Re-Paint & Decals.

[Puffed Out]

After spending a relative fortune, especaily on brushes, and paints,(spray & pots), I am not improving with the painting.  I know it's been only a few days, but most of the hours have been wasted.  I did carry on trying(Robert the Bruce Syndrome), until it becomes accepible to me.

I knew it would be a challenge to do this, especailly with fingers like the preverbial pork sausages, but inevitably I was pretty rubbish.

I swapped a few Hornby bits and bobs with a guy who lives fairly locally to me, he tried it and gave up.

You either have a natural talent for this kind of thing, so unlike Robert the Bruce, I've given up the idea of painting Loco's.  Trucks and wagons are acceptable though.

[LCDR]

The snag is that the finish of the models from the factory is so good nowadays that to do it yourself will always be disappointing unless you do it day in and day out, and are almost professional. I try not to look too closely at my own efforts. However here are a few examples.

 

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The black is simply spray can satin finish.

[walkingthedog]

A few days is not enough. Practice and you will succeed. The size of your fingers is irrelevant unless you are doing finger painting.  😉

[Rana Temporia]

The best black spray paints I have used I pinched off my kids in the early 90s that I had bought them from the Warhammer shops. Their black, Matt black and varnish gave a superb finish on model locomotives. I may have some left somewhere but it is probably past its use by best. 

The Humbrol and Halfords were OK. 

[atom3624]

I like Elder Dempster Lines!

 

Perhaps purchase a couple of trashed shells worthless to anyone, and as everyone says - practice, practice, practice !!

 

Preparation, angles, spray speed, duration, angle.

Ensure even coverage without eliminating details and without runs.

 

It's definitely not easy, and as stated, original factory spec paint jobs are so good these days.

After that, it's the lining and numbering.

 

After having spent all of that time preparing, painting and lining / numbering / naming perhaps you may want to consider additional weathering / detailing ...

 

Al.

[LCDR]

Undoubtedly practice makes perfect. In fairness I have been painting model trains since 1960, so I have had a lot of practice and made a lot of mistakes AND I would never claim that my results are perfect, nowhere near!

 

The best practice was making kits and then painting them. In the 1960s I had the Kitmaster kits to encourage me, and Airfix and Revell too. I made dozens of them including trains, aircraft, military and civilian vehicles and ships.  Applying transfers / decals too is a fine art and there are plenty of pitfalls. 

 

Some techniques are useful. These are -

 

Masking. That is covering parts you DO NOT want painted. I do this whether I am spraying or brush painting. A roll of masking tape is always to hand. If you are painting a model with glazing remember to mask that too, or don't add glazing until it is all painted. Accurate masking saves a lot of unnecessary work later. 

 

Reduce the amount of painting required - dismantle the model as far as possible so that limited amounts of paint that needs to be applied. Things like the chassis and smoke deflectors, boiler hand rails and cab roof, if they can be detached, take them off and if necessary paint them seperately. Ideally a carriage roof, sides underframe and bogies all need to be seperated before painting. 

 

Holding the model firmly - while painting the model needs to be held firmly so that it doesn't move as the paint is applied. I have used a variety of methods including the use of "Helping Hands" type clamps. Some people use a turntable when spraying. Handling it when painting can cause smudging and uneven coverage.

 

Apply paint thinly - don't try and cover it all at once, numerous thin coats are better than one thick one AND let each coat dry thoroughly before applying the next. Spray especially can run if you apply too much at once, so be extra careful.

 

Gloss paint - If you are going to apply transfers they stick best on a gloss surface. Once the transfers are dry and hard usually after a couple of days, then is the time to apply satin or matt clear varnish.

 

Applying transfers - a good pair of tweezers to get the transfer out of the warm water (with a drop of washing up liquid) are important. Small transfers placed where they are intended can be wetted on the model instead. Use a fine paint brush wetted and cocktail sticks to manipulate the wet transfer into position. Don't use metal implements. Dry with a piece of kitchen roll when in the right place.

 

Use good materials - Brushes especially should be the best you can afford. And remember to clean them thoroughly. Acrylic paint can be difficult because it hardens very quickly, so you need to have plenty of water handy and a bottle of washing up liquid, and a rag. I prefer enamels which take longer to dry, and I keep a couple of pots containing white spirit handy, one clean  and one for washing the brush. I use the little jam and marmalade pots you get in hotels, and always replace the lid between use.

 

Beware dust and grease - Cleanlyness is vital. Wash plastic bodywork with warm soapy water and dry thoroughly before you start, if you are using enamels a wipe over with a tissue moistened with white spirit can help, but make sure it is dry before starting. Cover the model with a box between coats. 

 

Patience - all this requires a large dose of patience and not hurrying.

 

[SteveM6]

Thanks Chris, trying again.

This used to be a yellow Network Rail deliveries version  - repaint + weathering without using a rattle can apart from the primer.

 

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[Fazy]

Isopropyl Alcohol in a glass jar air tight big enough for the loco body will strip the model back to bare plastic. Put model in fill jar with the isopropyl leaves for 24 hours take out rub with a old touth brush pop back in if there's still paint being stubborn for another 24 hours rub agine. if happy then wash with soapy water let dry. now ready for primer. 

a litre cost about £5 with free p+p. From eBay will do multiple loco. dosent melt plastic dosent seem to affect most glues. Don't know about plistic windows but would be surprised if it did harm it. 

[Ruffnut Thorston]

Hi Steve.

 

That last try has worked.

 

Nice looking 31 that. 😀

 

As diesels go, it's one that I like.

 

We had the Tri-ang Hornby "Freightmaster" set, with the green Type 2 (later Class 31).

[81F]

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Where possible I now try to spray my models but there a time when I brush painted or still have to because the paint is not available in an aerosol (GWR pre 1928. In the case of my Dean Single I used multiple but very thin coats to reduce the brush marks. After which I spray Varnished

 

The photo above shows two of my locos. In both cases the green is brush painted Railmatch, Dennis (right) bein BR standard green while Lightning pre 1928 GWR green. The black on both locos was sprayed and the whole sprayed in matt varnish.

 

The photo also illustrates the difference in size between 00 and 009 and the fact that I need to paint my fence!

[81F]

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GWR 2550, Shrewsbury Station Pilot..

Not strictly a total repaint as this was an Oxford Die-cast BR black version to start off with. However, after polishing most of the unicyling ferret BR logo I resprayed the tender sides.

 

The area above the running boards were masked off and paper inserted between the wheels and pickups and very lightly sprayed with Halfords Russet Brown, just two or three puffs from around 3ft (1m) away with about one or two puffs of red oxide followed by some Chaos Black as it was getting a bit bright!.

 

The masking tape was removed and the wheel treads cleaned very quickly. When dry the upper body was lightly brushed with Humbrol enamel rust, brick red khaki various brown and a light grey with white spirit being  applied by brush to create streaks and runs. The whole was then spayed with matt varnish after protecting the pickups. and wheel treads cleaned again.

 

I thgen ran it around the layout for a good 10 minutes before the paint had time to fully dry.

 

I had wanted a slighty heavier weatherd effect but the cost of the loco (eventhough it was reduced made me loose my nerve!

 

The inspiration for this project can be found at https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrbsh1785.htm.