Hello everyone! Pretty straight forward question, what sort of cleansing agent does one use to scrub freight cars with? I just started weathering using an airbrush and need to get my “okay” job of powders off the cars. Some cars (later down the line) were dullcoated, are they doomed? If so, no biggie. I’m starting a project of replacing the plastic coal loads with foam and ballast loads. Doing a complete overhaul with the cars, including the load replacement, weathering, and painting the trucks and wheels (so they don’t look all uniformly black). I would imagine dish detergent/water and a tooth brush? Just wanting some opinions! Thanks!
ben
I suggest a light dish detergent in distilled water. Probably not the dish detergent that makes your hands feel good as that might have additives. Yes an old toothbrush for, say, Athearn or Accurail cars, but once you have delicate grab irons and other castings added, you need to brush with extreme care. I found a very flexible and soft brush, possibly intended for makeup, that would not disturb added details.
The dullcoated cars may not give up their powders but it may be possible to add more to get the effect you intended. It is possible a 50% alcohol wash would remove some of the dullcoat without digging into the car paint itself.
Dave Nelson