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Video: How to paint couplers
A neat trick, and oh, so simple!
A better (cheaper) way to hold couplers for painting is a strip of coragated cardboard, all that stuff you have for building landscaping, with the corrigation ends exposd simply sick the coupler shafts into every other corrigation and then paint.
Perhaps it should be mentioned that it is not permitted to paint couplers on the prototype, this is to assure that inspection for hair line cracks and other damage is not hidden under cosmetic coatings.
I think the idea is not so much to PAINT the coupler a certain color, but rather to simulate the rust and weather beaten look of the prototype.
I thought it is a good idea to simulate the rust on a coupler,it’s a lot more realistic than the shiny black that they come in,
Thank you!
thanks for the good tip. i really like the idea of using the silver sharpy
Thank you!
Question:
Where the kuckle couplers hit each other when coupling wouldn’t that area be shiney???
Great information!!
très très bien good job
jlb
Very nice detail, and very easy really…
Thanks for the tip! I have ruined many couplers before trying to paint them.
Short and simple - my kind of project.
Nice job
I first smooth the striking face of the knuckle with a small 4" jewelers single-cut file to remove the horizontal casting parting line, and repeat this lightly on the little lip on the backside of the knuckle with a very fine 3" jeweler file.
Then I always shine up the striking face of the knuckle with a pencil (slippery graphite) to allow two cars to couple up smoothly.
Then the locomotive can slowly back into a single car without pushing it down the rail. There’s no need to bump into it to couple up.
That’s a great idea about keeping the paint thin as not to gum up the works.
The intros & outros to these videos give a ‘‘This Old House’’ feel, which makes me feel like I could immediately do the described project very easily!
Cody, How much do you thin the paint? 75/25 or do you go thinner?