Painting

[redmaxx]

I am looking to paint my rolling stock in the DT&I color scheme. Has anyone repainted their rolling stock using craft acrylic paint? If so, is there some sort of guide as to which colors are close to say reefer yellow or caboose red?

[rogertra]

I am looking to paint my rolling stock in the DT&I color scheme. Has anyone repainted their rolling stock using craft acrylic paint? If so, is there some sort of guide as to which colors are close to say reefer yellow or caboose red?

Buy the latest Model Railroader magazine, there's a whole article on paints for model railroading.

Painting model railroad equipment, if you want it done well, is an art in itself.

You can only do a good job on multi-coloured schemes by mastering and using an airbrush.  If you try to use paint brushes, the results will be amateurish at best.

Cheers

Roger.

[WoundedBear]

Painting model railroad equipment, if you want it done well, is an art in itself.

You can only do a good job on multi-coloured schemes by mastering and using an airbrush.  If you try to use paint brushes, the results will be amateurish at best.

Cheers

Roger.

Roger......

You just know you're gonna get an argument outta me on that point....lol.

I have an airbrush.....I know how to use it.....but if I don't need it, I don't use it. All those pics I have posted are the result of using everything except an airbrush.

Sid

[rogertra]

Painting model railroad equipment, if you want it done well, is an art in itself.

You can only do a good job on multi-coloured schemes by mastering and using an airbrush.  If you try to use paint brushes, the results will be amateurish at best.

Cheers

Roger.

Roger......

You just know you're gonna get an argument outta me on that point....lol.

I have an airbrush.....I know how to use it.....but if I don't need it, I don't use it. All those pics I have posted are the result of using everything except an airbrush.

Sid

No argument Sid.

I never use an airbrush for my GER locos as all freight locos are over all black and freight cars are "boxcar red" (automotive primer red, any brand and shade), also black and grey, again, any shade.  After weathering, you can't tell the difference. I don't use yellow on GER cars so no need for that. I paint all my GER freight locos and freight cars using automotive spray cans.  Passenger cars are GM "maroon" which is close enough for CPR "tuscan" which is what I use for my GER passenger cars.  The only benefit I can see for an airbrush is when painting multiple colours, like CPR maroon and grey on diesels or passenger loco tenders.  This I think an airbrush is an advantage.

I even spray buildings and structures using shake the can spray bombs.  Never understood magazine articles where the modeller fires up the airbrush just to paint wheels and trucks.  If ever there's a case for paint brushes, it's wheels and trucks which get dirty anyway.

Even my sky backdrop, sky and landscape is brush painted using a three inch paint brush, latex paint and lots of water.  I don't use an airbrush nor a stencil for the clouds,  just the brush.  I think with stencils most backdrops look as though they are taken from the sky in the opening credits of "The Simpsons".


Cheers

Roger.

[Desertdweller]

You can certainly use craft acrylics for painting models with an airbrush (I've done it), but there are a few precautions you need to observe.

Craft acrylics have two advantages:  they are relatively cheap, and they come in a great variety of colors.
What's more, they are easy to mix to get exact color matches.

Craft acrylics are very fast drying, most dry to a very flat finish.  They use coarser pigments than do "model" paints.  They can also react in funny ways to tap water.

As these things age in  the container, they tend to get lumpy.  I suggest you start with a fresh bottle.  If you mix colors, use a glass container.  If the paint comes into contact with impurities in the water, it will coagulate.  You can avoid this by cleaning your equipment with distilled water.  Thin the paint with acrylic paint thinner, not water.  The paint will need to be thinned before you spray it.  Thin it with a mix of acrylic paint thinner and denatured alcohol.  The paint should be about the consistency of milk when you spray it.

After mixing and thinning, it still won't be ready to use.  You need to strain it through a very fine strainer to get out any remaining lumps.  Don't use too fine a nozzle..it will plug up on you.  So it is best to mix up plenty of paint, but apply it in small amounts in a series of coats.  This will help keep it from plugging up your airbrush.

Good luck!

Les

[WoundedBear]

I agree with just about everything you say Les, save for one or two minor things.

1. Forget trying to thin craft acrylics with water, acrylic thinner or denatured alcohol. Not saying it won't work, but by the time you find the right blend of ingredients, I would just grab a bottle of plain old blue Windex and use that. Don't worry about the blue tint in the Windex.....even if shooting whites, it imparts no colour to the paint.

2. I like your suggestion to strain the paint, and one of those permanent, mesh type, coffee maker filter baskets works well for this.

3. A point you never brought up about acrylics in general....be it craft store paint or Model Master Acryls........always stir your water based paint....NEVER SHAKE!> Shaking acrylics leaves air bubbles in the paint, and these cause the paint to thicken in the bottle, and then watch the fun when your airbrush starts spitting out the little air bubbles. I have seen acrylic paint form bubbles so small that your strainer idea wouldn't take them out.

Just my 3 cents. (that's CDN $ exchange rate )

Sid

[Desertdweller]

Good ideas!

I hadn't heard about using Windex.  I suspect that stuff is a mix of alcohol and water, with a touch of detergent.  That would work as a wetting agent.

My father taught me (he was a printer, and knew about mixing colors) that a trick to make whites look brighter and more intense, is to add a touch of blue.  Your eyes can't detect the blue, but they can detect the white being "whiter".

"Never shake acrylics"..that is a big no no I forgot to mention.

Thanks.

Les

[Doneldon]

Les and Sid-

The touch of blue is a great way to brighten whites. If you think way back to when you were kids, do you remember your mother putting bluing into the rinse water when she washed white things? Bleach had/has a tendency to yellow whites and the bluing countered that leading to the brightest whites. This is done less today because more people use non-sodium hypochlorite bleaches and most detergents have chemical brighteners. But you can still buy bluing so you can try it to see if you can make your tighty-whities  into tighty-whitiers.
                                                                                                                                                                               -- D

[rogertra]

Good ideas!

I hadn't heard about using Windex.  I suspect that stuff is a mix of alcohol and water, with a touch of detergent.  That would work as a wetting agent.

My father taught me (he was a printer, and knew about mixing colors) that a trick to make whites look brighter and more intense, is to add a touch of blue.  Your eyes can't detect the blue, but they can detect the white being "whiter".

"Never shake acrylics"..that is a big no no I forgot to mention.

Thanks.

Les

Back in the days of B&W TV, "Whiter than white" shirts used in commercials were actually pale blue shirts as white shirts looked greyish next to the pale blue shirts.

Cheers

Roger.

[Woody Elmore]

From experience I know that using yellow paint is tricky.  Anybody have problems with yellow?

[trainmainbrian]

I just starting Airbrushing Myself on undecorated bodies getting a feel for airbrushing.... After paying my local hobby shop Airbrushing guy $25.00 for Light weathering 1 Color & NOT including painting to wheel trucks "BODY ONLY OF CAR"... & $ 40.00 full weathering up to 3 colors... EACH... if you brought in 4 or more Rolling Stock to weather @ the same time the hobby shop would knock off $ 5.00 to total bill.... & on average from Drop off to Pickup it was taking on average 8-12 days before they would call me to tell me there done & ready for pickup... I asked the Hobby Shop MGR 1 day why it takes so long for the guy to paint & weather rolling stock he said his painter work's another fulltime job & only paints for the Hobby Shop on weekend's SAT & SUN from 10AM to 2PM..... So I had enough with the long wait's & decided to buy an Airbrush Starter Kit / Airbrush Compressor / some airbrush paints / & watch some YouTube Vid's on Airbrushing / & bought a few undecorated bodies / I plain on giving it a shot this weekend... Although I don't expect a perfect job my 1st go @ it but with practice I am sure I will get it down... & after some practice run's on undecorated bodies then I'll do a few of my rolling stock from my layout..... after I get a little experence

[Desertdweller]

TMB,

I think you have made the right decision.  I can't say you were paying too much..after all, he charged what someone (you) was willing to pay.

You will find that airbrushing is not really difficult.  It is quite rewarding, because you can see the immediate effects of your work.

I weather most all of my equipment to some degree, generally using acrylics applied with a brush.  The key here is "dry brushing".

Woody,

Yellow paint presents two problems:

First, yellow paint tends to be translucent.  To get good coverage over another paint job can require a thick layer of paint if you are unwilling to put on an opaque sub-coat first.  Spray application works better than brushing, but it really needs to be applied over a primer coat of light gray or white.

Secondly (and this from someone who has done a lot of repainting of models into UP colors), a lot of yellows are not straight yellow.  They often tend toward orange when freshly applied.  This means they have had red pigment added.  As the equipment sets in the sunshine, the red gradually fades out, leaving a markedly paler yellow.  This won't happen on model trains that are not left in the sunlight.  So, unless you are looking at equipment fresh from the paint shop, the UP equipment you see will be all different shades of yellow.

Les

[Doneldon]

Part of the reason that yellow is difficult to work with is that yellow pigments are the most expensive of any
color. They are also quite unstable when exposed to sunlight unless more very expensive substances are used in
the paint. That's why you see so few yellow houses and yellow cars.         
                                                                                                        -- D

[trainmainbrian]

TMB,

I think you have made the right decision.  I can't say you were paying too much..after all, he charged what someone (you) was willing to pay.

You will find that airbrushing is not really difficult.  It is quite rewarding, because you can see the immediate effects of your work.

I weather most all of my equipment to some degree, generally using acrylics applied with a brush.  The key here is "dry brushing".

Woody,

Yellow paint presents two problems:

First, yellow paint tends to be translucent.  To get good coverage over another paint job can require a thick layer of paint if you are unwilling to put on an opaque sub-coat first.  Spray application works better than brushing, but it really needs to be applied over a primer coat of light gray or white.

Secondly (and this from someone who has done a lot of repainting of models into UP colors), a lot of yellows are not straight yellow.  They often tend toward orange when freshly applied.  This means they have had red pigment added.  As the equipment sets in the sunshine, the red gradually fades out, leaving a markedly paler yellow.  This won't happen on model trains that are not left in the sunlight.  So, unless you are looking at equipment fresh from the paint shop, the UP equipment you see will be all different shades of yellow.

Les

Les... I do agree with you I was paying a good amount of cash to have my Rolling Stock weathered... 1 Reason I decided to get my own Airbrush equipment & paints.....

& now about the Color Yellow every one is talking about

I think Yellow is a nice color to use & could be used in a mix of other colors in a weathering process... Pigments of any color I think go hand to hand & if you have a quality paint from a good manufacturer & co you should without any worries always get a good quality paint job no matter the color your using