Yeah I've been wanting to paint smokeboxes without a shine and I can't find anything about it. I know some people used graphite but they didn't say what kind or where they got it. Did they take pencil lead and grind it into a powder or did they take the lubrication graphite and drop a bit of it into the paint and mix it? I am so confused. I plan to use acrylic for everything and I dont know if the paint type has any difference in effect with the graphite.
Can you guys help me understand this please?
Back when I wanted a flat finish, I mixed in a bit of talcum powder. Talc is so fine, it will go right through your airbrush with no problem if you mix it in well. At least it worked well with the original Floquil paints.
Charlie
There are a number of manufacturers that make graphite color paint. I have not tried any of these, but have a bottle or 2 of Floquil graphite. It is dark grey with shiney flecks in it.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?category=Paint&scale=&manu=&item=&keywords=graphite&words=restrict&instock=Q&split=240&Submit=Search
If you are painting the smoke box, don't forget the fire box as well.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
I've used Floquil's Graphite for smokeboxes, but it gives a too-new finish for my tastes. With the demise of Floquil, a reasonable substitute might be Testors Model Master Anthracite Grey Metallic.
For a more in-service look, I use either Floquil or PollyScale (other brands of matte finish paints should work, too), mixing black with light grey and red. When the basic painting is done, I apply varying mixes of semi-gloss clear finishes: the cab and tender sides get a fairly high sheen, the boiler somewhat less so, the pilot, running gear and cab roof less again, and the tender deck and cab roof a flat finish. The smokebox and firebox get no clear finish at all. Once those finishes have fully cured, weathering is applied.
This Broadway Mikado was done for a friend who wanted it fairly heavily weathered. Here it is, painted and ready for weathering:
...and in a sad state:
Wayne
I'm not so sure I understand your question. Are you trying to get a flat finish, or are you trying to replicate the graphite & oil finish used by many railroads on the hottest exposed surfaces of their steam locomotives?
For a flat finish, just use commercial flat finishes.
For a graphite & oil surface, the idea is to match the appearance of the prototype. I used to prefer Floquil's Graphite for weathered unlagged smokeboxes and fireboxes. Scalecoat's Graphite is a lighter shade, more commonly seen on freshly shopped engines. The relative darkness or lightness of the shade varied from railroad to railroad, and from shop to shop. Santa Fe had a specific Tarpon Gray color which they used on smokebox fronts. Some roads used aluminum paint, either instead of graphite & oil, or in conjunction with it. I've never heard of anybody actually using raw graphite (as in pencil shavings) to represent this on a model.
On a prototype steam engine, the graphite protective covering would eventually wear off, leaving a very dull gray-black, with possible rust showing because of the moisture from condensing steam. Most railroads tried to prevent this until the very last days of steam when some of them decided it didn't matter any more because steam's days were numbered.
Tom
ACY I'm not so sure I understand your question. Are you trying to get a flat finish, or are you trying to replicate the graphite & oil finish used by many railroads on the hottest exposed surfaces of their steam locomotives? For a flat finish, just use commercial flat finishes. For a graphite & oil surface, the idea is to match the appearance of the prototype. I used to prefer Floquil's Graphite for weathered unlagged smokeboxes and fireboxes. Scalecoat's Graphite is a lighter shade, more commonly seen on freshly shopped engines. The relative darkness or lightness of the shade varied from railroad to railroad, and from shop to shop. Santa Fe had a specific Tarpon Gray color which they used on smokebox fronts. Some roads used aluminum paint, either instead of graphite & oil, or in conjunction with it. I've never heard of anybody actually using raw graphite (as in pencil shavings) to represent this on a model. On a prototype steam engine, the graphite protective covering would eventually wear off, leaving a very dull gray-black, with possible rust showing because of the moisture from condensing steam. Most railroads tried to prevent this until the very last days of steam when some of them decided it didn't matter any more because steam's days were numbered. Tom
I guess the graphite and oil look as seen on this picture of Southern 4501 http://fav.me/d7y2ovw
I want to fix Bachmann's new model of her when I get it to make her look a little more like the real thing, because their smoke box is too shiney compared this. Does that clear things up a bit?
IMHO the best way to reproduce the look of graphite and oil on a locomotive is with a product called Neolube. It's made of graphite in a liquid base that dries to a very thin, fine finish. Apply it with brush just as you would paint. Although it's not paint, it is fairly durable, and if it does start to rub off, just apply some more.
Graphiting smokeboxes of steam locos started back in the days of gaudy paint jobs, along with Russia Iron boiler jackets. Floquil had that dead ringer paint in their lacquers and it looked great on the 1880-90 locos of my HO Colorado Western, back in the '70s. The real thing wasn't actually paint, but a sort of polish/rub, containing graphite and plumbago. I want to paint my O scale locos' smokeboxes graphite color, so I've been wondering what to use. As someone said above, the color was black with metallic flakes, so I'm sure there's a good color for model cars, if someone can chase it down. As far as being too shiny, before the turn of the 20th century, boiler jackets were shiny, but modern locos either had silver or white or if they used graphite, it didn't get the maintenance, so it was dull. All you'd need would be a clear flat overspray.
Deano
I guess you just need to darken the gray smokebox and firebox with any flat gray paint that matches. Of course SR 4501 isn't a USRA light 2-8-2 in the first place, so you won't get a 100% match. Additional detail changes might help, such as a replacement trailing truck. I wonder why Bachmann's pictures show lightened (white?) cylinder head covers on most or all of their USRA 2-8-2's. Also, how come the sandbox is so dang tall on this engine and their new N scale PRR K4s 4-6-2? The correct dimensional information exists, after all.
Rust-oleum has a grey primer that might work.
South Penn
Graphite means everything from bright silver to a shade just slightly lighter than the regular locomotive boiler black. It pretty much depends not only on the railroad, but which shop on the railroad services the locomotive itself at any given time.
For my locomotive graphite smokeboxes (and fireboxes), I like the effect of not-quite-fresh, but not dirty graphite, so I use a mixture of silver and black. Before Floquil went out of business, I used grimy black and ATSF silver mixed to give a light silver-gray color Here's a "mostly fresh out of the shop" loco.
A loco that's been working a while--I increased the black by just a bit: Tom
A loco that's been working a while--I increased the black by just a bit:
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!