I got my primer today... here's my process. Mounted on cardboard, taped down on a box... sprayed both the shell and cab... Tomorrow I'll spray them gloss black. I've ordered the glosscote... still trying to decide what to do for the decals... I really want to try printing my own... hesitating on pulling the trigger tho...
OK... couldn't wait... mine's black now Now to wait for the glosscote to arrive... gives me time to think about what to do for decals...
Ok, I'm thinking I'll go with: http://www.¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤.com/Microscale-N-60-88-New-York-Central-Diesels-1960-6-p/460-60-0088.htm Do I need to spray those type of decals with anything before applying? I understand I'd wet the area on the shell with micro-set, apply decal (using water to slide it off), then use micro-sol to set it in place?
Take a decal you don't care aboutand try soaking it, see what happens. Offically, "no." Unnoffically, some old decal sheets have a habit of disintegrating, and sealing them helps.
I've ordered glosscote... so I'll seal the decals with that before applying to be safe... Anyway, last night I sat down with my white and red paint pens and did the white stripe along the edge and the red 'part' on the fuel tank (don't know what it is... but it is molded there, and red in the prototype photo lol) Any suggestion how to do the white grab irons on the front/back? The paint pen is not fine enough... and I don't know if I can do it with a small brush... they're really small...
The red part is the fuel sight glass. I have always painted my grabs with a brush. Are these black on the part that goes into the car body and white where you'd grab them? If so, paint them black with the rattle can, and then white with a brush!
Actually looks like they should be yellow... http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=81540
Your pic on page 2 is yellow as well, so go with a safety yellow. For Paintbrushes, you'd be suprised how small or a paint brush you can get, but you might also try trimming down a cotton swab, or a toothpick. And may I say, you've done an incredible job with that body sill stripe, but there's something making the black paint look crazed in the pictures. Or is it just the lighting?
It's just the lighting... It tried flash on/off, closeup... couldn't get it to show right... it is a nice smooth finish, gloss black. The white stripe is the edge under the rail... a nice straight edge to paint.. was easy with a white paint pen Today I've also painted all the walkways/rail uprights black (to make color uniform rather than blackish plastic), and put a thin coat of white on the rails (I'm not spraying it with primer... so white + yellow I think will give a better finish). I think I'll try the toothpick. I'll have to get yellow paint tho... Found a MT conversion for it... also found instructions for a TCS CN-GP decoder install too. Will need more money for those tho I just found out that the Adirondack Scenic Railway has a NYC RS-3 (lightning stripe... but still...). I'm going to see if I can line up a tour of it... that would be awesome... I'm sure my 3y.o. fanatic would love it
Beacuse it's an RSC and not an RS. I wondered about that, I believe it falls under the same category as why an SD has more wheels than a GP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALCO_RSC-3
The box is labelled RS-3... the number on the chassis matches... I think someone at some point swapped trucks :/ I can buy replacement trucks for $7 each...
Thanks Flashwave for the tip on using a toothpick... I whittled one down to a fine point... worked great for the grab irons (I'm not posting a pic... they look terrible on a closeup... from a few inches they look great ) It also worked well for the railings... in the absence of yellow paint I've gone ahead and done them in white... pretend it's faded yellow Another advantage of using the toothpick... just wipe in paper towel and you're ready for the next color... and to avoid overloading it with paint, I'm just blotting a paint pen on cardboard and using the little puddle
Curto: I forgot that you were doing this in "N"ot the right scale. SO the painting is even MORE impressive...
Thanks Paul This isn't my first time painting (I used to do model ww2 bombers when I was a teen), but my first time on a train I think I've done as well as I can on the railings and grab irons. I'm going to let it sit and dry thoroughly before I reassemble... Also, I think we'll call this a modified NYC RS-3... 3 axel trucks, different horns too lol
Assembled... and because of the flash of my camera it makes it look like the white paint is where it shouldn't be... such as the front step... but... you get the idea of how it's progressing
I just put the first coat of glosscote on the shell and cab... and it looks like it's filled in a lot of the details. I don't think I sprayed it heavily (lighter than I did the primer and black coats)... is it just a illusion?
Gloss is supposed to provide a smooth surface. Not being able to see the model in natural light, and having not glossed a model in N, I couldn't say for sure. It's shouldn't have, I'ver not had that problem befgore, but I'm working in a larger medium than you are.