This seems to be a silly question to ask but I really would like to know. Is it possible to repaint rolling stock? I am finding it hard to find box cars and other stuff that is painted for Australian railways … some come close & with these is it possible to repaint the details so I can put Australian running information on them?
Any tips & hints would be well appreciated.
Tracy
Don’t know why you can’t. If your original car is a bright color you might want to spray a light coat of primer paint, then the color you want. Go lightly with each coat so as not to cover your details. As long as you can get the decals you want, you should be all set.
Get a couple of cheap cars to pratice on and give it a try. Around here I’d say look for something at a yard sale to pratice on. Don’t know if you have such things in your area of the world or not.
Good luck,
Richard
Thanks for the info Richard,
What is the best type of paint to use? or does this depend on what the car is made out of?
Tracy
Tracy
If you are not going to strip all the paint off the cars you may still want to consider removing the railroad emblems. If you leave them in place the outline of the original markings may show through your new paint job. Sometimes that is desirable if you are modeling a prototypical repaint, i.e. where the car was purchased by a second railway that then repainted over the original markings.
To strip just the markings, try rubbing with what we call 91% alcohol. I’m not sure if it is called the same thing down under. Maybe someone can translate if needed.
As for what type of paint to use, you have two basic choices - acrylic (water based) and solvent based. I have only used acrylic paints so far. Others with solvent based experience will be able to fill you in on the advantages/disadvantages.
Also, you need to determine what method of painting you will use, i.e. brush or airbrush. The airbrush will usually give much better results.
There are others on the forum with far more painting experience then me, but when I first started painting I bought a medium quality airbrush and I used acrylic paints, and I was rather pleased with the results (if you don’t mind me patting myself on the back as it were). Seriously, I found the whole airbrush thing to be much easier then I thought it would be. There is a bit of an investment required if going the airbrush route, i.e. airbrush, compressor and spray booth to name the basic components. I built my own spray booth using plywood, an old 16 inch square box fan, a furnace filter (replaceable) and a fluorescent light. Venting the spray booth outside is a good idea especially if you are using solvent based paints.
Keep asking questions. There are lots of good people on these forums.
Dave
You can paint anything you want.
If you want to preserve the existing color, then use whatever you have down under to remove decals to save the paint. Then re-decal with your aussie reporting marks {or however you guys mark your trainsets} and voila, there you go.
Otherwise, as mentioned, use a good primer to get a “tooth” on the cars…go lightly with several coats allowing ample dry time between so as not to cover details and repaint the same way. Decal/paint and voila you have it.
Many here use Automotive primer in a rattle spray can…as it sticks to metal and plastic and bonds well the first time everytime like it does to plastic and metal auto body parts.
As stated, get some really cheap “garbage” cars to practice on.
Good luck, show us pics to let us know how your results turn out!
[8-|]
This is a repaint. I took an Athearn blue-box kit for an ice-bunker reefer and sprayed it with cheap rattle-can paint.
Looking at the picture, I could have done a better job of hand-painting the molded-on ladder. It took a couple of coats to cover the original paint, which was a similar color. These kits are not particularly well-detailed anyway, so I wasn’t worried about covering up the fine work.
The markings are a home-made decal that I printed from artwork by Fritz Milhaupt.
Of course. You can paint anything. Start off with a good surface prep. Wash with hot soapy water, and scrub with a toothbrush, get it squeaky clean. Rinse in clear water. Don’t touch the model with your bare hands after you clean it. Air dry well, at least overnight.
For box car red freight cars, merely spray with red auto primer from a rattle can. The primer dries dead flat, and will cover anything. Apply a thin coat. You are doing it right when the coat goes on just barely wet. Let it dry well.
To do the colorful “billboard” paint schemes, apply the color coat over the primer. The primer will completely hide the old lettering and the old paint color, something which finish paints, especially light colors like yellow may not do. Pick a primer color to go with the topcoat, Light gray under light colors, dark gray under dark colors, and red under red. For a two tone paint job, apply one tone, let it dry thoroughly, mask off with tape, and apply the other color.
I’m told air brushes do a great job, but so far I have been getting by with spray cans. Brush painting works, but I prefer a spray paint job.
Once you get the paint right, use decals from lettering, road name, reporting marks and such. Decals will settle down on flat paint, i.e. primers. Finish off the decal job with a over coat of Testor’s DullCote to blend in the decals and kill the decal film