The Locomotive painting Process?

[hon30critter]

Hey Charles.

Congratulations on getting into air brushing!

To answer your questions as best I can (Henry has already done a pretty good job):

1. 90% Isopropyl Alcohol will work on most paints but not all. In some cases like Riverossi you may need to use something stronger. I have a cleaning solution called "Mean Green" which works quite well, but I know there is another product available in the US that many recommend. I just can't remember the name. It is an automotive spray cleaner I believe. Hopefully somebody will chime in with that.

2. You don't need to soak the shell in soapy water, just give it a quick scrub and rinse. Let it dry thoroughly. Handle the shell with nitrile gloves during and after the wash.

3. Rustoleum is good, but any cheap automotive primer will do the same thing. Be aware however that some primers are designed to fill scratches and minor imperfections. Those primers will fill in your details so read the labels carefully.

4. Which paint? Many people prefer many different paints. I use Polly Scale and True Line Trains primarily but that doesn't do you one bit of good because they are both discontinued. I suggest getting one or two different brands and trying them out on the cheapest toy train cars that you can find. I will strongly suggest that you prepare the test cars as you would the actual model to be painted. You don't need to strip them, but do wash them and prime them. You won't get proper results if the cars are still covered in some three year old's saliva!

5. "Do a second coat if necessary"??? Ummm, no. If you try to get full coverage with one coat you are going to end up with all the details full of paint and you may get runs. Take a look at Cody's videos. He puts his paint down in very thin coats. You should still be able to see a lot of the primer colour after the first coat, and even some after the second. Having said that, as has already been mentioned, you have to avoid having the paint dry before it hits the model. The trick there is to reduce the paint volume to get lighter coats but don't get too far back from the model. Eight inches is good, 12 inches will cause problems.

6. Testors Glosscote spray cans work quite well, but they put down a lot of paint in a hurry. Quick passes are strongly recommended. Some people use Future Floor Polish which sounds kind of strange but it is actually just a clear gloss acrylic finish.

7. "Apply decals". Yup, pretty straight forward, but I will offer a couple of suggestions. First, trim your decals as close to the lettering as is possible. That reduces the chances of having the edge of the decal film visible when you are done. Second, use distilled water instead of a decal solution to float the decals into place (this is where Cody and I, and several others, agree to disagree). Decal solutions will soften the carrier sheet and it will be much more prone to tearing.

8. Several experienced modelers suggest using a gloss coat to cover the decals first. The reasoning is that the actual decal surface may not be as glossy as the surrounding surface so if you hit it with Dullcote first there may be differences between the decal surface and the area around it. After you have sprayed the gloss coat, Testors Dullcote works very well, but again it comes out like a fire hose so go lightly.

As far as thinning paint, read the manufacturers directions first and try the paint on one of your practise cars the way they suggest. Then modify your thinning from there if you feel you need to. Personally, I thin the Polly Scale paints with about 15% distilled water and they work great. That is what the manufacturer recommended.

9. HA! You didn't have a 9! Gotcha!! Seriously, do the practise thing before you go at your real model. Don't ask me how I learned that, but it involved stripping a couple of models that I had already stripped!!!

Please share your progress.

All the best, Dave

 

[BigDaddy]

1 90% not 70%

2 Why wouldn't you?  A couple of drops of dishwasher detergent cost almost nothing in time and money to prevent a finger print from messing up the paint job

3 ok
4 What kind of paint can you get?  If you don't have a local train store, the local hobby shop will be well stocked for painting war game minatures and cars.  Life (and color mixing) is easier if you stick to one brand of paint.  I like the clean up of acrylic model master paint, but lacquer based paints do a good job.  At some point when I was out of the hobby, Floquil and Poly S went out of production.  It is possible to still find them on the shelves, make sure the paint is not congealed at the bottom of the jar.  Scale coat is billed as ready for airbrush, but many people here still use a thinner.

For lacquer based paints I use lacquer thinner.  For acrylics I use a 80/20 mix of water and 70% isopropyl alcohol.  Most people recommend distilled water rather than tap.  The ratio paint to thinner is 3:1 or 3:2 and people say the consistency should be of 2% milk.  I've been drinking 2% milk for 40 years and I can't tell when 1/2 oz of black paint has that consistency.

You need to experiment on something sacrificial and see what works best out of your airbrush.  Since you specify black, I assume we are talking steam and possibly a metal body.  I have not sprayed metal engines (brass or otherwise) so wait for someone with more experience to weigh in on that.

5 You will be giving it a second coat unless you put it on too thick the first coat.

6 Testors makes a gloss coat, but it never seems to be in stock at my LTS.  I uses a model master clear gloss.  Cody recommends 3 coats.

8 Testors rattle can dull coat.  MM has a dull coat you can airbrush if you like.  My dull coat comes out pretty heavy but there is nothing wrong with a second coat, especially if you are going to weather.

There is a learning curve with airbrushing.  It is not hard to have the paint dry before it hits the model and end up with a powdery finish.  If you are using one of the small airbrush compressors with no water trap you can have the airbrush spit water.  There are some free videos of Cody or David airbrushing and you can observe their technique before you start.

[Trainman440]

Hi, I have been using rattle cans to paint my engines, and I want to convert to airbrushes. 

Help me fill in the questions on this list:

1. Soak engine shell in 90% isopropyl Alcohol to remove dust/old paint/etc

2. Soak engine shell in warm, soapy water to remove fingerprints/other paint deformities. 

3. Prime with Rustoleum Primer

4. Spray with black arcrylic/solvent based paint - (1) what brand of paint? (2) how much thinner to add to the paint?

5. Do a second layer if necessary. 

6. Spray a testors gloss finish -  (1) how much thinner to add to the finish?

7. apply decals

8. Spray a testors matte finish - (1) how much thinner to add to the finish?

Are these steps correct? Is there anything I should add? 

 

Thanks for the big help

EDITED(please read):

What paint type should I use? Modelmaster vs Pollyscale vs Floquil vs Scale coat I & II?

Charles