Has anyone had any experience in painting Hump Yard Purveyance levers? They are made from a shiny, black, hard plastic that is flexible. I am wondering if just cleaning them them with degreaser soap and painting them Krylon Fusion for Plastic out of a rattle can will hold up.
At first, I was thinking that I should sand or grit blast them but am wondering if I'm making too big a deal out of that. I contacted Hump Yard a while back about this and Humphrey didn't think any special paint was needed, but I'm skeptical.
In using the levers on my interlocking, they will flex, and of course, and see a lot of usage. I'll be using various colors: black, red, blue, white, silver (metalic color) and gray, and want to paint them glossy.
Thanks in Advance
Victior Baird
Fort Wayne, Indiana
I've been using the Krylon Fusion alot more recently. On rolling stock, locomotives, and buildings, also on an aircraft model I'm intending on hanging above my layout. I've had no problems. I'm not familiar with Hump Yard throws or the plastic they are made from.
Mark H
Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history.
when my house was new, the builder put in 3 celler windows that were white plastic with plastic frames. They did not go with the color of the house, so I painted them with Krylon Fusion. The windows get buried in snow every winter. One is on the south side and gets full sun every day the sun is out; the others are on the north side and get no direct sun at all, but a lot of dampness. IN the 12 years since I painted them, I have only had to do some touch-up painting once.
I have also used Krylon Fusion as a base coat for AlClad paint on my HO scale LW passenger cars.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Levers of LION take paint very nicely, thank you.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
While I am not familliar with the model product, Fusion does seem to stick to just about everything I throw it at... (Or, I should say spray the paint onto... The cans do not stick to plastic at all! ) Worst case scenario, is you touch up later on, so I think it would be worth a shot, especially if you already have some of the Fusion paint on hand. Try one, let it dry, then test. That will be the best way of knowing. If they are indeed made of a flexable plastic (like Delrin, etc...), just (LIGHTLY!) flex the test one once dried (thouroghly) and see if it has any issues.
And, for the record, Fusion stuck well to a model RC car body, not much else does! (Save for specially made products, which are way expensive for the amount of paint you get, so maybe I should buy some yellow for my handrails... RC car body paint sticks the best to those, so if Fusion sticks to RC cars....)
So, all said, I see no reason it will not work. Especially if the maker says you don't need special paint, than I would think it should be just fine. Soap and water clean, spray, dry, install.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Victor,
I have some of the Humpyard levers on hand AND I have some Fusion. I'll make a little test later tonight and report back.
The levers come on a sprue with lots of extra parts so I'll make a test of it. Seems to me the plastic IS a type of Delrin that will not hold paint well, especially under lots of handling like a lever would have to take.
Are you trying to color-code the levers?
Maybe colored heat-shrink tubing of appropriate size would work?
Ed
I shot four samples from two brands of plastic compatible rattle can paint:
Two colors of Krylon Fusion on the left and two colors of Painter's Touch 2X on the left.
Here is an overview of the Hump Yard parts with all four paints.
This is Khaki and terra cotta from the Fusion line. (The black gap is from my hasty taping)
And this is white and gray from the Rustoleum 2X brand. From my observation of the two brands the Rustoleum went on better. You can see some "pooling" from the terra cotta color of the Fusion. When a light coat of the Fusion was applied it beaded up on the plastic whereas the Rustoleum went on fairly smoothly but both seem to have a rather thick film after flashing off.
I will let the sample cure for 24+ hours and test them for durability after that time.
Stay tuned, Ed
[edit] corrected duplicate photo
Victior,
I have been using Pactra Racing Finish paint on Lexan bodies for RC cars/trucks and also on all my Delrin Loco hand rails and had great results with it....will not chip or flake, in extreme conditions. It is a Acryl paint and comes in many colors...bottle and spray.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXVT49
The Pactra paint was discontinued some time ago, but I do have many colors left of it.
I have also used The Parma paints with the same results...it is about the same paint as Pactra:
http://www.parmapse.com/fas1.html
Take Care!
Frank
BTW:
A RC body I cut out, fitted and painted for one of my Grandson's...He has flipped it and rolled it more than 25 times already and no damage to paint at all.
Hand rails painted white:
Very good replies above.
Although I generally lean more towards using spray guns and airbrushes, I've used Krylon before and got good results.
Hard and semi-flexible plastic items, such as levers, that will be touched and handled regularly should be degreased and cleaned. HOWEVER, to promote maximum adhesion, either scuff or sand it with a fine grit abrasive, followed by a final cleaning before painting. 3M Scotch Pad #7448 - Light Grey, called Ultra Fine Hand - (600-800) grit is excellent for scenarios like yours. Available in most hardware stores, just one pad (for our hobby purposes) can last years. As they wear down, the grit actually becomes finer.
http://www.vertexbowling.com/images/scotch_brite_hand_pads_gray.jpg
Yes, you will hear some people say "Nah, I didn't sand anything and the paint still adhered just fine." However, as a former collision repair tech, I learned the hard way that for paint jobs, shortcuts should be avoided and you should always work to tilt the odds of achieving long term durability as strongly in your favor as possible.
High Greens
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
Thanks for all the replies, and GMPullman, thanks for the test so far. Yes, I will be color coding and numbering them. It's a crying shame that Hump Yard or someone else, as an aftermarket part, doesn't provide number plates with molded on numbers.
I have since found that Krylan has a video for painting plastic. In the video it's recommended to sand "shiny plastic", so that is what I'm going to do. I also ordered metalic sliver and clear in addtion to the red I already have. Number plates have been made from parts left over in the kit and I have special numbers to glue on. After that, I'll clear coat the whole thing to make sure the numbers stay on. (I found that I have to use Poly Zap to glue on the number plates.). I'm going to paint the lever tips silver to simulate the bare metal on the prototype.
It's recommended to wait 7 days before use, so I'll do that before I install a lever for the test. I think this is going to work and I'm excited about how my 40-lever interlocking frame is going to look and work as have already tested it in operation. I don't use the cables provided for the levers as have modified them. I suppose I can write an article on it, if there is enough interest.
Victor A. Baird
AUTOMOBILE BUMPER PRIMER aka Adhesion Promoter.
Body shops use it to prime those slippery plastic bumpers all cars have these days, and those bumpers take more abuse than our train parts. In the example above, the Krylon and Rustoleum paints pool and bead because they are not sticking very well. They will after the parts are primed with the Adhesion Promoter.
Google it and buy it at an auto parts store near you.....
Beats sanding, which doesn't really work in the little creases anyway.
- Douglas
Douglass, good point regarding adhesion promotor.
Respectfully, even with Adhesion Promotor, such as Bull Dog AP or DuPont #2330S, the manufacturers still recommend that the surfaces be lightly scuffed or sanded.
Cleaning a small item like a plastic handle, scuffing it with a Scotch pad and then final cleaning it with wax & grease remover or Windex shouldn't take any more than 2 minutes.
Failure:
My informal test here was to stay within the constraints of the OP by using the Fusion brand and an additional "for plastic" paint, the Rustoleum 2X.
All four samples were easily scratched off with light fingernail pressure. Additionally, I stuck the blue 3M tape on the sprue and you see the results of the "pull-off" test as well.
It should have been noted in my earlier post that I scrubbed the part with Simple Green cleaner, rinsed, then washed again in 99% Isopropyl, then dry with compressed air.
It is pretty much what I expected so the suggestions for additional prep work and specialty primers should be heeded if you desire better results.
Again, a little sleeve of heat shrink tubing slipped over the "handle" might give you a color code as the real levers were. Maybe you're trying to blend them into the fascia so a spray paint would be what you want.
After reading Gmpullman's experiment failure....It prompted Me to show why I use the RC paint and have not had any problem's with using it over the year's. Most all paints will do what Ed experienced, without the proper prep and drying/curing time....the paint I suggested....you do not need to scuff/primer before use...RC Lexan bodies, which are clear, are painted from the inside...so you can't scuff or primer them. Here is a quote from the paint Mfg. for those who did not read the info about it....You be the judge:
FASKOLOR is a water-based, non-toxic paint that is specially formulated for clear polycarbonate surfaces and much more!It was developed for clear RC and Slot Car Bodies and becomes part of the body when brushed or sprayed on. The paint remains flexible and resists cracking, chipping and most impact damage.
Edit: The quote did not condense properly....so here is the link again, should anyone like to read it:
Thanks all again. Just for clarification, I'm only going to paint the levers, so when I sand, I won't have to worry about little crevices, etc., and should be able to get it all. You wouldn't want to paint the moving parts anyway, and the base where the levers came out from the floor was usually black.
As for color coding, I'm following the prototype, not matching my fascia, etc. Generally, red was for signals, black for switches, blue for facing point locks, yellow for distant signals and white for spares. (I don't know for sure what color derail levers are yet, but am researching that--perhaps gray.) This was pretty much standard but some railroads had their nuances. For example, I'm told that the PRR used yellow for all signal levers.
I just got around to painting one of the levers for the test. I sanded it down with 400 grit sandpaper, washed it in soapy water and put two coats on. However, sanding in some areas was tedious so I might try blasting a lever with Aluminum Oxide on my next try.The metalic color parts need to painted too and decal numbers added to the number plates I fabricated. (I made the number plates from Plastruct ABS channel as the size of channel I used fits mechanically on top of the number plate nob on the levers. Poly zap seems to have held the two parts well.) I plan on letting the paint dry for about a week before I install as per Kyrlon Fusion instructions.
AntonioFP45 Douglass, good point regarding adhesion promotor. Respectfully, even with Adhesion Promotor, such as Bull Dog AP or DuPont #2330S, the manufacturers still recommend that the surfaces be lightly scuffed or sanded. Cleaning a small item like a plastic handle, scuffing it with a Scotch pad and then final cleaning it with wax & grease remover or Windex shouldn't take any more than 2 minutes.
Agreed. I wash delrin plastic handrails and truck sideframes in alcohol before priming. Its tough to scuff those kinds of parts.
I'm sure scuffing will always help any paint stick, but I was responding more to the notion that scuffing shiny plastic parts before painting with krylon fusion or any rattle can paint will prevent the paint from coming off with wear over time, even more than a short time. The adhesion promoter is key, and it only costs about ten bucks for a good sized can.
I'm not out of touch with the automotive primer idea, but I'll have three coats of paint on those tiny levers already (with the clear to protect the decals). I'm testing with my test sample now by sanding and painting with Fusion and see how it works. If that doesn't work, I'll go back and sand, add primer and then add the paint.
Mind you, I've only sanded and painted one lever, so we'll see where that takes me.