My very first air brushing session

[cwclark]

Hi guys,
Been in the train room the past three days working on an Athearn SD-40 that I purchased at the train show last weekend...i stripped it and painted it and it was my first time ever using an air brush!...check out the pic...I think i'm going to like this air brushing thingy...Chuck

http://community.webshots.com/photo/137793353/305407965grZjuz

[brothaslide]

Chuck,

Your model looks a little dirty and the color is uneven - Oh wait a minute, it's Southern Pacific - it's supposed to look that way.[;)]

Great job! Lucky - I have been wanting to find a Kato SD40 to paint in SP but I haven't found an undecorated unit. I'm a little wary of stripping paint. What is the best method of stripping paint? How good were your results?

Take care and great model!

[Anonymous]

Looks like the real thing. Good job Chuck! What did you use to remove the old paint?

[cwclark]

I bought some poly-S "paint and decal remover"...I just stripped the important areas like the "numbers" and the "SP lettering" which was so un-prototype...(the SD-40's were either speed lettered or the "Southern" part of the word was above "Pacific" in Roman lettering, not all in one row as the model was decaled...I applied the stripper with a q-tip and let it sit until the paint and the decal "crinkled"..then i used a tooth bru***o scrub it off..it took a few applications but it didn't eat the plastic..once i got done i taped everything and sprayed away ,making sure i didn't over feed the paint so that it would run and i took the air brush past the work before making another pass so it wouldn't glob up on the ends...the model still isn't finished...I'm waiting for a Red jewel in the mail to mount it in the nose light ..the other lights are fiber optics ...chuck

[davekelly]

Chuck,

Awesome job!!! Can't beat an airbru***o get a finish like that!!

Now, I have to ask you. In another post you said that this particular engine would be the last Athearn you bought as the cost of it plus the parts etc was the same as a Kato. Would you be as happy as you were in your first post on this thread if you were posting a picture of your new Kato?

In any event - congrats on a great first paint job!!!

Dave

[Sunset Limited]

cwclark,
Now that's an SP diesel!! A true symbol of the Southern Pacific! I haven't had the guts yet to weather mine. I'm waiting on a package with some paints that I ordered and hopefully I'll do exactly what you have done. Good Job!! [tup]

[Anonymous]

Great!! You did justice to the mighty Espee! [tup]

[dano99a]

Great job Chuck, can't wait to see some more from you and your air brush!

[cwclark]

QUOTE: Originally posted by davekelly

Chuck,


Now, I have to ask you. In another post you said that this particular engine would be the last Athearn you bought as the cost of it plus the parts etc was the same as a Kato. Would you be as happy as you were in your first post on this thread if you were posting a picture of your new Kato?

My main concern with the Athearn really has to do with the way the couplers have to be mounted...it's a lot of work and after it's done it's not prototype at all....kato, proto, and atlas engines don't need to go through this major surgery and what really chaps my hide is when i have to grind down a perfectly good snowplow so that it clears the coupler...then there's the gap between the engine body and the coupler that i had to make a part for to cover it up...I have nothing but athearn locomotives and i'm just tired of the same thing time after time where the coupler mounting is concerned...i bought my first proto 1000 RS-11 the other day and the detailing was suburb compared to the Athearn..no doubt..the Athearn is a good locomotive but when it comes to the coupler mount it's getting real old to grind and grind away so that it matches the NMRA standard for coupler height...i'm going to try different locomotives from now on...and Kato is on my list...Chuck

[davekelly]

Well, in any event - great job on the weathering!

[Anonymous]

That is some good detail work and weathering

DRew

[ericsp]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cwclark

Hi guys,
Been in the train room the past three days working on an Athearn SD-40 that I purchased at the train show last weekend...i stripped it and painted it and it was my first time ever using an air brush!...check out the pic...I think i'm going to like this air brushing thingy...Chuck

http://community.webshots.com/photo/137793353/305407965grZjuz

The paint certainly looks like SP. However, the model is a SDP40.