Painting & Weathering Models (Tips & Tricks)

I am creating this thread as a follow-up to the excellent thread created by Brandon about painting his first model. I feel this to be a broad category that I hope everyone seizes the opportunity share their ideas about painting and weathering models including locomotives, rolling stock, buildings, backdrops, and about anything else one could think of.

We have many excellent modelers on this forum who a proficient in many different mediums and techniques. Everyone please post questions and I'm sure you will get some excellent answers.

 

One of the best teaching instruments in how to paint a steam locomotive can be found here. It's a $27.00 investment but it is worth its weight in gold. It has so much information!

Click Here: How to Paint a Steam Locomotive

 

Some excellent articles on painting and weathering freight cars, passenger cars, and structures can be found here:

www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com

Click on the: "Building a Layout in On30" for the tips and information.

OPPS: I seemed to have the wrong link - IT is: "Some Mechanics of On30"

 

Just an observation from me for what it's worth (which isn't much)...
For me, Testors spray laquers produce better results than Testors acrylic paints in the little bottles.
Maybe I just don't know what I'm doing (seriously).

 

List this one as "An Experiment," rather than a tip or trick ....

I've posted 3 photos in my "Models & Weathering" album, showing a quick technique I thought I'd try.

Probably a lot of us have some easy kits stashed away somewhere - Accurail, Athearn blue boxes, Roundhouse, etc. It's fun for the cars to have at least a little weathering treatment on them, but sometimes there is so much to do, it's tough to get motivated to even start.

My goal is to have trucks and wheels weathered along with the car body. Today, I took a step in that direction. Progress!

I lined up the plastic trucks on a piece of scrap styrofoam, held them in place with toothpick halves, and misted them with a few shots of common Rusty brown and Black flat spray paint.

I still intend to do further weathering, including Bragdon powders, dry brushing, and/or washes. And I will eventually paint the faces of the wheels, too. But it will be nice to see these finally-built cars riding on trucks with just a bit of weathering a little sooner. The paint knocks down the plastic shine, and it makes the molded-in details pop.

I'd love to know what quick fixes others use, too!

Is anyone bringing weathering examples to Springfield this weekend? (If not, please post some photos!)

- Bruce

 

I am interested in removing some testors enamle paint from a couple of locos I painted. I wasn't 100% satisfied with the results. I want to repaint them with testors spray lacquer. http://www.testors.com/faq#4 says that I can use Easy-Off oven cleaner. I wanted to ask the folks at Frisco.org if Easy-Off oven cleaner is really a good product for what I'm trying to do. Here's the info from Testors' website:

4. How do I remove paint from my model?
Enamel Paint Removal
To remove dried enamel film you may use PollyScale Easy Lift Off Remover No. F542143. Please see instructions above under the Acrylic Removal section.
You may also use Easy-Off Oven Cleaner. We recommened the Fragrance Free version of the product. The procedure for removel is the same as the above one for PollyScale Easy Lift Off Remover or ELO.

 

Here is a great tutorial from the owner of Downtown Deco Models on how to assemble, paint & weather hydrocal structure kits:


http://www.downtowndeco.biz/site/?p=901

 

The one solid consensus that I found about stripping factory or custom paint is that...there is no one solid consensus. (Gee thanks...just kidding) It looks like the stripping product to use depends on the model manufacturer (type of plastic, type of paint, etc). I have 3 HO "Industrial Rail" rolling stock items (gondola, livestock car, and box car). I bought them a few years ago at Hobby Town USA. They are still MIB but only cost me $2.99 each + tax. I care nothing about the road names. They have hook horn couplers on trucks (I have transition cars BTW). Best of all...they were made in China. Needless to say, I'm ok with using one or all of them for guinea pigs for my first paint stripping projects. Apparently Atlas bought "Industrial Rail" a few years ago. I have no way of knowing when my items were made. They could have been made before or after the purchase but I suspect "before." I'm thinking of trying an alcohol soak first. If that doesn't work, then pinesol, then Easy-off, then brake fluid, then commercial strippers. One question...what about a soak in good ole, regular, every-day, cheap, paint thinner? I haven't read anything about paint thinner so I'm guessing it doesn't work but I wanted to ask.

 

Pretty much melt it!

Tom

 

I have a product called Plasticstrip which use to be manufactured by somesone back in Ohio. It is a purple colored liquid that can be use over and over again. It will not harm any of the plastics used in our models and it works very fast, takes about 1 hr. there is no copyright or patten on this stuff, so I am trying to get it analyzed so more of it can be made. I do know it is not alcohol or brake fluid, or automatic transmiision fluid. Mike or Ken can either of you help me get this stuff analyzed ? The stuff is actually Castrol Super Clean Degreaser, can be purchased in any automotive parts shop.

 

Use the Easy Off in the kitchen sink. It works very good with an old toothbrush.

 

Don't use paint thinner! It will definitely eat up a plastic model, and so will anything else with acetone in it. If your not too concerned about perfection just spray over the old paint job with a flat coat of primer. After it dries just paint your model the way you want it to look. I use grey primer myself because most any color will cover it up well. FYI, grey primer coated gondola cars are good replicas of MOW equipment.
FriscoGeorge

 

I've known several modelers who more or less considered the old paint's surface, after sanding or steel wooling, to be a "primer," especially if the original paint wasn't glossy.

Tom