Painting locos, cars, and scratchbuilt

[cflava]

I was wondering what you guys do when you are trying to paint locomotive and rolling stock shells with an airbrush. Do you use pure testors paint or the like, or do you thin it out. Does your technique change if painting scratchbuilt buildings and structures. What is the better/easier paint brand? I am trying to paint my model but don't have enough confidence that the end result will look good.
(I never got a response the first time so this is my second attempt)

 

[Catt]

I find it surprizing that no one answered your first posting.My excuse is I got busy doing other things and simply forgot to)

When it comes to airbrushing it depends on the paint I'm using.Some paint is ready to spray ,Testor's has some ,Poly-Scale paints are usually sprayable straight from the bottle as are several other brands .

If my scratchbuilt buildings are big enough and the weather is decent enough I usually use rattlecan (spraybomb) paints outside then do the detail painting with a brush.Other than that since I model almost exclucively in styrene I paint everything the same way.

I hope this is helpful and apologize for missing your first post.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

I'm not used to Testers paint I like Floquil paints and thin it about 3 parts paint 1 part thinner, then see how the paint looks as it is going on. Then thin out more if needed.
If you don't feel confident enough to paint your model, get some old cars(or anything) and practice painting until you feel comfortable mixing paint and spraying.
Better to make those first mistakes (learning experiences) on something other than your prize possession.
To prep the model I use warm water and dish soap and scrub it with a soft tooth brush, rinse and blow dry.
Keep safety in mind, proper ventilation, fire hazards with solvent based paint and others.

 

[sschaer]

so far i used scalecoat and scalecoat 2. mostly i use some thinner by just pouring some into the paint. i don't care if it's 1:2 or 1:4 or somewhere in between.

like ray said, disassemble the model and wash it with water and soap. but don't use the kind of soap which has some lotion in it as it will cover your modell with a thin and oily layer. i always wear these doctors type of latex gloves. this prevents from adding greasy fingerprints on the frehsly cleaned shell. also during airbrushing i'm wearing these gloves.

get yourself the cheapest car or loco you can get. a simple boxcar might be a good start to try. if you need to mask parts of the model i'd recommend using tamiya's masking tape. it's excellent