Curto contacted me about a walk through on how to paint a TBX locomotive. I figured I'll share with everyone! First off, I'm going to play a little fast and loose with this shell. namely, this is a Bachmann trainset shell, with a bum rear step (red that, it's gone) and the cab windows decided they were just fine where they were, so I Liquid masked them. (Liquid mask is a brush-on goop sold by Micro scale and others). In all actuality, the stuff on those windows is Elmer's Glue. I don't recommend it, but it's what was on hand. Worst comes to worst, I can learn how to make a B unit. Also, normally I encourage stripping paint down, but for this one, I'm going to skip that step. Plus, if you look at a lot of engines, you can make out phantoms of their old paint schemes, and I like that effect. Since TBX is likely buying locos secondhand, I would be more surprised to NOT see an Uncle Pete (or whomever) peaking out from under the paint. If you're curious about stripping a model of its factory paint, toss it in a Rubbermaid tub with a bath of 91% Isotropy alcohol and check on it every day. Scrub with a toothbrush, and the paint should come off. BE SURE TO WASH IT WITH DISH SOAP AND WATER PRIOR TO PAINTING if you do strip it!!! Here's the candidate: First things first, remove the handrails from your model, as well as windows and headlight piping. I do'nt worry too much about minor details, if they are already on. If they are on a sprue, and will be a different color than the body, paint them on a spruce. Also, nows a good time to remove trucks. I'm also not doing that because these trucks are already Aluminum. Finally, I shove piece of paper towel, preferably two sheets still attached, into the model. This way, I can shove my hand into the shell, and the paper towel protects it. Confession time, I'm batting without the ball field, there's no paint booth, so I am using my hand as a model holder. DON'T Try this at home.) We're now ready to primer the shell. I used a Krylon for Plastics paint. It says it is dry in 10 minutes. We're going to hold off for a bit longer than that. How's tomorrow sound?
Doesn't look like it lost any detail so far by not being stripped first... will be interesting to see how it ends up In the absence of a spray booth... I was thinking of a old table with some plastic over it, and making a wooden jig (base, vertical rise) to sit the engine on and then walk around it to paint... would that be ok? I have too many UP, so might use one of those for this rather than one of my undecs
For a painting jig, I have nailed a piece of card-board to a block (1X2) of wood. The card-board can then be folded over to have the loco shell pressed on to it. See the photos. The first two shots show the jig itself (cardboard and roofing nails in a 1x2) and the second shows a GP38-2 shell on it. The card board can be cut to put shorter shells or freight cars...
I'm thinking I might just remove the windows when I paint if I can... I decided to test this on a LL GP38-2 (had a dead one I bought for spares) A small flathead screwdriver, a pair of tweezers... no problem! However the glass can't be installed while the cab is on the shell... so either I'll be replacing the cab, painting as one, and then disassembling (I'm guessing a xacto knife could cut the paint where the seam is?) or mask it all before disassembling, cut the tape, disassemble and paint shell and cab seperately, then reassemble...
That would work. My old paintbooth, before we moved, was a cadrboard box taped down, and an el-cheapo Walmart Gooseneck lamp for light. I also had one of the rubbermaid lazy Susan two shelf things, where I had the legs mounted but the top was loose, so I could remove the top and set it out, and put another one in to paint. Let me see if I have pics of it somewhere. At one time, I had planned to take a boxfan and some duct to ventilate, but I never got that far and later I read that might be bad on the motor. It was good for getting fresh air IN though. Also, I do encourage painting outside, better ventilation. I'm just shooting the pics indoors, because it's midnight when I painted those. (Indiana currently has decided to impersonate Florida, and it's EXTEREMELY Hot/Muggy out. Hence doing these at night)
Alright, Now's time for the silver "Stripe". By Stripe, I'm going to paint the entire side of the loco in a metallic color. You'll notice, or not, that I didn't pay any attention to the lower ends, or the roof. Just the side. I also didn't mask. The next step, will be to cover up the areas that will end up being silver, and paint everything else orange. I'm gonna let this dry for a day and a half or so. After the orange is on, we'll talk decals.
Looking good! That dead loco I dismantled is being canabilized to bring to life a dummy Just needed the motor, gears, pickups.... almost there. Sooo... I'll have a spare shell Other than the steps being broken off the rear on one side it's in good shape. What should I do to clean the shell before priming? It's pretty grimy... I think it came from a heavy smoker :|
I would suggest a warm soapy bath, and a good scrub with a tooth-brush. You could also give it a goods soak in a bath of 91% isopropyl alcohol. This will strip the paint from the shell, but won't damage the plastic.
Dish soap (good for grease) would work? If i do the alcohol... can I save it to reuse for another later or does it lose its potency?
Yes. [/QUOTE] If i do the alcohol... can I save it to reuse for another later or does it lose its potency?[/QUOTE] yes, although it might take a little longer the next time. As long as you keep the alcohol in an air tight container. and filter it to get rid of the paint flecks...
Re-using hasn't shown me too many problems, I do add fresh, but that replaces what's evaporated more than anything. It may look disgusting, but it's worked fne for me, paint flecks and all.
OK, I'm skipping the broken GP38-2 shell... I have a old RS-3 in RI red that I'm going to do as a NYC RS-3 (black, white stripe, white rails... decals)... I don't have any tape yet, so I'll do TBX for the next one From http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1903077 Got it in the alcohol now.... just gave it the first scrub after 4 hrs and got pretty much everything off... now it looks like it has a red 'stain' in some places. How clean does it need to be before I wash and prime it?
Cool... then here it is! Previously looked like this: I took off the handrails/running boards.. they need to remain mostly black except for some white (I've ordered a white paint pen for that). I've also removed the clear plastic 'glass' so no need to tape anything. All I need to do is prime, spray black, apply decals (need to make some to print), and then dullcote it... I think it should look sharp when done.... hopefully lol.
Is there a recommended brand of decal paper to use? Is Micro Sol required to get decals to go evenly over rivets/covers/etc...
"Required", no, but highly encouraged, as well as the MicroSet. Microset is supposed to get the decal into place better than water alone, then the Sol comes in and finished the job. DON'T decal anything though until you have finished painting and have put down a layer of glosscote, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. And do uyourself a favor. Go to your Hobby shop and buy the NYC Decals. If they have them, I reccomend Champ, then Microscale. That beign said though, Champ is OOP, so you may not have any choice in the matter. __________________________________________________________________ Alright. So I'm dead tired after a friend's wedding, and training at ITM to get ready for Fair Train, so when I get out of these dress pants, I'm going straight to PJs. Translation, 8801 ain't getting painted tonight, but I will go through taping, cause I needed to do that first anyway. Also, I never mastered taking a picture while taping, so you'll have to bear with my narrative. The tape I'm using is made by Tamiya. They sell it in 6, 10, and 18mm width. I'm using the 10 because tha's what I have. I suspect the 18 is too wide, but it means I'm making two passes with the 10mm tape. the 10mm is also an ideal size for HO carside windowbands (like the SP Daylight, or the NYC two-tone, etc) and can be applied the same way. I'm starting my tape underneath the radiator fans. Reason? It gives me a nice flat edge to start from. I pull the tape out while holding an end, then pull it taught around the model. As you go around, now is a good time to "Coutn Rivets:. And by that, I mean that if it's two rivets from the top at one point, make sure all you can see is two rivets as you go, that helps to make sure you have a flat straight tape line, and not a slope. When masking, no matyter what you are doing, the key is to get the tape as flat as possible to the model. Any point where it's not on the model, is a point where paint can run underneath the mask. The good news, Model Master's Competition Orange bons onto but not into the metallizer paint. (Science types can go into the whys and wherefors, but what it means for you is it can be fairly easily scraped back with a fingernail. The bad bad news, is you need to be extra careful after the orange paint and before getting the glosscote on. You see that little peek-a-boo? that's gotta go, it needs to be flat against the model. What I do, since I applied that tape taught, is to push on it with my fingernail. Either it will give right there, the tape will snap flat to the model and I can then apply a patch piece, or it will elt go at the end of the tape I just put down and "slide asI push on it. Ither or, it needs to be flat
