Paints

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

OK…for all you new to the hobby of model RRing…here are some tips on painting that the “old Yard-dog” has passed on to several forum readers already, so here they are for anyone guessing about colors and matching the prototypical RR or military colors.

  1. Acyrlic paints- mix and clean up with water, blue tint windshield wiper fluid and isopropyl alcohol, and they do not smell like enamel paint.

  2. These paints can be found at any arts and craft section in Walmart, Hobby-Lobby type store. They also come in gloss which is an enamel based paint but with the features of acrylic. It too matches colors found on RRs.

  3. Matching colors…this is no problem, with color charts found on the various websites, Walthers catalog and other sources one can match these with any military color and RR color. One could go so far as to label the paints with the listings from paint samples.

  4. Application and durability… airbrush mixes go on a little thinned at higher psi, about 40-60 psi and hand brushed on with a little water to thin the paint. You will find this type of paint will stick to almost any surface, it will weather nicely, and you can mix it with powered chaulk to flatten ( remove all reflectiveness ) and mix the black and grays with powdered pencil lead to "metalize " plastic or wood to make it look like metal, i.e. my plastic bridge sections now look rusted and weathered after this treatment.
    After each coat which should be several thinned applications, dry the paint with a hairdryer set on LOW heat, this acts like a poor man’s paint bake shop and will set the paint. After several hours the paint will be rock hard and will not come off very easily.

  5. Experimenting and kid’s projects.
    Don’t be afraid to play around with colors and surfaces to paint, if you make a mistake and the paint is still wet

2

John,

Good of you to list your tips as we have a lot of Newbie’s onboard.

10-4!

3

Just one problem - it is NOT possible to match any color by mixing paint together. It depends on the pigment and what you are mixing as to how close you will get. (from 9 years painting HO for American manufacturers!)

4

Just a notation here directed at the non-believers…with no intent to jump anyone’s case, if you get my drift ! I have been painting all hobby- related kits, scratch-built and more than I can think of or possible list since I was about 8 years old, that’s a few years and I discovered much to my surprise that experimentation with colors and the release of new colors all the time in the case of the ones I mentioned it is possible to have an exact match for all but the the most finite colors, maybe even them with a bit of experimentation. An example would be that I want a match with Navy gloss blue for WW II aircraft, well it’s available through the type of paints I mentioned as well as exact matches for UP, SP, BNSF …shall I go on ?
Military colors all match as I prefer exact matches with British armor that was used in North Africa, granted I had to make reference to each piece of armor as ther British had a camo theme for everything as did the German army. Try matching those armies.
Well, enough said, and the ney-sayers are entitled to their opinions, while I maintain a complete inventory of paints ( applicable to my hobby needs ) and get compliments from those in the know with color.
By the way, the three tone Navy camo found on the PBY 5-A can be found right off the shelf in the colors I mention. One has to look and be willing to mix and match on occasion but most colors are ready to go if one looks hard enough. Hobby-Lobby stores carry at least 4 lines of acrylic paints, and Walmart at least 3. Together they supply many hobbyists, people just need to get away from the many manufacturers that supply matching paints that are higer priced…

johncpo…the yard-dog

5

I’ve been using the craft store paints regularly now.

IMHO I can’t say that I’ll agree with the “stick to any surface” part. If you’re working with metal or plastic use a primer first.

-slim

6

John,

You stated some good points, however regarding paint matches in model railroading there are other factors involved. Often times a color, like UP’s Armour Yellow for example, will vary in hue, chroma, or value shading among several model railroad manufacturers.

I’ve seen UP Armour Yellow vary from a greenish-yellow to an orange-yellow depending on the manufacturer. I don’t have the specs in front of me but the amount of white, green, and red in this color can make the difference. The old Bachmann HO DDA40x Armour Yellow had so much red in it that the locomotive to me looked more orange than yellow.

I’m an experimenter myself, as I’ve been painting for over 20 years, however I’ve discovered that other than Pullman Green, I’ve had the best results with the railroad colors offered by the solvent based Floquil, Polly Scale Acrylic, and now Badger ModelFlex Acrylic. Also, you have to consider that less experienced airbrush painters would likely prefer to pay a little extra and get the accurate color to begin with.

I still have flat military colors and have noticed that they’re excellent for weathering, painting passenger car interiors, and structures.

Don’t take the comments here as “naysaying”. Your post has merit to it and your ideas are worth experimenting with. However, I must humbly point out to you that your closing comment was unrealistic:

Might not have been your intention but you seem to be taking an undeserved stab at these manufacturers.

For years modelers have been demanding more accurate railroad paint formulas. It’s not just for locomotives but frieght cars, passenger cars, Maintenance of Way vehicles, and industrial companies that own freight cars. After the 1980s, just as with loc

7

I don’t really like the Badger Modelflex paints to much. Whenever I use it on a flat surface, it doesn’t stay smooth and flat. Instead it bunches up into little beads, like water on glass.

8

where would I go to get an airbrush? I’ve always just keft the trains alone color wise.

9

Never had a problem with it.

What you’re describing happened to me years ago though when I first tried acrylics.

I found out later that surfaces must be CLEAN. Any waxes or oils or human sweat on the surface will cause the effect you just described. So even on a smooth surface I’ll scuff it lightly with a gray Scotch Pad, which is very fine, and then clean the surface with prep cleaner. That’s it. Also the airbrush pressure needs to be 25 pounds or higher.

10

Hey, that’s a great idea, send the newbies to WalMart first and forget about all of the custom RR acrylics that the hobby shops carry. Guess we really don’t need those custom paints that hobby shops carry.

11

Jador,

If you want a good quality airbrush I would suggest going with either a Badger 150 or a Paasche VL series. You can find quality airbrushes at hobby shops, art supply stores, automotive paint vendors, and even Ebay.

Wal-mart carries the low end airbrushes. They’re not bad if you’re going to perform weathering but I would not recommend them if you’re going to be painting regularly. The more expensive airbrushes, taken care of properly, will last you decades!

Let us know what you decide to do.

Cheers!

12

I’m thinking I’m going to paint alot, I’ve decided to personalize a train for my g/f(paint all the things she likes on each one of the cars) so that I maybe able to get her to let me expand my plans. right now my tracks are just on plastic, no scenery or anything, but I need a lot bigger layout for what I want. so basically, I need g/f points + I wanted to paint the cleaning train(basically it’s an old bachmann that has cleaning implements attached to all the cars)

13

Back to all the comments…great comments and I really do mean that, just conversing over a highly debated subject which is to do what is best for one’s self …eh

The manufacturers of the highly specialized paints do have a good product, and I did work for a HobbyTown USA store for a time and was in charge of odering paints, adheasives and all the plastic models and RR products we all use. As a result I did sell a great deal of the high-end paints to the customers who were in search of accuracy, and several times purchased the same myself to experiment with various colors, so I do have experience with them.
I did a great amount of comparing one to the other and found that each color straight from the bottle has its variations from product to product.

14

As someone just starting in airbrushing, I appreciate you taking the time to publi***he tips. I bought a Paasche H series this week for my first attempts. I also got an assortment of Floquil and Polly S paints. Is a spray booth with external venting a pre-requisite if you stick with acrylics? Also, can anyone recommend a video on airbrushing basics? I have a lot of built-up buildings that aren’t good enough to put on my layout but will certainly offer me test subjects to practice on.

15

acrylics are non-toxic you shouldnt need a pain booth , just something to keep the dust off the engine while the pain is trying, and they seem to recommend using a hair dryer to speed up drying, and that alone should keep all the dust off of it.

16

Regardless of what kind of paint you use. It doesn’t take long for paint overspray to lightly coat everything in a room.

Choose you work location well. You will get the best results by working in an area that is well ventilated and has a room temp of about 70 degrees.

You might want to make an inexpensive paint booth using a large cardboard box, furnace filters, a flexible dryer vent hose, a cheap exhaust fan, a lazy susan, and some duct tape. Oh yeah, don’t forget some extra lighting.

You can kick things up a notch by buying a commercial paint both. A neighbor lady bought a Testors spray paint booth for about $350. It was pretty slick. It included a fan and lighting. The whole thing could be folded flat when not in use. I think that if I was going to airbrush very often, a good spray booth would be a good investment.

17

I just make sure to do the painting outside - on a warm, dry day all you need is an old cardboard box to stop the paint from going over your garden and maybe some tape to hold the items in place and stop them getting blown away. Regarding undercoating, I’ve found the Games Workshop/Citadel Minatures range of spray cans to be very effective - they offer black and white (intended for undercoating wargaming minatures) which give a good finish on pretty much any surface, and make a great undercoat for more expensive products like Tamiya sprays. I’ve not yet tried airbrushing though I plan to in the future - one project I’m working on will need a top coat that’s only available as a bottle rather than a can.

18

bumping, so I can find this easily

19

Yea! You can’t beat those craft store acrylics @ $.43 for a four ounce bottle. If you can get your hands on a pantone color chart from a print shop and match the 9 or so base colors to stock craft store colors, you can accuately mix any of the couple thousand colors in the book. The books show the color in gloss and flat. The books new are $75
but print shops update them every year for accuracey and usually have old ones around
they’ll part with for a little beer money.
loathar

20

Remember though, guys. Even with Acrylic (water based) paints, you should wear a respirator as acrylics still contain components that are not friendly to humans.

I shouldn’t be writing this, but another trick you can do is if you have no respirator on hand, paint in a screened patio or even outside and place a small electric fan behind you running at low speed to blow the mists and fumes away from your body.

Guys, I was a professional painter for years and let me tell you that this stuff, solvent or water based, will gradually damage your nervous system!

Stay safe!