I fully realize this is an age old question that’s probably been beaten to death, but I figured I should ask.
I’m doing an Atlas N scale GP38 in the Chicago Central & Pacific scheme, and it’s going very well. Soon I will be ready for doing the handrails. I’ve done over a dozen N scale locomotives before (and on most only the grab irons on the front & back steps needed painting), but the CC&P painted their handrails red with white near the steps.
What’s the current “best technique” for getting paint to adhere well to the black plastic Atlas and Kato currently use for the handrails? I’m hoping to avoid the inevitable cracking/splitting that occurs requiring periodic touch-ups. I’m using Floquil spray and bottle paints (not airbrushing - I’m old-fashioned), since they cover best and offer the exact colors needed for the CC&P. I also have a can of Floquil primer - would that be useful for good adhesion on the handrails?
The latest thing that I have heard is to use the same paints that the R/C racers use in painting their clear polycarbonate car bodies. It is very flexible and does not “pop” off when in a crash, which occurs often. Someone reported using it successfully on model loco handrails.
I believe Pactra, of R/C model race car fame, makes the paint that has been previously recommended for model railroad handrails. I tried it and found it very difficult to brush on unless it is thinned about 60% paint, 40% their thinner. And after a year or so, the paint will flake off in big chunks if you bend a handrail.
I have found a LOT better success with the appropriate color of Badger Modelflex. The Armour Yellow I use seems to cover in two to three coats, doesn’t need to be thinned, and doesn’t flake off (at least so far).
In a previous post of this issue, someone talked about something you brush on the plastic that makes it “sticky” so the paint adheres better…can’t remember right now what it was called??
Dullcote might help, but there is a product - I think related to auto painting - that you can spray or brush on that works well from what I’ve heard.
BTW Sparky I suspect by thinning the flexible model car paint you’re probably destroying it’s adhesive qualities. You need to brush it on full strength, and make sure it goes all the way around the handrail, or it won’t work. I’ve used it in white, yellow and orange and it seems to work well. It comes in a plastic bottle with a top with a small opening at the top so you can squeeze out a drop and work from that, doesn’t take much to do handrails.