This is my second time using a spray can to paint a structure. I have been using a product called Krylon Fusion for Plastic. This is really good stuff. Even spray, no drips, no spitting paint to mar the structure. I recommend it for those who don’t want to bother with an airbrush.
Rich
Rich,
Krylon changed their formula a few years back. I haven’t tried the new Fusion stuff yet. The regualr Krylon is my favorite non-model specific paint bar none. I agree: great spray; quick drying (keeps me moving along…), and excellent quality (no clogging, etc).
I better go and buy some. People have said that rust Oluem is the best. Well I’ve bought 2 Krylon, 6 Rust Oleum and about 9 Walmart 96 cent bottles. Krylon’s old paint (not the newest version. are too drippy, and every single Rust Oleum bottle has clogged up when I was spraying an engine, boxcar, etc. In fact one just happened today! Im still angry when I had to restrip all the paint when the paint from the can came out all rough. (This happened 6 times!). The 96 cent cans work every single time! I love em!
But yea, to sum it up I really need to trust a good paint supplier.
Charles
Krylon Fusion is my go to paint for my free lance railroad.
I also use Rustolum.I’ve had one nozzle clog up on me but the the cans never clog which I admit I find weird because it is the same kind of paint in all the cans and the same nozzle.
Charles,
If you’re seeing old style Krylon spray paint, it’s been sitting awhile. Wasn’t that great new. Just saying…
The recent stuff is great in my experience. Sure, not perfect if you expect old cans to be reliable, etc, but you take your chances with that anyway. From a fresh can, I’ve had no problems, except a bad nozzle early on after it came out.
I do use RustOleum, but it goes on heavy. You can use it, gotta be careful not to hose it. Locally, it’s easier to find RustO color variety, but the New Krylon, whether in the original formula or the improved for plastic Fusion stuff Rich is enthusiatic about is worth a try. Try the flat black, it’s a reliable guide for me when checking how paint goes on between different brands for comparison needs.
Regular Krylon works just as well. I prefer the satin or flat finishes over the gloss.
I just used it to repaint two Walthers 53’ 5 unit spine car sets, which were originally in the “fantasy ATSF red”, to a very close TTX color, “Mangold” and it works great. I warmed it up little in hot water first.
I used the gloss, as once the decals are applied, I’ll Dullcoat it. I think it works great.
Mike.
I always warm my rattlecan paints no matter what the brand is or what the temperature is. I find I get a better finish asheating the paint seems to make the pigment finer.
The trick with heating the can is set it in hot water till the whole can feels warm,then spray.If the can chills down reheat.It take a little longer this way but you get a better finish.
Ken Patterson had a vid where he put his paints in an ultrasonic cleaner. His purpose was to mix the paints, but you certainly could turn the heater on and mix bottles or rattle cans.
I’ve got a Walthers grain mill that needs a coat of paint, preferrably something in a white or nearly white cement. The superstructure is together and silo’s seams finished with putty, but I have not glued the silver parts on yet so easy to paint. What do you recommend, in a flat or satin finish?
Cheers, Jim
preferrably something in a white or nearly white cement
I like Rustoleum Satin French Beige for that effect. The name’s misleading but it dries a light concrete color like the 1st floor & cornice in the pic. Both have been weathered with Pan Pastel black powder to age them, so try to imagine it without the weathering.
Definitely flat, Jim.
If that were my present project I would use Krylon flat white primer in a single light coat.
When dry I would use wide soft brushes and apply shades of tan and light gray Pan Pastels. You could even simulate a bit of rust where the steel rebar has been exposed or where steel hardware has been anchored to the concrete, using the pastels.
http://www.dickblick.com/products/panpastel-artists-painting-pastels-sets/
If you want to seal it, one of the flat or matte finish clear coats would work.
Unless they changed the formula again, to me, the Fusion always seemed to be pretty thick. Maybe I had the older formula.
I notice that more of the cans are using the “any-angle” spray so you can no longer turn the can upside-down to clear out the nozzle after use.
Good Luck, Ed
I notice that more of the cans are using the “any-angle” spray so you can no longer turn the can upside-down to clear out the nozzle after use.
I always hated blasting 50 cents worth of paint into my booth filter and hoping for the best. Now, I pop the actuator button off the can and toss it and the upended can into an inch or two of turpentine in a 15 oz food can (ravioli, chili). A condensed soup can is too small. I never have a clog or spitting. “Not a cough in a carload”, as Camels used to say . . .
That sounds like it’s worth a try! So many times, the can sits for a long time between uses.
One thing I do have to say about warming the can in hot water, you do have to be carefull. I warmed up a can of DulCoat in water a little too hot, and the concave can bottom popped out to a dome. I was thinking how I was going to explain DullCoat, which is a lacquer, all over everything in the kitchen, and possible a trip to the ER. !
Mike.
Paul,
I keep all my “spare” nozzles in a 3 oz. jar of lacquer thinner so when one plugs up I can fish one out with tweezers and pop it on the can. I seldom throw a can away without salvaging the nozzle/button.
Sometimes, similar to what you suggest, I put some thinner into the can stem to clear out that gunk, too.
After using these hand-bombs for so many years you pick up a trick or two.
Regards, Ed
After using these hand-bombs for so many years you pick up a trick or two.
Yep . . . we squirrels don’t toss anything without thinking about how it can be useful in the shop: pill bottles, food cans, styrofoam food trays, NUTHIN’ !
Jim,
The Krylon flat white works well and is a little easier to control the spary than RustO.
I will mention another product that works well for this too, but also has other advanatges that are useful around the layout. Zinsser Bullseye 1-2-3 is available in spray cans (also comes in gallons, etc, if you need mass quantities).
It is a primer and sealer, so helps cover the sorts of variations in paint you get if you don’t use a primer on a model that has different materials, but should look like it’s all the same. It also helps hide glue spots, etc.
But what I really like it for is priming pink foam. Once sprayed with 1-2-3, you can paint away with regular spray paint without worrying about the foam melting down. That’s how I make many of my thin 3D liftouts and backdrops.
Had a can of Rustolium just keep on spraying without being pushed, luckily I was outside in a bare area.
Thanks Mike and Ed. Sounds like Krylon flat white is the ticket for the grain elevator. Will get some and get the white part painted next weekend with good weather!
Dare I ask, what do you recommend for painting the sashes of the windows? Whiteout? =P
Jim,
Are the window frames already glued in? Might be easier to mask the whole window and leave them as the cast-in color now. Paint the rest, then use Dull-cote or whatever you prefer to kill the shine.
Even if glass is already in them, it’s a dusty elevator inside, so windows need not be transparent IMO. However, it would be easier to either pop them out or mask them a second time covering just the muttins and glass so the Dull-cote tones down the frame’s gloss only. The muttins will stay shiny, but the shiny glass will make that not noticeable.