I recently attempted to repaint an old IHC SD40… After stripping the factory paint, I washed the shell with soapy warm water. I rinsed the shell thoroughly and allowed it to dry for a day. Using a can of Floquil’s caboose red i just purchased, I began to make light passes on the unit. However, I quickly noticed I was not getting good coverage. The paint seemed to stick in some areas and seemed to run and collect in others. I am going to re-strip the shell and try again. Anyone have any ideas on what could have gone wrong??? Could it have been defective can of paint?
Hi!
I am not a “train painting expert” but I’ve painted a lot of cars and houses. Assuming you did not spray too thickly and allowed “runs”, it sounds like their was residue of some sort still on the loco. It could be the soap that you used.
I would strip it again, wash thoroughly (again), let dry naturally for at least a day, and just to be sure I would hand “buff” it with a lintless rag or soft paper towel. If anything comes off onto the towel, you need to go through the cycle again.
Ohh, make sure your hands are perfectly clean when you handle it, or better still wear painters gloves.
Good luck!!!
Mobilman44
Anyone have any suggestions for removing the floquil…
I used pine sol to get the IHC paint off, but i don’t know if it will work on floquil. Will 91% alcohol be better, or do i need to buy ELO?
Not knowing how long the can has sat on a shelf you may have to really shake it for a long time. Warming the can a little bit will help some also. My rattle cans go into the sink with hot water for a little while first. Shake real good while it is in the warming stage every now and then. Just be careful not to make them too hot. Just over body temp works great. Hot tap water should be fine. Then shake shake shake. Test spray on a similar surface first.
Clean the project with hot soapy water and rinse in clean water, Let dry completely and DO NOT touch it with your bare hands before painting. A pair of Jersey gloves or the non powdered latex will work good for not transferring oils from your skin to the project. I used to use a sock as a mitten to handle painting projects.
Pete
Maybe time to upgrade to one of the less expensive air brushs like the Testors Aztec. I have had mine for several years now, still use the canned propellent as I dont paint that often so its not worth the expense of a compressor. I normaly use either Badger or one of the other prethined water based paints and they are dry within a few seconds after they hit the model. I get very good results and I am still learning. Mike
I think you maybe right about the paint not being properly mixed… well the next question is how can i get this floquil off?
i painted with Floquil for many years before going with PollyScale. you did not mention a primer, i never could do Floquil without a primer, if you are painting over a black shell i would suggest a gray primer… Also unless you are set on Floquil i would suggest PollyScale… or some water based paint…
It’s been my experience that the best substance to wash shells off with before painting is dish detergent - but NOT liquid hand soap. It leaves a residue, which is what it sounds like the Pine-Sol did for you. The other thing is to rinse thoroughly! Then let it dry for a day or two in a place where it won’t collect dust. Then, prior to shooting that first mist of paint, blow the thing off with a blast of just air from the airbrush. In lieu of an air brush, I guess you could just blow on it with your mouth but then be careful you don’t “dampen” it.
Good luck!
You can use dishwashing soap or rubbing alcoholl ,I’ve used Prep sol=AKA tar wax&grease remover…I used that on everthing I paint…You can get that stuff at your local paint stores or advance autoparts and wallmarts stores…also do body&paint for aliving for 28+years…
Primer. Most model railroad paints (Floquil, Polly Scale, etc) don’t cover all that well. The paint coat is a little transparent and lets the under lying surface show thru. Decent primers are super opaque and cover the underlying surface completely. Primer comes in light gray, for use under light colors, dark gray for use under dark colors and red for use under red. I like the rattle cans from the auto parts store.
Surface prep. You have to get the surface squeaky clean and dry. Hot soapy water usually does the trick, but there are some things, like rosin flux, which are not water soluable. You might want to start off with a solvent like alcohol or paint thinner and follow up with hot soapy water. A trip thru the dishwasher will take a lot of stuff off. Also, laundry detergents like Tide have a good deal of TSP in them and are more aggressive than liquid dishwash.
Floquil is lacquer, and should come off with lacquer thinner. Moisten a rag in lacquer thinner and wipe it off. Be careful, lacquer thinner will dissolve plastic, soaking the shell in lacquer thinner might be the end of the shell.
Since the paint may not yet be fully “cured”, you may have some luck using methyl hydrate to strip the paint. It’s a common thinner for shellac and some paints, and is available wherever you buy paint. Do not, under any circumstances, use lacquer thinner as a paint stripper on a plastic shell - it will destroy the detail in seconds, and if left in the thinner, the shell will dissolve completely.
There’s a good chance that some of the paint may have already etched its way into the surface of the plastic, especially if the application was too heavy - you will likely have little success removing it. It is possible to paint Floquil directly onto plastic using an airbrush - many of us do so regularly. Properly done, the paint dries almost immediately on contact - slow enough to make a strong bond, but quick enough to not damage the plastic. That kind of control is difficult to achieve with a spray can, but not impossible.
If you do use methyl hydrate, work in a well-ventilated area, and avoid contact with your skin, as it’s readily absorbed through the skin (as are the vapours through your eyes).
Wayne
Yes, Pine Sol leaves a residue. When we had our kitchen floor replaced with new vinyl the flooring contractor told us not to use Pine Sol to clean the floor with because it leaves a residue.
Excellent idea! I never thought of prep sol! I use it when I paint my cars. I wonder, though, does it affect the plastic at all?
Bil
I’ve used it on plastic fiberglass parts too.Remember theres cars out today that are plastic fantastic too…There is a plastic prep cleaner too…But I mostly us prep sol on everything…Plus I use automotive urethanes paints on my stuff too,R/C nitro/gas boat to model cars and trains…There more durable and can take a better beating then model paints…When cleaning plastic… just damped the rag with it…Oh also it will clean off/remove paint thats doesnt have hardner/activator in them…
Got any pics of your work? I suspect that the automotive paint would go on a bit on the thick side…anyways, pics will tell.
David B
How hard do you beat your trains???
Just get some ELO to strip it and wash with Dawn or any grease cutting detergent, rinse and let dry. I would also recommend using a primer, as a previous poster said, light grey for light or bright colors, medium or dark gray for dark colors and red oxide for deep reds.
Keep a bowl of hot tap water nearby and as the can gets cold, set it in the water to warm it back up. As the can gets cold the pressure drops. Shake the can a bit for every minute you’re spraying.
I dont beat on my trains…plus I have only one train…was out of model trains for 11 years thanks to a devorce…So I’m slowly starting backup now…with a Bowser PRR T1 Duplex… what I ment is the automotive paints are better and strong and cant chip as easy plus can take cemical spills…My other hobby I mostly run R/C nirto boats… nitro meth+alco can cause cheap paint to lift/bister off ASAP…even Gas will lift cheap paint…paints with hardners/activator are best for these applications…Since most of our trains smokes the oil resdo can be bad to some paints…in time it will soffen the paints up or wash the paint off…Dave… you can shoot automotive paints even with a airbrush…just thin it a hair more…Plus I have alittle gravity feed touchup gun and I have is a accuspray gravity feed HVLP call the issic newton model#7 and it kicks!!! has a 1.2 tip,so I can fine spray little stuff too…So 3/4 of my paint jobs has no orange peels in them… all smooth as glass…It hate to wet sand and buff…but at time you have to wet sand and buff do to dust in paint finishes…
Always good to think outside the “model train” box. Just because you build model trains, doesn’t mean you have to use “model train” paint. When I am spraying paint I prefer to use Tamiya acylics, thinned with Tamiya thinner. A good primer coat will help, I have found auto primer a little more difficult to use. Since it is laquer, a heavy coat can distort your plastic model. Light coats, if too light, can dry too fast and you get a dusty finish. I would try a Krylon primer or equivelent.
If your original paint job went on thin enough, you could try priming right over it.
Hope this helps,
Tom
I noticed no one answers a question, they always seem to skirt the answer. Pine sol should get the paint off. It might have to soak over night, but it will take it off. While rinsing use dish soap, warm water and possible a soft tooth brush. Make sure the shell has been rinsed and is not soft before using the tooth brush. I hope this helps!
I’ve actually been having quite a bit of luck with generic oven cleaner. I have been spraying it and leaving it on for about an hour at a time and then working with a toothbrush. However there are faint traces of red of red in places, primarily in the grill work… I am now wondering if i can move forward and try painting it again (this time with some primer) or do i need to get every last trace of red gone?
Perhaps the problem the first time around was not only not having a primer, but also i cleaned the shell with antibacterial dawn. I didn’t think there would be a problem because I assumed the antibacterial ingredient was alcohol based, but I may have been wrong? Any ideas?
PS - I have been trying to post some pictures to show you guys, but it seems as if the pictures need to be already published on the web because it is asking for a URL. Is this true? Thanks everyone for all the help so far!