I got some Testors rust colored paint (enamal) to weather my kadee couplers. Unfortunatly I think i ruined one set by brush painting them. How do you usually weather kadee couplers so they still work?
I think most guys use an airbrush or spray can paint.
There are two things that have to be kept in mind. First assuming we are talking about the “standard” Kadee #5 you do not want paint to gum up and restrict the small spring at the side of the coupler. And of course you do not want to gum up the moving knuckle. If you used Testors right out of the bottle it was likely too thick and may have caused both kinds of harm. I suppose it would also be possible to thicken the coupler shaft so that it no longer swings freely in the draft gear box. And if paint gets on the coupler base you would want to re-burnish it as recommended on the Kadee packaging.
A quick light spray with an airbrush or spray can rarely caused problems for me. I do not brush-paint my couplers. When i say quick, if I use a rattle can of red or olivedrab primer I just make one or two rapid passes from a good distance from the coupler itself. I am not looking to apply a solid color just a tinge of weathering.
My sense is that except for cars which have been inactive and outdoors for a long period of time, few couplers get truly solid red or solid reddish brown. Most couplers are just “dark” – you’d be hard pressed to say they are black or dark gray or brown, just a sort of generic dark, with a few highlights of dark rust. That is why I like weathering powders.
In the alternative a very quick pass with a rattle can of flat reddish primer might get the general feel of a coupler. If done lightly enough there should be no need to remove the spring first but it is not a bad idea to flex the knuckle regularly after any weathering.
Dave Nelson
I use a brush and am very carefull about how much paint I put on the places where the coupler pivots, (meaning I dry brush the top and bottom of the coupler). Even so it’s possible at times some paint will work it’s way into the action of the coupler. However, I’ve always found that I can break the action loose, work the action many times and everything will be just fine. You could use chalk; or, put a small dab of oil on the pivot to protect it from paint getting into the action. Mostly just be careful.
You don’t need to go out an buy an airbrush for this operation. Just be carefull with the paint.
Hi!
One of my favorite paints is Testors / Model Master “rust”. That, with “flat black” works very nicely - IMHO - for weathering trucks and KDs.
I will have 3 open containers - Rust, FLat Black, and Thinner - and dab my brush from one to the other and painting the couplers.
The trick is to use a very thinned out mixture, and apply it sparingly to the outside of the coupler - even less on the hinge area. After I do a car - or coupler - I’ll go back in 15 minutes or so and work them to assure they don’t “glue” themselves shut. This is definitely one time where less is better, and the thinner the paint, the better.
ENJOY !!!
I brushg painted all mine, I don’t have an airbrush, plus they were already on cars so maskign them off to use a spray can would have been slightly crazy. I wasn;t particualrly careful, rather I generally slopped the paint on pretty good to get in all the crevices. Not dripping all over the place sloppy, but trying to put on a real thin coat like you’d do for ordinary painting resulted in lots of skipped spots. What I did was wait a little while for the pait to start to dry and then moved the couplers to loosen them. Some still ended up stuck - however, you just have to workt hem back and forth a few times and they loosen right up. The initial breaking of the paint may need some effort - in which case support the shank of the couler and move the knuckle via the air hose, or you might damage the model fromthe force applied…
–Randy
A thing I noticed about painting Kadees is that water based paints work a lot better.
When I used Floquil the coupler gummed up. When I used Polly Scale it worked great. Now I only use Polly Scale for couplers.
My self, I use powered chalk. Then a quick hit with dull coat.
Cuda Ken
Flat spray paints have considerable “tooth” when they dry. After you’ve weathered a coupler with them it is a good idea to use some thinner to clean the paint off of the face of the knuckle. This is because Kadee coupler knuckles are supposed to slide against each other when cars are being coupled and if there is too much friction between the knuckles there won’t be a smooth connection.