Pretty much any rattle can from a hardware store will lay down way to thick and obsure details on a model train. You can get a very nice clone of the Pasche air brush from Harbor Freight for under $20 last I looked. I have been using mine for years and love it. A proper compressor is also a thing very worth spending the $$ on. I have a Badger brand air brush compressor and I believe HF has them as well. The Scalecoat and Tamiya rattle cans are better, but still way to thick in the layer of paint they lay down, especially on brass. To me, the only good way to paint model trains is with an air brush mated to a proper compressor(not the cans of propellent). You want a high gloss finish if you are going to be doing any decaling. After the decals are done and dry, then you can overcoat with a flat or satin clear overcoat. Scalecoat comes in 1 and 2. One of the two is for metal/brass and the other is safe for use on plastic. Make sure you get the correct version for the model you are painting. There is also Tru Color and Badger’s Modelflex brands of paint out there. There are several good how to video series on youtube for painting brass and plastic models. They cover the proper prep work prior to painting(very important if painting a brass model), stripping paint and take you all they way thru finishing the model and weathering.
Put me in the acrylics camp. No fumes and easy to clean. I use Vallejo and Protopaint. The latter is now harder to find but in my opinion much better in quality. It is airbrush ready - brush painting is possible, with several coats.
About the clogging issue, the easiest solution is to 1) if it’s older paint, filter it first; 2) between coats, clear the nozzle with distilled water kept in a spare bottle. Just change the bottle and clear the airbrush by spraying on a rag. Block the nozzle a few times to allow the air to clear the system in the other direction. Also make sure that the paint is of the appropriate thickness - it should have the thickness of canned milk. Spray on a piece of wood first to check.
As for the steps, I would only add that you forgot to add the weathering step at the end [:)].
Simon
Hi, Matt
For the Scalecoat One, which I primarily use on brass models, I bought the Scalecoat thinner. My reasoning being that I didn’t want to risk having paint problems on a $500 - $1000 brass model by going cheap with the paint compatibility issues.
For the Scalecoat Two I used commercial “paint thinner” (not lacquer thinner) and I’ve had excellent results using this as a thinner.
You can search online sources and get many opinions and different “formulas” for Scalecoat thinner substitutes and there may be some merit to these. Some include naptha, xylene and a few other chemicals. By the time you buy all that stuff and do your own mixing, trying to keep the proportions exact it just seems like a lot of extra guesswork that may result in less than ideal results.
I certainly don’t use the expensive Scalecoat thinners for clean up. When used strictly for thinning your paint a little goes a long way. I still have a few ounces of my first pint remaining and I’ve painted many projects over the past few years since I began using Scalecoat.
One more hint. Resist the temptation to return thinned paint to the original bottle.
That can lead to gummy, curdled paint after a short while. I’ve
Oh, and it’s time and money well spent to make a proper spray booth. There have been some very good threads on the theory and practice- even very simple construction in cardboard and furnace filters can get you ‘in the game’.
I see this thread go ressurected, so thought I would ‘ammend’ my answer.
Only adjusting points that have changed.
3 - I have switched over to Vallejo primer on cases needing primer 90% of the time. It’s airbrush ready, acrylic based primer that goes on smooth and level. Clean up is very easy.
4 - While ModelFlex is still my “normal”, I have tried Tru-Color, and though it is acrylic, it is acetone based. The consistancy and smoothness is a bit beter than Modelflex. (Almost* as smooth as Laquer based enamels.)
8 - I have switched to using a gloss coat followed by a finish coat. (Semi, mate, dead flat.) The gloss coat after the decals seems to help hide the edges just a bit better than going straight to finish (dull) coats.
Bonus points:
Spray booth is a definite plus, and still use all PPE. Just like the big 1:1 railroads, “Safety Begins With YOU” and can not be stressed enough.
Only other tips I can think of:
Between coats of different brands, allow to fully cure. (No odor of paint.) This will help prevent any issues with reactions. “Fully Cured” is different from “dry to the touch.” (Can take days depending on humidity.)
Test your paint brands on expendable models first if switching between brands, to make sure no unwelcome things occur.
(Vallejo Primer has not seemed to react with either ModelFlex nor tru-Color. But I still allow full cure anyways.)
Thinning either Modelflex or craft-store acrylics - Use acrylic airbrush medium, and distilled water (80-20) with a drop of acrylic flow aid. Tru-Color has their own thinner, and it works best with their paint.
This is a timely subject for me as I am about to tackle repainting an old locomotive as a test before I get an new undecorated one. I have used an airbrush for many years on buildings but never rolling stock.
I still have Floquil bottles that I will be using. How long does that need to dry between coats when applied properly with an airbrush?
What is the purpose of the primer? Is it to promote adhesion or for uniform color? I have never used it on buildings.
Rick
You can’t say that loud enough.
Never return thinned paint back to the bottle of new paint.
-Kevin
I don’t do much painting, but these are my steps.
Strip model with 90% alcohol and finish with a toothbrush, rinse.
Paint with flat color (which usually stick as well as primers)
Apply glosscote with a brush under the areas I want to decal.
(weathering is optional)
Then finish with dullcote to dull the glossy decals and provide a uniform coat.
This minimizes the number of paint layers.
Maybe that has something to do with which paint. I have bottles of Floquil that were thinned and returned to the bottles 20 years ago. I can still use them.
Rick
If using SAME color, dry to the touch before next coat. If masking for seperate color, whatever specified on bottle/by manufacturer for “Mask in…” time.
Switching brands or type? (Clear over top of color, different brand for second color, etc…) Then totally cured before next layer. (No paint smell at all.)
Primer - Especially useful for even color coating on models with details added that are not base color, as well as helps adhere better, as it is usually more “sticky” compared to normal colors.
I have some bottles of Model Master paint that I thinned the entire bottle and then returned the unused portion to the bottle, and this has been fine.
My biggest problems were with returning a thinned amount of Scalecoat II into a bottle of the same colour, unthinned.
-Kevin
I’m surprised that I’d not seen this thread sooner.
You’ve already received some good suggestions, but I’ll throw in my two cents worth anyways.
When I first bought an airbrush, a Paasche dual action, I followed the instructions in the accompanying literature, which suggested that a good exercise to learn control of the paint was to try to create the smallest dots of paint possible. I practiced this on some flattened cardboard boxes from the supermarket. Once I learned how to make very small dots, the next suggestion was to place them in a pattern (you could draw it out in-pencil if necessary)…I opted for a simple grid.
This exercise was to teach control of the airbrush, and the object of it was to create lines as thin and straight as possible, as if they had been done with a pencil and straightedge.
I made several tries before getting one with which I was satisfied, and while I proudly kept it for years, it’s long gone. The lines did look like they’d been done with a ruling pen and straightedge, and the dots were so small that they were almost covered by the thin lines. If I had to try repeating that today, I’d definitely be embarrassed.
The only rattle can I’ve ever used that impressed me at all was Tamiya’s grey primer - it offers great coverage and airbrush-like application.
While I originally used Floquil’s grey primer (now long gone) my current choice is lacquer-based, airbrush-ready Alclad II - great coverage and quick drying, too.
I can’t recommend any particular brand of paint, as the ones I liked most have been discontinued.
For clear finishes, my preference is Testor’s Dullcote and Glosscote. Both are lacquer-based, and for airbrushing, lacquer thinner works well for thinning both - I usually use it 50/50, or perhaps just a little less thinner.
You can also mix Dullcote and Glosscote, in varying proportions, to create an infinite number of semi-gloss finis