While doing my part for the national economy, (and New Mexico in particular), I found a nice N-Scale Brass ALCO RSD-4. Unfortunately, it is unpainted. The box says its an Oriental Limited AT&SF Version 1600HP. I have no! experience painting brass, although I have done much lead/pewter painting in 15mm and 25mm. Any clues on how to start?
If it were me, I'd turn that Brass Alco into a couple of Atlas, Kato or Life-Like Locos and forget about painting it. The Brass Alco will probably run as poor as some of the older locos you're tring to trade or sell off. I've never been a "Brass Hat" and would rather never start. They look great, generally run poor, empty your wallet...and to paraphrase an old joke, you won't get kissed either! [ 19 February 2001: Message edited by: Maxwell Plant ]
Brass painting is a little more complicated than painting plastic. First off, you need to clean the model (I wash it down with thinner). I use Accu Paint (oil based) and here are my steps in painting brass.... 1. Clean model's shell with a wash of thinner. 2. Prime the shell with a lighter color paint than you are going to use (optional). 3. Then proceed with your painting. I like to use fairly thin paint at a high PSI, but you need to be careful as you can "drench" the model in paint and loose detail with the thin paint. Thin paint will apply a lot smoother. 4. After each coat of paint you can (this is optional) bake the shell for about one hour at about 150 dagrees. By baking the model you actually bake the paint onto the shell, and if you have some rough spots (orange peel) the baking process can actually (sometimes) smooth the bad spots out. 5. After all coats are on you can proceed with decaling. Decal the unit as you would any other unit. I would then spray it with some sort of a clear coat. These techniques work for me, and I did do over 45 custom paint jobs last year alone, but you need to find out what works for you. I suggest going to your local hobby store and picking up a sheet of brass to practice on. Good luck!
