I am building the Hiawatha using brass car sides. I am up to painting. I am going to use Polly S paint. What does everyone using Polly S use for primer? Rob
Painting Instead of Polly-s I would use Scalecoat 2 if the model cant be baked at 175F to set the paint. The problem I'v had with ALL the water base paints is they dry in the airbrush causing a big cleaning problem. I would use Scalecoat 1 MofW Grey as a primer bake the car sides before attaching them to the rest of the car then use Scalecoat 2 for the colour. Scalecoat says "No Primer Needed" but the grey undercoat is a must anyway. Scalecoat dries with a high gloss ready for decals. After the decaks are set then use Testors Dull/Glosscote mixed as per your preference and thinned with Scalecoat2 thinner.
I painted some brass railing with Scalecoat (NOT Scalecoat II) paint once and let it sit in my garage for a few days during summer. That paint ain't ever coming off with normal (or even abnormal) handling!
Mr SP and board I am building the 47 Hiawatha in orange and maroon. The cars are already built without roofs. I have already bought Polly s, but I can return it. I was going to clean brass with alcohol. I have painted many locos and passenger cars made of plastic, but never brass. Thanks Rob
Rob, I am building a NP 408 coast pool train in N, using brass car sides on American Limited core kits. So baking them is not possible, as the sides are glued to the plastic roof and ends. I was not too sure about using water-based paint on the brass, so I gave the cars a coat of solvent based light gray (using Revell military colors, which are readily available here in Germany). So far the paint is holding up very nicely, but the cars are still under construction (4 currently in the shop with 3 more to come...) so they have not seen a lot of abuse on the layout. I can recommend solvent based paints to paint brass, but makes ure that you work safely and in a well ventilated area. Cheers Dirk
Thanks Dirk I'm going to have to get some other paint I guess. I just have to decide what! Thanks Rob PS Make sure you post some photos when you are finished!
Since the cars are built I would use Scalecoat 2. They make the Milw Orange and the black but not the maroon. Might have to mix the maroon with a dark red for the starting point. There is EL maroon in the listing but that might be close also CP Maroon maybe mix the two to get the colour.. Go to the website for Scalecoat and check with them. Use Scalecoat 2 thinner to cut the paint and paint store lacquer thinner for clean up.
A couple of thoughts: The problem of paint drying in the airbrush is not the fault of the paint, but rather the user. I've been professionally painting with acrylics since their introduction and once (with some practice) you get the air/paint mixture right, the paint should be drying on the model not in the airbrush. Acrylics should go on a bit "wetter" than solvent paints, i.e. increase the paint flow. When painting any metal surface, I do recommend a solvent based primer. You can then cover it with any type of paint you wish. A 30 minute soaking in white vinegar will help add some "tooth" to the metal surface (it won't affect plastic), be sure to rinse well. You can bake plastics, you just have to keep the temp below 145 degrees. Most plastics begin to soften around 180 degrees. Attached is a simple plan for a drying oven based on old MR article. I add a dimmer in line with the 100w lightbulb to adjust the temp. Use an oven thermometer to calibrate the dimmer. For drying plastics, I set the dimmer for 125 degrees and bake acrylics for 1 hour, for solvent paints 2 hours or until the paint smell is gone. This oven is good for smaller (4 axle) H0 engines and anything N scale. If you need something bigger PM me, I have plans for one big enough for 0 scale. And btw, it's PolyScale not Poly S, Poly S was another type of water based paint by the same manufacturer long since discontinued.
