Custom-Painted Locomotives


This used to be a Athearn F59PHI Metrolink engine. As I am trying to highlight and promote the Canadian Cadet Organization in Winnipeg, I repainted the engine and 15 Con-Cor Bi-Level coaches white and printed off decals on my printer. I just went to Staples and found self-adhesive labels for inkjet printers and played around with the images until they fit properly.

I know I know...the labels are crooked....I plan to fix this soon...just haven't had much time lately to work on them....
 
That's a great idea, is it going to be permenant or do you plan to change it back after the promotion is over? Where are you going to display it? Will it be a static display or running? Hey come on now we need more details. :D

__Willis___CB&CNSfan
 
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I plan on taking this consist out at every show that I can. I always bring some recruiting pamphlets with me to the shows just incase someone asks me about the program.

This consist is trackworthy and is so different from mainline consists. My club encourages out of the box thinking...

I should probably finish painting the rest of the coachs this week before the Great Canadian Train Show....
 
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Well good luck on the promotion and recruiting Marc, I love the crest, is it the Per Ardua Ad Astra crest? I'll make a prediction, if you don't do good on recruiting cadets, you'll sure encourage recruits for the Model Railroading clubs, My prediction is you'll do good for both.
Cheers Willis
 
It's actually the Air Cadet League crest. I also have cars with the Army and Sea Cadet League crests. Once I repaint them, I'll upload some shots of the complete consist.
 
I use the branded thinner for actually thinning the paint, whether it be Scalecoat II or Floquil or Model Master paint. For cleaning up, which uses a great deal more solvent, I break out the jug of lacquer thinner.

One reason for not using craft paints through an airbrush is the pigments aren't ground as finely as a more expensive "artist" or model paint. There are more imperfections in the quality and consistency of the pigments, which makes their cost lower, but increases your chances of finding a chunk. It's not impossible to clean chunks out of a tip, but if you start out with a fine spray pattern tip, you may end up with a wide spray pattern airbrush!

If I'm not spraying with Scalecoat II, Model Master or Floquil, I'm using artist's oils. They come in tubes and are easily thinned in small disposable mixing cups (about the size of a Nyquil dosage cap) with turpentine. These paints are great for weathering because they can go on in such thin coats, they take a long time to dry which gives you time to work the finish and the colors you can mix with them are virtually infinite. Back in college I used to paint landscapes using an airbrush and oils and the results are quite nice. Incidentally, the diorama in my avatar image was painted with oils over Sculptamold hills, even though you can't really see it well in that tiny picture.

You don't need an expensive airbrush to paint. I got my Paasche model H for $45 several years ago and I bought one for my brother on ebay recently for $30. I picked up my compressor at Wal-Mart for just under $100 and it does the job nicely. I use that compressor for other jobs around the house, like inflating rafts for the pool or filling up low tires, etc. so I've been able to justify the expense. :) On top of that, the compressor was cheaper than my old "airbrush" compressor that didn't have a tank, was noisy, and could be counted on to "spit" water through the line in a matter of minutes.
 
When I was painting, I did it the hard way; by hand. Any irregularities were taken care of by light weathering. I really liked using Microscale decals, as I did not really have to trim them, so there was not a lot of clear film on the model to try to hide. I really did want to try using an airbrush with paint. As I am a bakery manager, I have had an opportunity to use an airbrush for cake decorating and am not intimidated by it. Yes, I know there is a difference between food coloring and paint, but the techniques are the same.
 
Wow! just about a course on painting. When I painted a few loco's and cars way way back in the late 70's I used the Floquill paints. They were a bit smelly but what a teriffic job they done even on my first attempt. From then on I was just too more involved with other things so model rail was all but forgotten, except for buying anything and everything I thought I might want on a layout some day. To cut to the chase, I was ready to paint some models again last fall. I found out that all the paints had changed for ecological and health reasons. At the Hobby shop ( now defunct) I followed the recommendations, purchased Polly S paint recommended because it could be thinned with water and cleanup was also with water. It certainly was a trying experience. I added the recommended water ( distilled ) amount for spraying and mixed it quite awhile as it seemed too thick to me. It plugged my pasche air brushes (all 3 of them ) that I hadn't used before, needless to say I was quite frustrated as even I couldn't have been that bad. I got one of my wife's nylons and strained the paint through that. I then got the old basic Miller brush that I did the first paint jobs with. Believe it or not it plugged too. So re straining ( more lumps ) I used the coarse needle and succeded in painting the 4 locos although they required a few touch up s here and there with a fine brush. It was a bad experience and I haven't tried painting since, in fact I'm somewhat chicken to start. I have 4 more loco's down stairs waiting for paint and when I get enough nerve, I have Modelflex paint to do the job. I suspect the paint I was sold might have been in the store for ages and was more jelly than paint. :D
Cheers Willis
 
Willis, if you bought Polly S (not Polly Scale) paint in your hobby shop recently, it had been there for ages. Polly S, and I know it's a little late to say it, is terrible. That stuff is guaranteed to do what it did to your airbrushes. Polly Scale paint is much better suited to airbrushing. Accu-paint is pretty much the consistency Dan (SDP45) is familiar with when he airbrushes cakes with food coloring. It's ink more than paint.

I'm still a solvent based paint guy. Floquil was my favorite for years because of the railroad specific colors available but it has been supplanted by Scalecoat II. It is a much easier paint to work with, there's never a grainy or rough finish (pretty much standard with Floquil if you didn't add glaze to it) and the colors are right on for the paint schemes I work with most often. Compare the SF red offered by Floquil and Scalecoat: one is a bright, glossy red, the other a dull, deep red. Scalecoat's bright red matches the as-delivered red on SF units much better.

Floquil did make two colors I really loved though: CNW green and CNW yellow. Both dried to a gloss finish (which is how I finish all my models) and sprayed thin with complete coverage. Not much more you can ask for in a paint.

I painted a KCS GP40-2LW with Model Master paints once and I was very pleased with it. Long before I modeled trains I built aircraft models, so Model Master and the regular Testors variety paints have always been in my paint bin. It happened that a friend who's a KCS expert recommended Model Master Medium Gray as a match for the KCS paint, so I used MM paints throughout.

One of these days I'll start using acrylic paints for my custom painting projects, but I've got lots of solvent based paint to use first.
 
Hi RC, well you've restored some of my faith in attempting a paint job this weekend. No kidding, I've been finding excuses to do a little more work on the locos before painting, now I've run out of excuses so I have to chance it no matter what. Glad to hear it was most likely the paint which in factwas Polly S, and not my air brushes. I thought it may have been the airbrushes not being able to handle the new type paints. The Polly S bottle is still downstairs to ensure I'll never buy another one. I was just looking at some Accupaint I bought some time ago, I think it's dried up and the bottles were never opened, still sealed in a plastic bag. I wrote to Floquill some time ago to ask them if the floquill solvent (Dio-Sol) I have was compatable with their new paints. Might have been me being confused, but the answer only mentioned how good their new paints were and that I should throw away all my old paint and switch, so I thought might as well forget them. Of course the one who answered the letter might never heard of Dio-Sol. That's when I got the Polly S from the hobby shop. I was told you can spray Modelflex right from the bottle so that was my next choice and an online friend claimed that's what he used with his Pasche copy. Since I have the Modelflex, and it's not old I'll try it on the frames first, they're easier to strip if necessary. My new supplier will be going to a show near here in mid Oct. so I'll get him to bring a bottle of floquill (Scalecoat II.) green for the next project a GP9 and maybe a few more colors too. I'm sure glad you posted the info, because maybe I can look forward to the weekend painting without a defeatist attitude.Guess I'd better logon to Floquill site and read their info. BTW if you might know, is the Dio-Sol any good with the new paints? One more question is the PollyscaleII finish good for decals? Being an oldtimer, I don't care what they put into the paint as long as it does a good job. Kind of makes me laugh though, they pick on the model people about their paint and ecology and health, Well on occaison usually twice a year I paint cars, and I can gaurantee you that the vapours from that stuff will slowly kill or maim you if you don't have the proper protection.
 
I don't think I've ever made a topic with so many replies. :D
 
I don't think I've ever made a topic with so many replies.
Hi Carlos, that's what it's all about, exchanging information and this thread contains a lot of good information. Glad you started it, I for one am getting a lot out of it
Cheers Willis

hmm! I need a spell checker :D
 
:D Just to reassure everyone --- "speling" and "gramer" don't count here! :D

Great topic! It's one I'm sure I'll refer to when the time comes.
 
CB&CNSfan said:
Hi RC, well you've restored some of my faith in attempting a paint job this weekend. No kidding, I've been finding excuses to do a little more work on the locos before painting, now I've run out of excuses so I have to chance it no matter what. Glad to hear it was most likely the paint which in factwas Polly S, and not my air brushes. I thought it may have been the airbrushes not being able to handle the new type paints.

Just bad paint, not your fault!:)

The Polly S bottle is still downstairs to ensure I'll never buy another one.

You can always use it for weathering. With an old brush, that is!

I was just looking at some Accupaint I bought some time ago, I think it's dried up and the bottles were never opened, still sealed in a plastic bag.

Hmm, maybe the seals had been broken on them already. That's pretty unusual for a "sealed" paint bottle, but I've had "new" bottles of Testors paint go bad like that before. Even a bottle of Scalecoat II.

I wrote to Floquill some time ago to ask them if the floquill solvent (Dio-Sol) I have was compatable with their new paints. Might have been me being confused, but the answer only mentioned how good their new paints were and that I should throw away all my old paint and switch, so I thought might as well forget them. Of course the one who answered the letter might never heard of Dio-Sol.

Ignore him. It will work fine. Dio-Sol will dissolve a lot of things!

That's when I got the Polly S from the hobby shop. I was told you can spray Modelflex right from the bottle so that was my next choice and an online friend claimed that's what he used with his Pasche copy. Since I have the Modelflex, and it's not old I'll try it on the frames first, they're easier to strip if necessary.

Many of my modeling heros are using the acrylic paints with great results, so I'd say the new acrylic paints are fine. Like I said, I still have loads of the solvent based stuff on hand, so until I use it or it goes bad, I'll just have to wait to try the acrylics. But, if you end up having to strip anything, my guess is 91% isopropyl alcohol will do the trick. Just keep the top on it when you aren't actually pouring it from the bottle because alcohol will absorb water from the air and become diluted pretty quick.

My new supplier will be going to a show near here in mid Oct. so I'll get him to bring a bottle of floquill (Scalecoat II.) green for the next project a GP9 and maybe a few more colors too.

Just to make sure I understand you correctly and that I'm not steering you in the wrong direction, Scalecoat II is a totally different brand and formulation than Floquil. Here's Scalecoat's web address:

http://www.weavermodels.com/page11.html

And the difference between Scalecoat I and II is that I is for brass and other metal surfaces while II is formulated for plastic.

I'm sure glad you posted the info, because maybe I can look forward to the weekend painting without a defeatist attitude.Guess I'd better logon to Floquill site and read their info. BTW if you might know, is the Dio-Sol any good with the new paints? One more question is the PollyscaleII finish good for decals? Being an oldtimer, I don't care what they put into the paint as long as it does a good job. Kind of makes me laugh though, they pick on the model people about their paint and ecology and health, Well on occaison usually twice a year I paint cars, and I can gaurantee you that the vapours from that stuff will slowly kill or maim you if you don't have the proper protection.

I'm just glad I can offer something back after taking so much inspiration and information over the years from guys like you! I know what you mean about the vapors. Back when I refinished fine furniture a friend and I spontaneously composed an opera about the Cuban revolution while stripping a 25 ft. long Cuban mohogany dining table of its 50 year old finish. Those vapors can make you downright loopy! :p :confused: :D :eek:
 
Carlos Perea said:
I don't think I've ever made a topic with so many replies. :D
Well, Carlos, in this case, it turned out good. On this discussion board, it always does. I posted a topic with many replies once on the old Atlas board and it turned into a flamefest! :eek: :eek: Anyway, I'm happy to participate, so keep the questions and comments coming!
 
Just to make sure I understand you correctly and that I'm not steering you in the wrong direction, Scalecoat II is a totally different brand and formulation than Floquil.

Hi RC, yes I guess I did have it a bit off track. No problem though I'm still interested in the Scalecoat II. I had a look at the site, instructions and all but I 'm wondering if it's an acrylic or an enamel paint. If you have to use their thinners or can I use the Dio-Sol with it. I also have a lot of reducers ( slow, fast, medium ) for automobile painting, can they be used. I haven't looked at the floquill site, I was think that Scalecoat was one of theirs
doh.gif
D'oh!
If I find a paint that does a job like the origional Floquill did, I go with it as I'll also have a lot of rollingstock to do.
Cheers Willis. :)
 
Scalecoat is better than Floquil, in my opinion. You don't have to add glaze to even out the paint like you'd have to with Floquil's ultra-flat colors. Scalecoat goes on very smooth with a gloss finish. That makes it ready for decals with no other surface preparation and it gives the locomotive the finish I like to use as a base for weathering.

I like a gloss finish because the sheet metal on a prototype locomotive is generally smooth and has a gloss finish. Sure, it doesn't last long, but it doesn't wear evenly, either. So, when I dull the finish I try to leave the gloss finish intact on the vertical faces of the locomotive. Freight cars are the same way, especially when new. Nothing looks more like painted metal than painted metal, but you are getting close if you have a glassy smooth finish. Dulling the finish can be done with an uneven surface, which can be accomplished with a higher air volume in your paint mix or by clear coating with a talc-infused lacquer (such as Dullcote). I prefer to use weathering to accomplish the dulling effect and try to stay away from rough finishes and Dullcote anymore, unless I'm painting the underframe/running gear, which I always treat as a separate assembly for painting anyway.

I don't know if you can use any thinner besides their proprietary thinner, but I didn't take a chance. I just bought a large can with my paint order when I made the leap to Scalecoat. I went direct through Walthers since I was living in Colorado at the time and wasn't near a hobby shop. I'll use whatever is cheapest to do the cleaning, but when mixing paints or thinning them I stick with one brand at a time. Besides, I'm all out of Dio-Sol!

For some reason, before I started using Scalecoat, I, too, thought it was part of the Floquil/Testors/Polly S family. I didn't realize it was offered by Weaver Models (don't they make O scale Geeps?) until I found their site.

Anyway, if you like Floquil, you should like Scalecoat.
 
if you like Floquil, you should like Scalecoat
Well it might sound like an oxymoron, but I liked Floquill so I'll order some Scalecoat ;) I have to send an order in before the Train Show next month, my supplier will be there, and I usually get him to bring my order with him. what I'll save on shipping will more than pay my admittanance. Ordering from Walthers from Canada is just about out of the question as they use UPS and the brokerage fees plus tax are a real killer. Cheaper to buy from the hobby shops, paint and thinners are illegal in the mail just to make it a little more difficult, so most likely they would be seized at customs. The hobby shops up here don't order directly from Walthers either but they have some sort of system that works. Found this out from a hobby shop owner who got skinned by brokery charges on his first order. I also have some other parts to order too but a top priority will be the large container of solvent.
I used Dullcoat on the thinned out Polly S paint jobs, it may be the only thing holding the paint on :D I like your idea on weathering, I believe I'll give it a try. Man I'm sure getting a lot of info this week Thanks again for your help and advice, it's appreciated. Click on Thumbs for pics


Cheers Willis
 
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wpgrailfan said:
I just went to Staples and found self-adhesive labels for inkjet printers and played around with the images until they fit properly.\


Do you have a part number or model number or something for the labels? I did a quick scan of Staples.com and couldn't seem to find something that would work.

Thanks.
 



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