Hello all! I recently recieved 2 of the SW7 shells I was after for months, thanks to a great user on here. They are undecorated and I would like to paint them for CNW and milwaukee road. I do not own an airbrush and do not have the money or space to set it up. Whats the best approach to hand paint these shells? what types/brands of paint would you guy reccomend? What style brush?
You might be surprised at the quality of a paint job you can get with a rattle can of spray paint. I did an Angelina and Neches River GP38-2 with rattle cans; and an ANR caboose as well. The blue paint came from Lowes; a Rustoleum color. The aluminum was a small Tamiya can I have had for a while. I am painting some details on some mineral brown Santa Fe covered hoppers I am reworking with a red primer can I got from Walmart; it is almost an exact color match. With a little weathering; the cars will be perfect.
Having said that, I have a long time friend who hand paints kitbashed MP shorty cabooses. He does beautiful work. I know there is an art and a methodology to brush painting; you might do a bit of research before diving in.
Regardless; good luck. Paint can be stripped if need be; I use Super Clean from Walmart; a big bottle goes a long way and costs less than $10.00. Have fun!
Rattle can spray paint is going to be way better than brush painting. You can get pretty good straight lines by masking with painters’ tape. Decals can do a good job of logos and numbers. I have found decals also work for thin stripes.
Also get some clear spray for sealing prior to and after decaling.
Don’t brush paint trains. Someone makes small rattle cans of Milwaukee orange, and most other colors. It’s worth the time to find the right paint.
Spray bomb is the way to go. Airbrushing requires a lot more skill than a spray bomb. Unless you need to mix a colour.
Modern model paints are also amazingly free flowing. If you’re careful with brush load and have a steady hand it is quite feasible to hand brush with these paints.
Thanks for the tips! Will look out for the correct colors.
Considering the likely cost of hobby paint that is ‘brushable’ in the first place and the careful thinning to consistency, use of a good spray is trivial, and even a cheap airbrush driven off compressed air cans is better still.
Remember too that you would need quality brushes, and the time and care to keep them clean and shaped. That alone is the end both of any big savings overall and any time savings at cleanup!
There have certainly been people who have successfully painted with a brush, and even more certainly people who weather with one. But I have yet to see something smaller than about O gauge that doesn’t show thick, irregular, or brush-mark artifacts when seen or imaged up close.
If all this does not convince you, there are YouTube videos on table paints and thinning techniques. Be VERY certain to clean parting agent or surface contamination from undecorated shells … after which surface priming orbpromoting, with what will likely be a relatively nasty activating agent, may be advisable – be very careful with that, and don’t think because you can’t smell it that your ventilation is adequate!
I think I will try spray on one of them to test! Thanks for the tips and the shells!
Easy test spray is primer in a can. You need to prime the whole shell anyway. To start out avoid trying to paint in one coat. Numerous very thin coats work best. Spray paint is very thin and the slightest excess amounts will run a short distance and then set up, you don’t want that because you have to then remove the bump and start again.
Don’t try to “save paint”. Spray from a distance and spray past both ends of your pass. Begin spraying into empty space at the start of the pass and continue spraying after the end of the shell, that way the density of the spray actually landing on your model is consistent and not affected by the start and stop caused by pressing the button and then releasing it.
It takes the proper tools and practice. I brush paint all my wargaming models, and I do not have brush marks at all.
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The correct paint. Vallejo, Citadel, Turbo-Dork, Reaper-Pro, or similar paints are a must. These are water-soluable, but thinning them with water is not the best idea.
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The correct thinner. I am now using Vallejo thinner for acrylic paints, and I am happy with it. All the prominent painters have their own recipes for “paint juice”, but I have found the ready-mixed formula from Vallejo works well with all the paints I listed above.
Never use paints without thinning them first. Quality paints have a very high pigment load and can be thinned with no loss of performance.
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The best brushes. I only use Winsor & Newton Series 7 hand made brushes imported from England and made with bristles harvested from Siberian Weasel tails. There are videos Winsor & Newton has on line about how these brushes are made.
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Technique. Watch online videos and learn from the masters. Marike Reimer is my favorite painter, but there are many others. Games-Workshop used to have online how-to-paint videos, but they favor their brands over what might really be best.
Brush painting miniatures (which model trains are) is a hobby all on its own.
Point out the brush marks.
-Kevin
I just cant buy an airbrush right now even though I really do want one and learn how to use one. I will definitly use one in the future, but for now I am limited to rattle cans and brush. I have had very good luck with weathering with a brush (well to me I’m very happy with what I’ve done).
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Thanks for the help Kevin! Thats a great looking…thing! Is it a ghost train? At first glance I thought it was a ship but it has wheels! Super cool whatever it is
Is that a brand or a term for spray paint?
Ive used that technique for years building model cars. I went to paint a bachmann sd40 shell last year and it did not turn out well. I guess I forgot the techniqe and will practice more on that shell. Thanks for the tips!
I added a lot to my earlier post.
The model is a Vampire Black Coach made from an Imperial Steam Tank. On the rear deck there is a vertical boiler walking beam steam engine that I built from scratch. I also built a tender for it.
That model came in 11th at the 2004 Games-Workshop Golden Daemon painting contest Large Model category in Atlanta, Georgia.
-Kevin
Only 11th?! Thats seriously awesome work
You need to be best of the best to win a Games Workshop Golden Daemon. I have entered five times and never reached the top tiers.
This is not the best picture, but the Slovakian BF-109 has a green and yellow hood section that is completely brush painted. No brush marks at all. The propeller spinner is also hand painted.
On this model, I also brush painted the canopy frame to try it. I will never do that again!
It can be done, and it is a good tool to have in your skill-set, but be prepared for a lot of frustration as you go.
It is like drywall taping, I have gotten pretty good at it, but there were a few frustrating days this week as I made lots of mistakes.
-Kevin
Brush Painting an On30 Steam Locomotive
How to Brush Paint Scale Models
Brush Paint Model Aircraft
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=AwrJ6ytwMkhf1GgAEzlXNyoA;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zA
Thats a real nice bf109, Kevin. I alway wanted to model a kamikaze attack with one of these and a B17. Wild stories of these things with reinforced wings cutting b17s in half. Cool story of a B17 landing with a BF109 stuck in its fuselage. Sky tanks those B17s were. I guess they call them flyingfortresses for a reason!
Those are great videos. I actully watched the steam locomotive video earlier today!
That is a good video. That Liquitex Black Gesso is like magic. I was pleased he gave the wargamers props for the methods. He had brush marks in the gesso, but if he would have used the same sable brushes he used for the painting that would not have happened.
He warmed his dark gray “black” with orange, I use red, but either way it was nice to see someone stating the importance of a warm dark gray.
He also thinned his paint. I am sure if he would have used Vallejo paints and thinner it would have been even better.
His use of Future Floor Wax was spot-on for pre-decal prepping.
All-in-all, a lot of good stuff was presented in that video.
-Kevin