Painting questions.

[coachC]

I have a Bachmann Spectrum GE Dash 8-40C or B (I can't remember) that I bought about 10 years ago. It has only been ran twice and I tested it the other day on my friend's layout and it works great. It is a Norfolk Southern and I am going to model a freelance shortline with some leased motive power. I want to paint it in a simple scheme like the NREX shown in the link below.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=111564

I am going to buy the supplies this afternoon. This will be my first attempt and might end up being a disaster. I do have a B.A. degree in fine arts, but I'm not very crafty. Do I need to buy an airbrush or can I save my money for now on my first attempt and paint it with a brush or spray can? I want to decal it. I am going to buy some decal paper to print my own leasing logo. I hope I can get some answers before this afternoon so I'll have a better idea on what I need to do. The LHS owner is not into trains and can only tell me so much. Thanks, this forum has been a great help to me so far.

 

[eightyeightfan1]

Since its all one color, you could get away with spray can. Scale-Coat has a line of spray that works well. I've also tried Rustoleum "Fusion" with good results, especially with white and yellow.
Just a note...I don't have an airbrush either. I'm using "shake the can" paints for my models.
This boxcar was done using Fusion. It went on smooth, no runs or drips, dried quick and took decals really great.

 

[coachC]

Thanks for the reply. The boxcar looks great. I hope I can get my locomotive to look just somewhere close to that good. I decided to hold off painting it until this weekend.

 

[sputnik]

While I'm not saying that a spray can won't give good results, you can get good results from a brush too. The trick is to use good paint, and a good, expensive brush (as in $5 a brush kind of range). Also, for N-scale, use a smaller brush, and only put on a little paint at a time. And like spray paint, a couple of thin coats is better than one thick one. I did the engine below with a small (#0) red sable brush with Polly S Acrylic paints. No fumes, and cleans up with water and dishsoap.

http://home.att.net/~jcschuknecht/e21/images/31-final-2.jpg

http://home.att.net/~jcschuknecht/e21/images/w2609-paint-1.jpg

And whether you spray or brush paint, you must gently wash the item to be painted with dish soap and water, then do not handle with bare hands (I have a 100 count box of latex gloves for handling "clean" bodies, but a kleenex or similar should do in a pinch). By gentle, I mean that you don't have to scrub it, just very gently rub with an old worn toothbrush, wet paper towel, etc.

---jps

 

[Pete]

Best advice would be to practice on something expendable first, until you get the hang of spraying.