Here is my step by step thread of how to paint a loco. I am starting with a Athearn BNSF R-T-R C44-9W. I have already stripped the shell. The first step is to clean the shell with warm water and soap. After the shell dries it's time to paint. I'm using Modleflex paints for this job so no thinning is neccasary. I am using engine black for the base coat of paint. Pics to follow soon.
Now that the shell is stripped it is time to clean it for painting. here is a list of what you need to clean the shell:
SoapWarm WaterYour shellToothbrushglovespaper towel
Here is a picture of the items I used(wiht the exception of the paper towels).With your gloves on take your soap and put some on your toothbrush. Start gently scrubbing the shell till you get suds. Your shell should now look like this.Now start rinsing your shell in the warm water till all the suds are off. make sure you get ALL the suds off. Now take your shell and place it on your paper towels. Let the shell dry overnight. That's all for now check back later for updates.
-Smoke
When I strip shells I use 91% alcohol. You can get it at wally world or any place like that. Put your alcohol in a contained that has a lid. if you leave the alcohol sitting out it evaporated and becomes useless. Put your shell in the alcohol and leave it there for a couple hours or so. take it out and scrub with a toothbrush. repeat process is there is still paint on the model.
I wouldn't do this to a Kato as they have been known to ruin easily.
Smoke wrote: When I strip shells I use 91% alcohol. You can get it at wally world or any place like that. Put your alcohol in a contained that has a lid. if you leave the alcohol sitting out it evaporated and becomes useless. Put your shell in the alcohol and leave it there for a couple hours or so. take it out and scrub with a toothbrush. repeat process is there is still paint on the model.I wouldn't do this to a Kato as they have been known to ruin easily.-Smoke
Will a Tupperware container work (with the lid of course)?
csxguy wrote: Smoke wrote: When I strip shells I use 91% alcohol. You can get it at wally world or any place like that. Put your alcohol in a contained that has a lid. if you leave the alcohol sitting out it evaporated and becomes useless. Put your shell in the alcohol and leave it there for a couple hours or so. take it out and scrub with a toothbrush. repeat process is there is still paint on the model.I wouldn't do this to a Kato as they have been known to ruin easily.-SmokeWill a Tupperware container work (with the lid of course)?
Yep that will work.
Have fun.
Now it is time to paint the white stripe. To paint the stripe I am using Navy white with a drop of engine black added. Here are the tools I used.Badger 150compressorBadger Modelflex Navy WhiteShellglovespaint bottleHere is a picture of the equipment I used.Now paint the shell using normal airbrush procedures. Make sure to get all the nooks and crannies with the white paint. If need to cover up a darker color, use light coats rather than one heavy coat. here is what it looks like now.
Check back later for updates,Smoke
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
Now that I ahve the gray painted on I am going to paint the yellow on. I am using modelflex Windjammer yellow. I taped the shell with tamiya 5mm tape. I had to cut off a mm of tape so I could get 5mm. After the taping is finished it's time to paint. Here is what it looked like before painting.And after painting.Now take all the tape off to reveal the white and yellow. Now take the 6mm tape and tape it up again. Here is what it looks like now.And after painting. Now take the tape off. This is what it looks like.
Now it's time to put the decals on.
questions and comments welcome.
Smoke wrote: Now that I ahve the gray painted on I am going to paint the yellow on. I am using modelflex Windjammer yellow. I taped the shell with tamiya 5mm tape. I had to cut off a mm of tape so I could get 5mm. After the taping is finished it's time to paint. Here is what it looked like before painting.And after painting.Now take all the tape off to reveal the white and yellow. Now take the 6mm tape and tape it up again. Here is what it looks like now.And after painting. Now take the tape off. This is what it looks like.questions and comments welcome.-Smoke
So where in these steps did the white paint get applied?
Don Z.
Research; it's not just for geeks.
Don,
The white was painted on earlier in the tutorial. It was the second post I made of information regarding the tutorial.
R. T. POTEET wrote:Smoke, I have not stripped paint from anything in well over twenty years - the last time I did this I stripped some Atlas and Con-Cor and MRC N Scale passenger cars using good old unadulterated brake fluid. It worked but it was messy and I wish something else had been available at that particular moment.Anyway, I have never stripped paint from a locomotive and certainly not from a recent locomotive but that is about to change. You caution - in fact you highly recommend - against using 91% isoprophyl alcohol for stripping paint from Kato (N Scale) lokes. Yours is not the first caution I have read in this regards. What, then, would you - or anyone else for that matter - recommend for paint removal from Kato locomotives?I also encountered a posting inferring that Intermountain (N Scale) lokes are near impossible to strip down to raw plastic for repainting. Any comments here!!!!
I've heard of people using Easy-Off oven cleaner to strip shells, and there's something called Chameleon paint remover that's supposed to be the best thing chemists ever invented, but I have no experience with either. Whatever you do, don't use brake fluid on your models because it will quickly ruin the plastic. For that matter, you shouldn't let Kato shells sit in any kind of paint stripper for very long because Kato uses a plastic that quickly turns to mush if you're not careful.
Regarding Intermountain products: Is the problem due to soft plastic, or do they use impossible-to-remove paint on their models?