I just purchased a 156 Station Platform. It is in great physical condition but the red paint on the roof and the green on the base are in really sad condition. I would like to repaint these. Any suggestions on removing the old chipped paint and a source for the correct red and green spray paint would be a big help. I have not done this before so any help would be appreciated. Normally I would not repaint an old Lionel accessory, but this one really needs the help. Thanks.
Charles Woods has the colors. Since it’s a solid color I think the shaker can will work. I don’t recommend a shaker can with the metal flake paints.
Kurt
Kurt,
Thank you, for the information of Charles C. Wood & Co. enamel paints.
He’ll probably have the correct Lionel C.& O. Ry. blue and yellow colors I need, I didn’t know of him.
Ralph
Terry,
Krylon’s Banner Red is a very close match to the red on the roof. As for the green on the base, Duplicolor’s Grabber Green Engine Enamel is probably the closest off the shelf match you will find. If you have an auto parts store in the area that scans and mixes paint, you could get an exact match to the original.To strip the old paint, soak the pieces in some Castrol Super Clean or Simple Green. They won’t harm plastic.
There are some other sources for the paint you need besides Charles Wood. I will no longer use them because they won’t dry. Krylon may have something close enough and I like the idea of having an auto paint store mix up something. Auto paints in spray cans are tough and go on great. As far as removing the chipped paint goes, it depends on whether or not the pieces are metal. For plastic, dip in 91%alcohol. For metal, there are some good spray can strippers.
Roger
I believe they are bakalite. Don’t know if I spelled that correctly. You know what I mean.
Thanks to all who have replied and offered great suggestions.
Won’t dry?
I have used Charles Wood’s enamel on metal on several occasions and not only did it dry nicely but it also baked to a very hard, smooth finish per his instructions, and even set outside in the hot summer sun, Perhaps the poster above put it on too thick, or didn’t allow enough time between primer and top coat.
The dried colors seem to be very close to the originals, as best as I can tell, but remember that if you are trying to match newly painted items placed immediately adjacent to old, the original paint may have faded over time and a perfect match could be difficult to achieve. Also, as with any paint, items may match under one light and not match under a different one.
BTW, it’s spelled Bakelite. Judged by how often they use it, Lionel must have loved the stuff. Where would the ZW have been without it? Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite
I used Charles Woods paint on F3 cabs, which are plastics. You CANNOT bake plastics. Bakelite CANNOT be baked either. Wood’s paints used on items which cannot be baked do not dry for months.
Charlie claims his paints dry in 5 days as printed on the lables. I let them dry 14 days and then applied another color on part of the cabs. The new color promptly lifted and destroyed the previous applied paint jobs. Charlie sent me a very condesending email when I complained. There have been many posts here and on other forums that said Wood’s paints do not dry. There was one here just recently that stated “you will see several birthdays come and go before that paint drys”. His paint may be ok on metal but NOT for plastics or bakelites. I say find another source of paints. By the way, I am NOT an amatuer painter. I have been painting models, train stuff, and painted and sold slot cars for years. I think maybe I know a few things about paint.
Roger
I’m certainly sorry you ruined your F-3 cab. Another thing you can add to the “things you know about paint” is to try a bit on an inconspicuous spot before jumping ahead full throttle.
For general info, how did you prepare the surface? Did you use a primer? If so, was it Mr. Wood’s primer or someone else’s. Lastly, there are plastics and then there are plastics. Bakelite is one of them.
Cheers!
Its interesting that you assume that because YOU did not have trouble that anyone else who does is a fool.
For your info, not that I owe you, I used Charlie’s primer and the other color was Charlie’s as well. ALL 3 should have been compatible. NO, I did not try a small spot first as I should not have had to do that when it was the same paint but a different color. This is not laquer we are talking about. Charlie said I did not wait long enough for the paint to dry. So how long does anyone need to wait? A month, a year, two years? 14 days should have been long enough. Charlie claims his paint drys in 5. From what I see it may take a very long time. If I had painted only one color all probably would have been ok.
Roger
Roger, I think if you’ll review this thread you’ll notice that I was neither the first nor the only member to mention Charles Wood’s paints, nor did I ever call you a fool or imply it. That language came strictly from you, and I doubt that you can possibly know what I assume.
I responded to your blanket statement that Wood’s paints “won’t dry.” That struck me as overly broad at the very least. I think that Mr. Wood provides a very useful service to this hobby and that we will miss him if he ever stops. That doesn’t exclude the possibility of occasional bad batches or poor application techniques – or even excessive humidity.
That said, “baking” is itself a very broad a term, and perhaps I shouldn’t have used it. I did not intend to imply anything like – 375 degrees for two hours. – Perhaps I should have used the term “heat-assisted drying” or “sun-drying” instead. The link I provided to the Wikipedia article notes that Bakelite itself has several forms, but at least some of them can withstand 250 degrees F continuously. That’s probably part of the reason Lionel selected it for so many of it’s transformers. Illuminated st
Back to your original question. I think it’s largely been answered, but to summarize: I might try to scrape off a couple of dime-sized chips and take them for a paint match with a paint of your choosing. If that fails, talk to Charles Wood and see what he says about some of the issues raised in this thread. I have found him polite and reasonable.
Ask about removing the old paint. I have no experience doing so from Bakelite, but surely you will want to try a small area first using a commercial paint remover that itself can be removed completely, leaving no residue. With any luck you can find one that will not harm the Bakelite. Perhaps you could Google a dealer in Bakelite products with your concerns. Some products will dissolve some plastics – that the basis of many of the “solvent glues” on the marker. Use a Primer recommended for both the plastic surface and the topcoat that you decide on. That’s the best I can do. I hope the Bakelite doesn’t dissolve, the paint dries, and we all live happily ever after. And let us know in detail what you try and how it turns out.
I tried Googling “painting bakelite” and various combinations thereof, with only mininal success. I found several references to Krylon “Fusion,” a paint specially for plastics. I think the color choices are flimited. Here’s a link to one thread where problems/solutions are discussed: