had a thought about painting brass or metal locomotive/Tender body shells would it be feasable to powder coat them as opposed to painting them?
realise of course there wouldn't be the selection of colors we have with model railroad paints but hopefully a black with a grayish tint would be possibl, just wonder if it would be a tougher coating than our current paints for resisting chips& scratchs and such.
would it be thicker hiding detail?
or maybe it just might not be cost effective.....just curious!!
Maybe there are powder coatings that cure at a lower temperature but some that I am familiar with need to bake at 390° F for ten minutes or so. I'm afraid that temperature may compromise some of the soldered details. Some solders melt at 360° F.
Another possible drawback might be the coating thickness...
This quote is from a Seattle, WA. area powder coating specialist:
Dry Film Thickness – Powder coat is 4 to 10 times thicker than traditional liquid spray paint. Wet paints are applied in thicknesses of 0.5 to 1 mil (a mil is one one-thousandths of an inch, or 0.001-inch). Powder coat is applied in thicknesses of 2 to 6 mils for decorative finishes or 6 to 10 mils (and thicker) for functional finishes.
Four to ten times thicker than paint. That may tend to hide some of the fine details that modelers pay a premium for in brass models.
I have many brass engines painted with various brands of model paint and have not had any problems with chipping paint. Preparation of the metal prior to painting is the key!
Happy Modeling, Ed
Yeh 390 degrees would be a problem wouldn't it lol,plus i thought the powder coating might be thick,thought I'd ask.
all in all not such a good idea huh? Scrap this idea!!!
Burlington SteamScrap this idea!!!
Ideas are just that, thoughts about different ways to achieve a goal. No harm in thinking...
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
Thomas A. Edison
Next idea just might be the one! Ed