Have any of you equipped a machine shop and what paint colors produce the most realistic metal surfaces? My latest project, building the Janesville, Wisconsin, engine house from the IHC O scale “Big 2 stall Engine House” kit is coming along nicely. I’m shortening the stalls by one section of a pair of brick window panels, then mounting them alongside to make a full-length shop/office wing. I’ve planned to do this since I first saw the modular construction and have now reshaped the new end walls of the wing. It’s a bit complicated, but I’m having a ball!
Right at the time I bought the kit, 20 years ago, I sent for the literature of Western Scale Models, who had been reproducing the belt-driven machinery of the Sierra Railroad’s Jamestown, CA, shops. They’ve moved on to logging machinery, but I’ve found a kit for a belt-driven lathe and a radial drill press (beautifully made by 3D printing!). The lathe kit consists of pewter castings, but the drill press, being “built” on a 3D printer, is some sort of plastic. The photos of the drill press, installed in a frame structure, is very realistic, as is the belt-driven grinder standing nearby, but I have no idea what paints can be used to produce realistic-looking metal surfaces. I know darn well that silver paint won’t do the job!
I’ve always started out using silver on metal parts, then used diluted black and or reddish brown to give the parts that weathered used or dirty look. Sorry but that’s as far as my experience goes… Good luck on finding what you’re looking for.
“Ways” and “tables” are, indeed, metallic. But they’re far from shiny metal looking. You could probably do well with greys, with perhaps a metallic tint.
This, assuming you paint the machinery in appropriate colors. Grey, green, etc.
Take a look at Tamiya Acrylic paint, can be brushed on or air-brushed, which is what I usually do. The X denotes gloss and XF denotes flat. Some of the flats and gloss alike are Metallic. Look out of the box for what You seek…like trying Millitary colors for what You want…there are all kinds of colors to choose from:
Been using their paint for about 30 yrs. and I like it…even made a lot of old Floquil colors by mixing My own. Look at XF-56 which is flat metallic grey for what You want.
Take Care! [:D]
Frank
PS: The steel framing for this scratch bulit structure was air-brushed with XF-Metallic Grey, also the steel coils and many other parts were painted using Tamiya Acrylics:
Model Master’s Metallizer paints to a credible job of simulating metal, but are petroleum based and require an airbrush to apply as the paint is quite thin.
It does a great job of creating a metallic sheen without the sparkle of metallic paints.
There are a number of colors to represent different types of metals. They should work fine on 3-D printed parts as they’re designed for use on plastics. Some of them can be buffed to a shine, but the clear coat Model Master sells seems to dull that shine.
Thanks, guys. I thought about military model paints, but it’s always nice to know what to look for. I’ll check out our local Hobby Town U.S.A., as I’m pretty sure one of the guys there does that sort of thing–we’ve talked before when I started going out there to order stuff for the engine house. I’d dealt with them several times before and they aren’t averse to ordering things for me. This time, I ordered Plastruct brick sheets to line the interior walls, buying a lot of styrene strips and sheets from their ESM display–which they refill and reorder regularly. We think the owner of the other LHS is thinning down with his eye on retirement.
I’ll see what they have from your suggestions and won’t hesitate to ask (the other guy is sometimes UN-helpful). My Crow River belt-driven lathe is 23 exquisite pewter castings, so the metal surfaces are pretty much ready, just need signs of lubrication–and use. I haven’t received my 3D-printed radial drill press yet, but that one will need to be painted to look like steel.
The Testors Model Master Metalizers are a wonderful paint for metal surfaces. Yes, they must be airbrushed. Also, if you apply too much the surface will “Craze” as it dries and ruin the finish.
Thanks Kevin-and Frank, for the recommendation of Model Master Metalizer paints. I received my Shapeways radial drill press, which is made on a 3D printer. It’s amazingly detailed–1/4" scale gear teeth, including bevel gears, hand wheels, cranks (with tiny handles!) are all there–so delicate I was afraid to even take it out of the zip-lock bag! It will have to be airbrushed, as I’d thought from the start, to avoid clogging details such as gear teeth, and the main column and horizontal arm can be brush-painted machinery grey. Even better news is that my local Hobby Town U.S.A. should have it in stock–and i can consult with them about application.
