Paint shell in CNW colors with a brush?

[Anonymous]

I'm a CNW fan and have wanted to paint some engines for the first time. My problem is I do not own an air brush and will have to paint with a brush. I've heard it works but if done wrong will turn out a bad paint job. Athearn shells are black and I use Floquil paints, but they seem to go on thin. What is the best paint to use and should the parts be applied first or after painting? If any one has some tips, please give. The first time is always hard and stressfull. Thanks to all and happy railroading!

[Anonymous]

Brian, I would start with a thin gray or white basecoat, you can spray this on if needed with a can of primer. I would also use Polly S colors rather than Floquil, for some reason the paint seems to brush on very well and the brush strokes disappear. I have an airbrush, but still brush paint if it is a smaller job. I just painted a ROCO HO scale Jeep with a brush yesterday, in Polly S Southern Sylvan Green. I had to give it two or three coats to get even coverage over the white basecoat, but you wouldn't know it as it dries very thin. I would probably put the details on first as long as you are brush painting. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

IT's just my opinion but; I dont think you'll
ever be happy with the quality you'll be get tring
to brush paint your models. Bite the Bullet, get yourself a low cost airbrush and learn to use it with canned proplent. You will save time and money in the long run and get more satafying results.

[trainboyH16-44]

I've painted a Kato SD40 into CP colours with a brush, and I would say, go with the airbrush. It looks good from 3 feet away, but get closer, and you can see the brush lines I worked so hard to avoid.
trainboy
P.S. I painted this model about the same time that the original pot here was done

[joeyegarner]

I have painted several engines with a brush, but it's a very careful process. You have to apply the "heavy enough" the first time, I still need to go back and make a few touch ups but they all have come out pretty nice for me. After paintng I apply decals and and use a finishing sealer on them ( help me here guys I cant think what it's called) I then finish with satin from a spray can. It works quite well for me. They were all pretty easy though, "Southern Pacific" 2XSD9's GP 35 and Black widow F7A. make sure your paint is either thick enough or thin enough to go on in one coat........ Hope this helps you a little.

[doctorwayne]

I have found that brush painting large objects, like locomotives or cars, with Floquil can be less than satisfying, especially if the model is plastic. The solvents in the paint attack the styrene and the resultant "crazing" will not enhance your work. Spraying Floquil on styrene works because there is less solvent on the model and it evaporates quickly. If you are going to use a brush, get the best quality that you can afford: properly cared for, they will last for years. When brush painting, it is advisable to use a primer, especially under yellow: grey, white,or buff are all acceptable and should be available in spray cans; make sure that the primer is a flat finish and don't spray it on too thickly.
As far a getting a good job, it depends: Quite a few years ago I painted some geeps for a local hobby store using a brush. The railroad was the TH&B and the geeps were cream and maroon (and a really strange colour of maroon at that) with a black underframe. I used Polly S water-based paints, custom mixed, and did almost no masking. The lettering was done using dry transfer alphabets as a paint mask for the roadname (Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo Ry.), since the correct lettering was not available commercially and the logo was painted free-hand on the cab sides. I still have the two original locos that I built for myself (you can see them if you can get a copy of the February 1980 Model Railroader - page 126 in Paint Shop.) In my opinion, they still look pretty good, although I may be a bit biased. However, the store sold the first batch quickly and I had a tough time keeping up with the orders. I had done 30 or 40 with no slackening in the demand (this road is a local favourite, almost cult-like, and no commercial models were available at that time. Today Proto 2000 makes an excellent version of this paint scheme.), when the store owner suggested that I might want to spend my painter's earnings on a new airbrush. He felt that this would be a big time-saver over brush painting, and it was. However, the overall time to do the job actually increased, as now all of the colour separations needed to be masked. I also discovered that Polly S, at least for me, didn't spray very easily or give as good a finish as brushing, so I switched to Floquil and painted another 30 or 40 units before calling it quits on that paint scheme. Polly S paints are no longer made, having been superceded by Polly Scale paints: overall, I find them to be better than the Polly S, as some of the latter (reds and yellows) didn't seem to cover too well, even with a primer.
In short, (fine time to start now, eh?) brush painting done properly can yield excellent results. It's probably a good idea though, to get a cheap plastic freight car (garage sale, bargain table at the LHS, or wherever) and practise your materials and methods before attempting the locomotive. Good luck.
Wayne

[Anonymous]

That was a good suggestion that Doctorwayne had - try our your painting technique on a cheap freight car. See how it turns out and decide if that's good enough for your diesels. Good luck!

[ProtoWeathering]

And after you throw away that freight car, pay someone from your local hobby shop $10 to do it for you. Paint the little things with the brush and save yourself a lot of frustration.

[doctorwayne]

Pardon me, but if you can find someone to do the C&NW paint scheme (green&yellow with a black underframe, I think) for ten bucks, chances are you'll be throwing out your diesel with the old boxcar. Custom painting usually doesn't come cheap and you'll often have a long wait to get your loco back. Don't be afraid to try it yourself: even the pros started by doing something that they'd never done before and you might be surprised, not only with the results, but also with the enjoyment you get from doing it yourself. Best of luck with your efforts.
Wayne

[joeyegarner]

I agree!!![#ditto][#ditto][#ditto]