It looks great! I see no imperfections. Inspirational. While I am thinking about that, maybe others are inspired, too, so just try it. I have painted enough to know that the more you do, the better you get. More and more; repetition. Hard lessons, but fun, too. Just push yourself a little and try it! Thanks for the lessons in the tutorial thread before. I was just referring to that today.
Greetings O guage lovers! Well sorry I have not posted any updates in a while, the search for a job has been taking up a lot of my time, and rightly so:shade: . When we last left off, the NP caboose was fully decaled and ready for the clear coat. Now because the caboose is die-cast and it is will see some "play time" on someones layout, I had to use something a little more durable than Dulcote. Testors and Model Master Dulcote will work ok on plastic and other materials, but it will not work well on metal, don't ask me how I know. I have done plenty of Lionel restorations to know that if you want a hard durable finish, you need an automotive clear coat. I bought my can at Farm & Fleet, a local everything store. I used Plasti-Kote Classic Lacquer to give the caboose it's protective finish. Without this clear coat, the decals and paint would just flake off. Because we are using a Lacquer, it is important to have the decals cure up for at least 24 hours. I waited two days just to play it safe. Follow the directions on the can and spray on very light mist coats. I applied three light coats and got this for results. Take your time and don't get too ambitious here. You just want to give a protective coat. You can see the nice shine in the above picture. After a day the caboose held up to the fingernail test and while the paint is not bullet proof, it does require a screw driver and a bit of pressure to scrape off the paint. Best part of this? A 12 Oz. can of clear coat only cost me $4.49. Now let the automotive clear set up for at least a day. Next the "scale" coat. Jim
We are getting close to finishing this NP caboose! While a lot of the pre-war and post-war Lionel and American Flyer trains and cars were a glossy finish, MTH started giving thier locomotives and cars a more matte finish. Not exactly dull flat, more of an egg shell finish. I wanted to give this caboose the same treatment, so off to the local hobby shop. I have a few friends who are into gaming minitures and had heard they use a clear coat just for these minitures. I found this can with gaming merchandise, it is called Armory Clear Matte Sealer, comes in a 12 Oz. can,and cost only $5.99. This has a Matte finish and it works on metal and plastic. I took the gamble and bought it. Here is the results: I was impressed! I got a nice egg shell finish, not too shiney not to flat and the finish looks a lot like my other MTH products. I'm not sure if it would hold up as well as the automotive clear, but it must be durable because it is used for game pieces that are constantly handled. More testing on my part will be conducted:shade: . So next I'll finish up by re-assembling the caboose then we are done! Did I tell you this stuff drys fast? Looks like I might get this caboose done today. Jim
