I want to try my hand at painting. I guess the first question is what type of method airbrush or brushes? and next what is a good brand for paint? How should I seal it, Clearcoat or dull ? Where is a good place to get decals? Thanks for any advice you can give. James
James, Quite a few questions with lots of answers. The best way to paint models is using an airbrush, there are lots of models however I use an Aztec 200 which is simple to use and clean. There are also a wide range of acrylic paints to use. I use modelflex as it is thin without having to add thinners and the bottles fit straight onto the aztec brush. There are quite a few manufacturers of decals with the largest being microscale. You can buy decals online from their site as www.microscale.com. I suggest you start simple buy painting a cheap piece of rollingstock until you are sufficiently skilled on a locomotive. There are lots of topics in the inspection pit and also model specific forums. I'm sure others here will also have lots of good advice for you. Good luck, you wont regret trying it out as airbrushing and weathering models adds a whole new dimension to this hobby
Well Paul has covered all the bases I think. I use an Aztec airbrush as well, but I would like another Badger one, had to many probs with the Aztec, I did a lot of custom painting and the plastic parts are starting to wear out pretty bad! only thing I would recommend an internal mix airbrush, they tend to be slightly more expensive but do tend to give better results
With the paints for an airbrush, do you have to thin them out or can you just use it as is? How do you apply the decals?
Depends on the paint, most water based paints are ok right out the jar but I still prefer to thin them down a bit, best to have lots of thin coats than one thick one. As for the decals, they must be put on a gloss finish or they wont stick and the edges will be visable. I use Walthers Solvaset rather than the Microscale setting agents but some people find the Walthers one to powerful and can damage some decals.
