Painting a GE44 tonner - How crazy should I go?....

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wheeler1963 said:
Ian, how much trouble were the front handrails coming off on yours?? I think the Chinese guy at the factory was getting high on superglue on the first one I did tonight!!!!
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:D

I gotta be honest, "no trouble" would be the short answer - Given your rubber cement comment I didn't start pulling and pushing at 'em until the paint was off - My theory being the alcohol may have softened the glue - Dunno if that's true, but it was certainly easier to see the mounting pins once the paint was gone. Then, as noted, I pushed them out from the underside with the tip of a pair of tweezers......

The eagle eyed may have noticed (pic #3, post #3) one of the side rails is missing a pin, but I put that down to operator error......

RW&C - Thanks for the comments on formats - I agree - I reckon in our tiny sizes it's more a question of which is easier to use in the layout program. I'm hoping to have a "sample" sheet posted for comment later today.

Cheers,
Ian
 
diburning said:
The GE 44-tonners, depending on the production run, came in many different colors. They molded them in yellow, red, and green plastic. Those were mostly the dual-motor versions. The did that so that they didn't actually have to paint them and therefore won't mask any of the details with paint. (the rest of the decorations were pad printed on)

Later productions with the single motor (both Spectrum and Bachmann Blue Box) were molded in black plastic. The current Bachmann 44-tonner has been demoted to Bachmann Blue Box (I don't know why, the details are decent). The early Bachmann Blue Box locos were DCC ready with a plug equipped, the later and current production Bachmann Blue Box locos have DCC on-board (made by Lenz)
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Boy I hope they molded some in blue, I've had my shell in the alcohol for a day and a half and that stuff isn't budging! I am however, using "used" alcohol for the process, maybe I need to splurge the whole $2 and buy a fresh bottle of 91%!!
 


Look on the inside of the shell.... is it blue on the inside as well? If so, then the plastic is blue! (They don't paint the inside of the shell)
 
Dating myself a bit, but from the old Guiness commercials, BRILLIANT! Yes, the underside of the shell is blue...duh.:o

Ok, the shell is a different color blue, close, but not quite. Off to the store for more iso...
 
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jasonelki said:
...Ok, the shell is a different color blue, close, but not quite. Off to the store for more iso...
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And?......

I've learnt that Polyscale acrylic "grimy black" isn't actually black :(

And my green (Tamiya) is also way too dark :(

It's still a fun project though :)

Cheers,
Ian
 
Ian, it's always best to paint a test strip of something when your trying a new paint to see how it actually looks applied and dried. I know, a little late for that one huh???
 
wheeler1963 said:
Ian, it's always best to paint a test strip of something when your trying a new paint to see how it actually looks applied and dried. I know, a little late for that one huh???
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Yep - another lesson learnt!...... I had 5 (!) different "blacks" to choose from and was going with good ol' semi-gloss initially. Then I thought "grimy black" must be *perfect* for this..... Oops! It actually looks so "wrong" I'm gonna go over it with semi-gloss (or maybe even gloss?)

The green isn't actually as dark as it seems in the pix - I've (obviously) already done the stripe, and that's not getting re-done!

Without getting personal (!), did your hand rails ever come out?

Cheers,
Ian
 


Grimy Black is the dark gray that you would see on steam engines. Polly Scale Engine Black also isn't exactly pitch black, but pretty close once it's gloss/dullcoted.
 
diburning said:
Grimy Black is the dark gray that you would see on steam engines.
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I wish they'd called it "steam engine gray"! :)

My own silly fault! - I even spray a piece of styrene first to check paint flow etc - I *now* know to check the color as well!

Any idea what "aircraft interior black" might be?

Absent any other ideas I think semi-gloss is the way to redo it?

Cheers,
Ian
 
diburning said:
I don't know... I've never seen a black aircraft interior before :D
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*Exactly* my point! :D [It's Model Master #4767 btw]

In addition to whatever that is, I've got Model Master gloss & semi-gloss blacks "in stock". [I've also got Tamiya gloss and flat - And the yellow & green is Tamiya - FWIW]

wheeler1963 said:
Floquil's engine black. Doesn't get any blacker than that.
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Pardon my ignorance, is Floquil enamel? [If I can't clean up with water, I'm not putting it in my airbrush!..... ;)]

The Tamiya blacks are pretty good IMHO - I just dunno if it should be gloss or semi gloss or flat - I'm actually leaning towards gloss and then "weathering" it with dullcote - Thoughts?

Cheers,
Ian
 
wheeler1963 said:
no, it's a lacquer, sorry can't help you on that one then.
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No problem! I've decided to go with Model Master gloss black and will then pull it back with Dullcote as needed......

Incidentally, and somewhat on topic, I've never noticed railroad guys using the (lacquer based!) Alcad II system [a quick Google will find 'em, no affiliation btw] - They do some awesome "metal" finishes that I reckon are appropriate in places - Their various types of aluminum are great for example.

Cheers,
Ian
 
Disaster! :(

So, I got some good black over the "grimy black" (sic!) and pulled all the masking tape (Tamiya btw) off.

Didn't come out bad at all. Then I noticed the residue left behind by the tape - Soapy water didn't seem to want to touch it so I was searching thru the stash of "thinners" for something that might work and one dripped - Right onto the stripe! :mad:

It got launched across the shop of course.... I'll post some pix once I find it!

Grrr.......

Cheers,
Ian
PS - Anyone know anything that will remove this residue without toasting the paint (Tamiya acrylic)? I've used it extensively in the past, and am sure I never had this problem..... I'm pissed!
 


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