was actally quite suitable to represent rusted, but dust-covered wheel backs, but the brass axles still needed to be painted, as did the wheel faces.Some folks complained about the trucks, which were sprung, but came in kit-form. The main complaint was that they didn't flex enough to allow the trucks to equalise, but it was a simple matter to clean the flash from the parts before assembly. Done properly, they worked as well as Kadee's sprung trucks. The car shown has those re-worked trucks, and I've also added the view block behind the spring package.
Wayne
doctorwayne Personally, I can't see why anyone would bother using them at all. I paint all of the wheels, fronts, backs, and axles, using a 1/4" chisel-tipped brush.
Personally, I can't see why anyone would bother using them at all. I paint all of the wheels, fronts, backs, and axles, using a 1/4" chisel-tipped brush.
Same for me. Expect that l remove the wheels from the trucks.
Guy
Modeling CNR in the 50's
In addition to hump yard retarders, I wonder if some of the shine on modern freight car wheel rims could be generated by the self guarding switch frogs that seem to be everywhere these days?
peahrens...Do folks recommend the LaserKit wheel mask jigs?...
Personally, I can't see why anyone would bother using them at all. I paint all of the wheels, fronts, backs, and axles, using a 1/4" chisel-tipped brush. For this operation, the wheels stay in the trucks, and often, the trucks on the car, too.
No need to remove the wheels (which usually includes first removing the trucks), no need to load them in the masking jig, no need to re-install them in the sideframes and re-install the trucks, and no need to clean your airbrush either (something lots of folks seem to find onerous). I don't think the latter to be an issue, but the rest of it seems like a lot of effort for something which can be done faster and easier (and in the multiple colours that require only opening the second bottle of paint, if you're modelling pre-roller bearing times).
rrinkerI have a couple of those wheel mask jigs which serve multiple purposes. I put wheels in them to paint the face as well as the axle, but I also use them to hold wheelsets to install resistors for block detection. Those get sprayed with flat black as well, once the conductiove silve paint dries, because it is very obvious when the car is in motion. Painting over it with the flat black spray both hides the shiny silver paint, well, sort of a dull silver color, not really shiny but the stripe of light color is what is distracting, and also protects it from flaking off.
Do folks recommend the LaserKit wheel mask jigs? Is there an issue where sprayed paint gets too far onto the outside of the tread and requires removing some paint because some of the tread protrudes? Or does it come out just fine? Thinking of ordering some and addressing my wheels (and trucks).
http://www.laserkit.com/images/906%20-%20907.jpg
http://www.laserkit.com/masks.htm
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
I use mostly plastic wheels, but brush-paint all wheels before a car is put into service. I have an old bottle (the original square version) of Floquil Pullman Green which looks good on wheel faces, and paint the backs of the wheels and the axles with a rust or dirt-coloured paint. When weathering the cars, using an airbrush, the car is manually rolled back and forth to ensure that the wheel faces get an accumulation of road dust and grime, too...
This Westerfield Fowler boxcar has Kadee trucks...
...and I added a view block (piece of Kadee coupler box, but any black plastic will do) behind the springs. This prevents the see-through look, as most real trucks had a "spring package" which wasn't see-through...
...the plastic is cemented to only the sideframe or the bolster, so the equalising action of the springs is not affected...
While railfanning, I noticed that while all cars' wheels have the rusted/dirty appearance, which has previously been noted, for current day rolling stock with roller bearings, some have shiny wheel rims.
My thoughts are that such cars have recently been through a hump yard, where the retarders have removed the rust and grime. A couple of examples...
Unless you're modelling in Proto87 (or other Proto scales), I'm not sure if this effect could be modelled convincingly, as even so-called semi-scale wheels are not only overly wide, but the wheels rims seem to be overly thick, too...certainly not truly to-scale.
Painting wheelsets to eliminate the shine makes a big difference. I now paint every wheelset before I put a car into service, even if I have time for no other changes.
by wp8thsub, on Flickr
I just added these Arrowhead Models hoppers, and didn't have time before the weekend op session to do more than paint the wheels. This one step prevents the models from looking toylike, and is an important component of weathering.
Guy PapillonWhat is the difference between those two cars?
So you painted the ones on the right?
Not sure I see enough difference to bother with unless it's for close up pictures.
Another reason to paint and weather trucks and wheel faces is that pure dark black trucks and wheels disappear in the shadows and make a car look like it is floating above the rails. Even fairly cheap trainset quality trucks often have a nice amount of detail cast into them, which is nearly invisible unless the truck is painted and weathered.
If you want to get fussy about it (and some do) it pays to remember that wheels back in the solid bearing (so-called "friction" bearing) era looked different than do wheel faces in the roller bearing era. Until very late in the solid bearing journal era, when some new fangled gaskets were introduced intended to eliminate the problem, there was quite a bit of splatter of lubricant on the wheel faces, sometimes resulting in a considerable build up of gunk, and in a pattern which originated with the bearing and was thrown towards the wheel edge. Now and then you might find a very old MOW car that still shows this, or cars in a museum. It is a genuine texture.
Some guys use weathering powders for this. Others want those powders nowhere near the bearing itself. An alternative is to dab some acrylic paint on the wheel face with a micro brush or small swab to capture that texture.
There was often some oil splatter and leakage on the journal box and journal box cover itself in that era - again very late (too late) in the era gaskets were invented to prevent this, but by that time few railroads were going to spend good money on their solid bearing trucks. So journal boxes and covers can also benefit from some added weathering. The fresh oil was shiney black but it quickly attracted mud and grime and dust.
Wheels on roller bearing trucks are darkened by some grime and a patina of age on the metal but usually are otherwise fairly smooth in texture and reddish brown in color, unless the car has run through thick mud thrown up in poorly ballasted areas.
A third variant: when cars with roller bearing trucks are very very new, factory fresh so to speak, the wheel faces are almost bright orange with that first coating of rust, which quickly becomes a patina which actually inhibits further corrosion. So if you have a few shiney new cars on your roster (and intend them to be that way) the wheel faces should have the look to match by being brightly rusty.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
For wheel painting I use Testors skin tone dark tint or burnt umber. Painted wheelsets and painted track make the most basic layout believeable.
The difference? Well duh, one is CPR and the other is CN.
I always paing my wheels. I also paint the axles. For the wheels I use a micro brush and grimy black, for the axles I just use cheap flat black. I have a couple of those wheel mask jigs which serve multiple purposes. I put wheels in them to paint the face as well as the axle, but I also use them to hold wheelsets to install resistors for block detection. Those get sprayed with flat black as well, once the conductiove silve paint dries, because it is very obvious when the car is in motion. Painting over it with the flat black spray both hides the shiny silver paint, well, sort of a dull silver color, not really shiny but the stripe of light color is what is distracting, and also protects it from flaking off.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Guy Papillon What is the difference between those two cars?
What is the difference between those two cars?
Different roof paterns, different side rails, different door size. The CN looks to have a 6" lower internal hight, even the Red Oxide is different shades. Can't compare the end stampings, laders, and grab irons but suspect they're different too!
And don't get me counting rivets!
whimsy/ON
So true. Paint is everything. All that matters on any model is the top 1/64".
.
Nearly nothing hits my layout (when I had a layout) that is not repainted.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
One has a wide door and the other has a narrow door.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Painting wheels is something I have done on a few cars to. A lot easier weathering process compared to some of the more detailed stuff, and does improve looks quickly.
Many for sure but what I want to emphasize is the painted wheels. Months ago I posted a photo of two cars together, a RTR and one assembled from a kit. A member of this Forum replied that both would benefit from painted wheels.
When I switched from DC to DCC, I decided to swap all plastic wheels for metal ones. A good decision for track cleanliness and conductivity but those wheels are sometimes very shiny. When our fellow modeler mentioned that my cars would look better with painted wheels, I began painting the wheels before putting any new car on track. But I have a lot of existing cars. So now, when I swap couplers for Kadee’s ones (that’s another story), I take the time needed to paint the wheels too.
What a difference, even if I am not weathering my cars yet.