I was just curious… is this extremely difficult?
I guess it depends on how complicated you want your paint scheme to be but what if i wanted a really simple black w/ a pinstripe? maybe some letters on it.
Keep in mind that im a beginner.
Thanks
Pretty easy…
Best start with an undecorated shell.
- Use a decent internal-mix airbrush, lay down a coat of neutral-color primer.
- Spray on the color of the pinstripe. Wait a day for it to dry.
- Cut masking tape on a sheet of glass using an X-acto blade.
- Apply the cut masking tape on the shell for the pinstriping.
- Spray the entire shell with the black. Wait a day for it to dry.
- Peel off the masking tape to reveal the pinstriping.
- Spray on a gloss coat finish. Wait a day for it to dry.
- Apply your lettering decals. Wait for it to dry.
- Spray on a dull coat finish. Wait for it to dry.
- Done and done. [:D]
Rocket, nothing wrong with that. Looking back through 20+ years of Model Railroader issues, a lot of very creative, freelanced paint schemes are shown.
You mentioned black with a simple stripe. Sounds good. Would you be satisfied with that scheme? You can vary from there in that with the black, perhaps you can “easily” add a 2nd color on just the nose and rear of the locomotives. With black on a diesel locomotive body, a color such as: orange, yellow, or red that matches the pinstripe and lettering color can do wonders on a simplified paint scheme. (Rio Grande and SP come to mind)
Note:
One method a lot of modelers use is to look at a railroad paint schemes (past and present) and modify one for their own theme.
A few months back one of our fellow forum members “adapted” Ontario Northland’s paint scheme, changed the colors and did a very nice looking F unit.
If I were to freelance, I’d likely adapt the the Arizona & California’s green and white scheme.
Hope this helps!
if you follow the photobucket link there is some schemes in there that i’m going to paint a loco in as long as you have masking tape you can do anything…almost
You don’t need an airbrush. Just use spray paint. Keep in mind you should use paint for models, such as floquil. For letters you can buy decals from various manufacturers. I like microscale. If you’re creating a freelance you can buy a decal set w/ a bunch of letters. I use blue 3M painters tape for masking. you have to get it straight and be sure the press it on good at the edge for a nice seperation between colors. Here’s an FP7 I painted w/ floquil caboose red spray paint and rusoleum flat black (rustoleum isn’t model paint so I don’t reccomend using it although I did wthout incident)
After getting your paint on and before decals spray the model lightly with gloss then after you decal it (instructions on decal package) you spray it lightly with Testors dullcote after it dries, you are done.
The very first locomotive I ever painted was a Mopac E7, in the light blue, white, and grey scheme. It wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it might be.
[#ditto] I paint almost all my locos myself, my signature picture is my private shortline paint scheme, simple green and white. Do most of my own SP locos myself also, again grey and red easy. I use an airbrush mostly now, but I used to do them with Floquil spray cans just fine. Take your time as stated above, enjoy the satisfaction of doing it yourself.
Wow, GAPPLEG beat me to it. I was goign to mention your road after reading Antonio’s post.
I second the part about starting with an undecorated shell. Either buy one, as I like to do, or strip one down. Painting over old paint can play havoc. Bleed through, seeing the old paint lines, etc. If you are a bit nervous, hit up the LHS or a swap meet and get an old, used engine cheap and practice on that. Build some skills and confidence.[:D]
Let your imagination run wild.