A few basic questions-- Do you pretreat (etch?) or prime the brass before painting? Are certain paints preferable, i.e., acrylics, etc.? Do you do some painting before assembling the kit, if so is it dependent on the location and accessability of the area to paint? Do people not paint the models and just weather the brass or leave as is? Thank you for any thoughts. Jim
Jim, If I were building it I would want to solder it together first and then clean it up in warm soapy water, making sure it was dry and then primining it before painting. Who is making N brass hopper kits? P.S. I prefer Floquil or enamels for metal but that is just my preference.
Manufacturer of Brass kits World Kougei makes a variety of Japanese brass locomotives and a few freight cars in N (1:150) and HO. I picked up a kit of 5 small N hoppers (Chichibu Oki 100). See link to small picture. http://hobbyworld.aoshima-bk.co.jp/scripts/hw/seeke.aspx?seek_code=WAR494270 Jim
I once painted some brass ladders with Scalecoat (NOT Scalecoat II) paint. I didn't prime the brass before painting, and once painted, I let the ladders "bake" in the garage during a typical Louisiana summer day. After a couple of days, I tested the paint coat and found I could barely get the paint off using an X-Acto knife to scrape it off. That's some tough paint!
I was told to dunk the model in vinegar before painting. So, I got a big tub to dunk my double track bridge into the vinegar, but the vinegar wasn't deep enough (that's a LOT of vinegar!). No problem, half at a time. An hour later, I pulled out the bridge, and indeed the dunked side was bright and shiny. I flipped the bridge over and went back inside to wait another hour. Well, this time, the dunked side was bright and shiny, and the exposed side was bright green! mg: Ahh, gumbo, what now? I tried re-dunking, nope, vinegar has no effect on tarnish. Grrr. So, I just painted the whole thing and crossed my fingers. Ya know, it looks great and the paint has held for years! :teeth: Next time, dunk the whole thing and then wash off the vinegar when it's done to stop the etching! Later I found out that pre-etching brass is done to get rid of the coating that the factory puts on to protect the metal. Sigh...
Great Topic! I too am interested in techniques used to "Paint a Better Brass Car"! I usually use Floquil enamels to paint my home etched brass. I have noticed that in some instances it will chip off if care is not taken when handling. As far as the vinegar, the last thing my fresh etched brass gets is a vinegar bath. Only takes 2-5 seconds for the vinegar to shine!!!!! You can spray it on large items with a spray bottle. Wash it immediately to remove the vinegar residue and dry thoroughly before painting!!!! ---------------------------------- About these brass hopper kits, has anyone seen the Australian locos and rollingstock models? www.aust-n-rail.plann.com.au This is the link I got from a friend. Some of their locos have that mean sleak look to them. Check out their Grain Hopper!!! Too Cool!!! States to be in N scale!!!! Hobo Tim
In rinsing off the vinegar, the last rinse I use is distilled water. If you see waterspotting, there are minerals or residual crud in your tap water. The cleaner the surface, the better. Paint is per personal preference. Just use very thin coats as you would otherwise. A light undercoat of a pale gray would be useful if you're painting white gons. "Real" primer is too thick for N scale IMO. Looks like at first glance you can reach everything in the assembled gons with an airbrush - no prepainting needed as far as I can tell. People do keep brass nekkid, but more for display and not to run. And then you'd want to clearcoat the car to avoid tarnish.
I use a auto primer, I guess that would be considered a "Real" primer and it works great. I use it for 1/700 scale resin ships which are a lot smaler than N and it does not cover the detail if used properly. It is great for bringing out areas that need more sanding, dries quickly, and can be put on with more than one coat. Even the hand rails and other etched brass in 1/700 is sprayed with this directly from the can. Not all primers are the same. I use Plasti-Kote Sandable Primer, gray. It is a lacquer. The same company makes a gray primer that I think is enamel and shiny when dry. This one is too thick. By using this primer I do not have to go through the trouble of the vinegar bath. Just a warm soapy water wash and let dry, then prime. I would recommend using primer on any metal to give the paint something to stick to.
