Now that the handrails have soaked, let them out and let them air dry, it won't take long. While they are drying set up your airbrush for your first color, in this case a primer. Those handrails are black so they need a good neutral color so the colors match our shell. Atlas has been smart of late and started to do their undec stuff including the hand rails in gray, lets hope that trend continues. If your handrails are already gray, you can blissfully skip this step! For all my undercoats I use Polly Scale #F414134, Undercoat Light Gray. This step is important! You must use acrylics for the handrails, why you ask? Because unlike enamels or lacquers, acrylics stay flexable when cured. Airbush your handrails with the set up steps I've drilled in your head by now. To make things easy for myself I have used the locking tweezers to hold the handrails. Just make sure the tweezers don't cover an area that needs paint. There is usally a "bridge" where the cab goes that works real well for this purpose. After we have sprayed the undercoat light gray, our handrails should look like this..... Looks like a ghost huh?
I'm a bit late to the class... But I have shot Modelflex and Polly Scale paint (unthinned) thru my 'brush at 25-40 PSI and have never tried to shoot at the lesser pressure... Is thinning really necessary? PS and MF paints are both designed to be shot from the bottle unthinned--what's the reson for thinning? Is it just an old oil-based paint habit? BTW, six mos ago, I spent 3 years of my life in what has gotta be in the top 5 driest states in the US--Wyoming. Shooting in high humidity usually meant the RH was about 17%. Fast forward to present. I now live in NW Montana, and it has been a VERY wet June. How does humidity affect spraying acrylics? Do I need to adjust anything?
Ok now we need our first color coat, in this case red. I again used Polly Scale Caboose Red #F414128, mixed up and ready the same way I do all my paint. Since the Polly Scale Undercoat Light Gray is dry and we won't be doing any masking, we can go onto the red. After painting the red, our hand rails should look like this... Starting to look like something eh?
Now for the final step, no pun intended:embarassed: . The CB&Q handrails were all black, this was a few years befor we saw the high vis handrail ends. I used Polly Scale #F414290 Engine Black for the handrails. Now there is no easy way around this, your going to have to use a hand brush. I use a Model Master #0 brush and dip the brush in the paint. Don't load up the brush too much or eles you will have paint drip down on the foot board. Just load it up enough to get a nice line of color on the handrails. Move in one direction. I usally paint each individual stantion, front, sides then back, then the hand rails. This is usally when the radio in the shop is turned off and I play Mozart! Relax, take your time. If you do drip paint where it doesn't belong, use a cheap model brush dipped in water to fix it, dab the area with a paper towel and you should be good. The Q's front platform also had a bit of white, rather than decal this I painted this Polly Scale #F414113 Reefer White. The white will need a few applications because of its opacity. I painted the fron, then the back and alternated between both ends three times until it matched my white decal on the frame. Now our Handrails look like this... Now just let those handrails sit overnight and we are ready for the phase. At this point I went on to more decals. Tomorow, we will start final assembly! But don't get to much in a hurry, the GP30 still has a luandry list, Paint the inside of the cab Decal the number boards Add the engineer, what you don't think it will run itself did you? Add the windows Add windshield wipers, MU's and air hoses CB&Q red light and headlights Add speed recorder, paint trucks and fuel tank Final assembly Add MT #1015's Whew, starting to look like the line up of American Hotrod! Hey Duane! Order some more coffie! Tomorow we will discuss the cab and numberboards. Hope you all are enjoying this, now for questions. Jim.
Hemi, no problem, now onto your questions. Polly Scale is pretty forgiving, so is Model Flex. Model Flex is a pre-thinned paint ready to go. Polly Scale is slightly thicker for the hand brush person so it typically needs to be thinned for airbrush use. Technically you can spray Polly Scale unthinned without thinner at a higher PSI, the problem I have had with that is the paint just comes out too thick and I get a lot of overspray with very little control. While fine for top coats, base coats and large areas, masking and small weathering bits enjoy a lower PSI. The thinner allows me to get a nice flow at a lower PSI as it has a reducer in it. I find I have better control at lower PSI and in order to get the control of 16 PSI I need to thin it a bit. Now that said, the 25/75 rule mostly applys to solid colors. I have found that lighter colors such as Reefer White and Yellow only require a few drops of thinner. Colors that are metallic such as Silver and Stainless Steel are fine out of the bottle. I used to shoot acrylics at 25 plus, but it really affected my ability in N scale. At 16 PSI I can reach into small areas without flooding the area with paint. I hope that makes sense. BTW the Polly Scale Thinner has a reducer in it and I can see a remarkable difference especially in winter with the paint flow. 2nd question, how does humidity effect acrylics. Unless they get into the airline not much. Humidity effects the drying time as acrylics like a dry warm air, that is why Arizona modelers need lower PSI and thinner. While someone like yourself could spray a model with un-thinned Polly Scale at a higher preasure, it was probably just for a short amount of time. When I spray more then two models at a time, I need that time. In winter when the air is dryer, I can see a noticable difference. In the summer I tend to use less thinner and reducer as the outside humidity is higher. a lot of info here so let me know if this makes sense ok?
Mask Type? I just tried to purchase one of the simple paper masks off the shelf at Walmart. The box plainly stated, "Not for spray paint." What kind of mask do I need and where should I look for it? Thanks.
Perfect sense. Thanks for the awesome info! Flash, you should be able to find it any any major home improvement/hardware store.
Paint Spray Respirator Looks like a 20-100 US$ item: Simple mask Full mask Respirator with filters Respirator with filter replacements Anyway, it appears that a "dust" respirator is not sufficient. Maybe I should start painting outside. :biggrin9xs:
I got one of those on e-bay. Mine came with the filter. When you clean the mask, you actually will be amazed how much paint is floating around even with a spray booth. http://cgi.ebay.com/MSA-ULTRA-TWIN-...1QQihZ017QQcategoryZ11905QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Another source maybe Micro Mart, the tool guys. Roland is right, and I assume by his screen name he does quite a bit of painting. The Spray booth I use is sold through Testors and picks up a lot of overspray, but if you can't afford one, take a look at Hemi's booth. As far as face filters, a good paint and automotive shop would have one.
Good to see you are getting the info you need. To be honest I do this so much I rarely think about it. Someday Hemi, maybe you can make it out to Galesburg RR Days for one of my seminars:teeth:
This has been a great tutorial, Jim. The issue I have had with the walkway/handrail castings is the same as most - paint not sticking. I've tried vinegar etching with no result but not thought of using IA to leech the excess oils. :thumbs_up: As for respirators, I use a twin-filter half-mask job made locally. It's an older version of THIS. Yes, it's amazing the amount of paint floating around even with a booth.
Well last night I was able to get what looks like very little done, but when you see what had to be done you may understand. It is now time to cover everybodys favorite topic numberboards. Again this is a detail that can make or break a good model. I have heard of people struggling with this process for years, so pull up a chair and see if what I do helps you. First gather up the supplies you will need, your numberboards, decals, a good sharp knife, small tweezers, decal solution and a hood type magnifiying set of eye glasses. I'm only 32 so so far, my eyes are good enough that I do not need magnification, but I know those days are coming when I'll need one! To start off I choose the Micro Scale Number board decal sheet seen here http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2...ode=60-904&Category_Code=NUM&Product_Count=18This will include numberboards for both EMD and GE locomotives and will fit most N Atlas, Life-Like and Kato engines. You might as well make it easy on yourself! Now use the same technique I used earlier but skip the paper towel part, instead with your small tweezers, place the numberboard still on its backing paper on the numberboard. Use the tweezers to see if the decal will move freely off the decal backing paper and slowly push the paper out from underneath so the decal sits on the clear part of the numberboard. The decal backing paper will slide like a tomatoe when you bite into your favorite Bumstead sandwich! Once the decal is centered, apply just a drop of decal solution on the decal, and repeat for the final three number boards. Monitor the numberboards and re-apply decal solvent as needed, the CB&Q needed three applications. Give the numberboards a while to dry, I left mine overnight but you can easily do this next step in a few hours. Now the fun part! The decal sheet that Microscale has made for the CB&Q engines or motors as the Q called them, do not have the numbers I need all together. Sometimes I get lucky when doing an engine like the B&M Geep 9 I did, the numberboard decals were available together. Our Tribute locomotive that took place in those historic activities that day in 1964 was #974. I start by using the exact same process as the numberboard sequence above. I started by applying the "7" first, this allowed me to center the number. I started with the front numberboards, then the rear and by the time I was done with the 7's, the next number could be applied as the 7's were dry enough not to move. I used the tweezers to center and move the numbers as the brush was to big and has too much surface area. Be carefull with the tweezers however as it can rip the decal if too much preasure is used to move them about. When happy with placement, apply just a drop of decal solvent.
I apologize for the clearity or rather lack of it in this next picture, I hope you can see something that resembles a numberboard. It was getting dark in the shop:embarassed: . Now for the final step. I have had many comments on my numberboards, they look like plexiglass. Well on the prototype that is exactly what they are. A big piece of plastic that has the numbers masked on and sprayed black or white or even red, the masking is taken off and a contrasting white or black is applied over it, much like painting a lexan slot car or RC body. That Polycarbonate or plexiglass remains somewhat glossy. To better replicate this I use Polly Scale #F404100 Gloss Finish for a new unit and F404103 Satin Finish for an older unit. Since our CB&Q is somewhat new in our time period, I went with the F404100 Gloss. Stir up the gloss and use a #0 brush to dip it in the gloss. Now just make one pass onto each numberboard and allow it to dry overnight. That is it! This is another good place to use those locking tweezers rather than hold it in your fingers, only to drop it on your orange shag carpet! While these pieces dry we will go on to our next step.
When painting our locomotives, it is the little things that make our custom paint endevours look great. The interior of the locomotives are usally overlooked, so. I started painting the inside of my cab and hood when I started seeing the same colors inside as out when I took photo's of my locomotives. Most locomotives were delivered from the factory with an enamel light gray finish on the inside, some were a light green so if you can, check your prototype refrence. For the Gray, I have found Milwaukee Road Gray #F414158 to be a good match. For this project I went a bit darker based on a photograph I found of a CB&Q GP30 with its door open. So why did EMD, Alco and GE to name a few paint the inside of their locomotives light gray or green? Were those colors on sale at Sears? Did someone like those colors? Or did Polly Scale have an inside source with the manufactuers?:angel: None of the above, it was done for purely a maintenance reason. Anyone who has done electrical work knows how hard it is to see componants with a dark backround. White has too much contrast, but light gray or green are easy on the eyes in most shades of light. I carefully applied the Reefer Gray #F414116 to the inside of the cab and the small section of the hood that the cab sits on. Go slowly here as a mis-guided bristtle can mar the outside finish. I applied two coats to even the color out. With the process complete, it should look something like this. This will give the locomotive a more finished look when completed. Well class that is all for today. Tomorow we will work heavily on the cab by adding the signature CB&Q red headlight, glass and windshield wipers. I'll even give our GP30 an engineer and show you how this can easily be done. This week we will also tackle the trucks, speed recorder and fuel tank, followed by last minute details of MU and air hoses. No locomotive new or old is complete without some weathering which will be covered last. I may even issue some homework rest assured my homework is fun! Stay tuned! Class dismissed!
I'll try to get some paint booth shots to add to this topic, by the weekend.. Honestly, paint booth version 1.0 did the job, but didn't pull enough air. It was too large--designed to fit a 16x20 furnace filter. PB v2.0 was much better--built to fit a 10x20 filter; I added 'wings' to direct airflow to the fan, reused from v1.0. It pulls much better, and as much as I used to paint *not nearly like I do now* the 'fog' of overspray was thick.. I'd have to stop and alow it to clear before continuing. I had messed a few models up from shooting too heavy, never thought to turn down the regulator on the compressor... I used to shoot at up to 40 PSI. I have learned a lot thru this class--maybe it should be sticky'd!!
Wow--I NEVER once thought of decaling the CENTER number first on a 3-digit number. Geez, you are schooling me like crazy!:embarassed: I used to think I was a good painter, and that I knew most of the tricks.. Yikes, you are teaching me a lot of new stuff! I never once thought about painting the cab interior... The numberboards used to be a thorn inmy side--till I discovered Shellscale decals. They make the smartest numberboard decal system I have ever seen! http://www.shellscale.com/numberboard%20page.htm This was an unnumbered, decorated D&RGW tunnel motor, (ratchet brake filled in, brakewheel installed as per prototype) I numbered it using Shellscale numberboards, and N Scale Supply special run D&RGW decals (if you paint D&RGW, NSS special run decals are dead-on for Aspen Gold) *not to hijack your thread, just to show how Shellscale decals work*
Respirator Masks Speaking of hijacking threads... This respirator thing is starting to make my head hurt. I have been googling around and I find I need a "P" type filter as "N" type will not filter oil based items. A P95 gets 95 percent of particles; a P100 gets 99.7 percent of particles. You can purchase the mask and the filters separately. You can get P100 masks like the typical simple surgical mask, but they are not recommended for paint sprays of any type. So you need a half mask with at least a P95 filter. There are hundreds of places to get these. Filter types are not interchangeable between manufacturers. I found no resuable filters. 3M has a lot of models. Is any of this correct? I sure would like to hear some other opinions before I float a loan for this mask. :wink3ed: [edit]BTW, there was a couple of references to the impending avian flu pandemic and how it was causing a shortage of masks of certain types. I don't know what this means for the type of mask we are looking for.
Good to hear that your picking up new things, that is the beauty of these posts because we all can learn new tricks. I have had the privledge to learn from people like Alan of Concord Car Shops, Marty McGuirk and many others. Some tricks I have learned have helped other have not, it basically depends on what works for you and what your comfortable with. Nice job on the DRG&W unit!
Flash, you are in a real predicament. Lets open it to the floor and see what others know. I know I can find something suitable at one of the automotive shops or our Farm & Fleet, but you don't have those out there. Have you checked Harbour Freight? Any suggestions guys?
