I am doing a paint job on my HO pssenger coaches I plan on installing an internal light in the car, however when the light is on I don’t the coach shell to glow I want the light comming out of the windows only. I will paint the inside black to mask the transparency, then paint over the black with a creamy white color, but I plan on using spray paint. Will I have to prime the black paint over in order to paint it with a diffrent color? Will this method prevent the glow?
To an extent, painting the car will hide the glow, regardless of which color you use. If you’re using pre-decorated cars, I would suggest using primer gray on the interior first, then a light green for the interior’s actual color. If you’re using spray cans, Tamiya primer and their “gray-green” would be a good choice. Light green was used in many many passenger cars, caboose interiors, or pretty much any building interior (depot, switch tower, roundhouse etc.).
On undec cars, I spray the whole car (inside and out) with primer, then the light green on the inside. It’s pretty easy to use a paper towel or two to block of the windows and then paint the exterior Pullman green (for heavyweight cars). A little touch up might be needed around the windows and such, but the end result comes out pretty well IMHO.
I haven’t done any passenger cars, but I’ve put lights into a lot of structures. My first step is to paint the inside walls black. Next, I use cardstock, that heavy paper you can run through your computer printer. For structures, I print stuff on it that is appropriate for the inside walls - shelves, bricks, cinderblock, etc. For a passenger car, you could even print the interior walls with luggage racks, etc. I cut the cardstock the size of the wall, cut out window openings, and glue it in.
Use reasonably dim lighting inside the car. If possible, use a number of small LEDs mounted on the ceiling, rather than a couple of larger floor-mounted incandescents. LEDs are very directional, so the direct light will mostly fall on the floor and seats, and then bounce out the windows. Incandescents are omni-directional, so the direct light finds its way out cracks, and has more of a tendency to glow through.
I see thanks for the advice.
I have used this thin metal foil, or variations thereof, on many of my structure and passenger car lighting projects. It is a bit thicker than plain kitchen aluminum foil.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/1-89-in-x-50-yd-322-Multi-Purpose-HVAC-Foil-Tape-1207792/100030120
It is opaque, highly reflective and stays put (make sure you have it aligned well before sticking it down!)
Some modelers lose sight of the fact that most lighting should be subtle and the light source, for the most part, should be out of sight and somewhat diffused.
Good luck, Ed
Eh? Say What?
This was the train to Cherynoble…
LION has since painted the insides. Him uses BRUSH since him not bother to remove window glass (for fear him would break it) and besides him not have air bursh.
ROAR