Unpainted Freight Cars

[Denver Road Doug]

Any ideas how to do this?  I was thinking the Alclad (sp?) stuff as a base.  BNSF actually took delivery of a number (dozens or maybe hundreds) of Trinity 5161's in 1998 with only reporting data stenciled directly to the unpainted metal.  Plus, I am modeling this plant where production was in full swing in '98 so I need some truly "naked" 5161's too.

[tom mann]

MicroMark sells a self-adhering metal foil.

[Chris333]

Testors metalizer paints.

[Sokramiketes]

The foil usually goes on with too much orange peel, or if the modeler is really bad, a lot of wrinkles.  The Alclad paint will make it look like a plated surface, depending on which color you go with, but may be a good base. The Testor's stuff may work also, but requires buffing.  I don't know how well it would do with overcoats of weathering and washes to get the right look.

You may actually be better off with a base of regular Testor's silver, which is shiny enough compared to your photo.  A few drops of black, maybe a little blue, and you should have a great base to work with.  Then a couple layers of rust in the appropriate areas, and some tarnish to show oxidation on the sides and you should be all set.

[wm3798]

I would go with some sort of gun metal color from the military modeler's paint rack.  Steel aint' silver at all.

Lee

[Denver Road Doug]

Thanks for the replies.  A lot of good ideas to try.

Does anybody have photos of a model done with the Alclad or Testors metalizer?  (like a passenger car, for example) Same for Testor's silver and gunmetal....samples would be good.  I was thinking about the gunmetal but wasn't sure it would be metallic enough.  As a base color I'm thinking you would go a little lighter in this case and then darken with washes and so forth.  But I'm not a seasoned paint/weather-er so....that's why I'm asking.

The foil is interesting...I may order some and experiment.  Seems like it would be easy to gouge it during handling, but if it looked really good it would be worth the risk.

[Bob Bufkin]

I've used gunmetal on some military models I've done.  I think its too black for your use but you may be able to mix it with silver to get the right color.

[Chris333]

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/tnt1/001-100/TnT074_NMF_McLeod/tnt074.htm
http://hsfeatures.com/p47dbc_1.htm

[Hyperion]

You're not gonna want to use any standard paint, like a "Silver" or "Gunmetal", that's certain.  While they work just fine for small parts to look somewhat metallic, for something that large it's really not going to look very good.  It's just gonna look like it was painted silver which isn't quite the same thing.

You're going to want to use an Alclad or a Testors Metalizer, and I'd suggest the Testors.  They've got a couple shades that would look perfect for that -- off the top of my head, a Burnt Metal for the body.  The oxidation would be a bit more difficult to do.  Maybe drybrushing a mix of Brass and Gunmetal (probably want to seal the first layer first) could achieve that effect.  I could be wrong on those shades though, I'm going off memory of what I have on my desk and some experience, so don't take my word for it.

[DKS]

I've had surprisingly good results starting with plain old silver paint. Then... the trick is to polish it with a soft cloth. Polishing changes the look completely, making it appear more like metal than silver paint. Give it a try on some scrap styrene.

[Greyryder]

I used to have a bottle of Testors acrylic Gunmetal, that would have been a perfect base for this. Sadly, I've yet to find a good replacement for it. Model Master acryl gunmetal alnost black.

Model Master acryl steel should make a good base. It looks almost exactly like unfinished steel. It does tend to look a lot more silver, when brush painted, though.

[Denver Road Doug]

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/tnt1/001-100/TnT074_NMF_McLeod/tnt074.htm

Wow, it's not very often that you ask a model railroad question and get a thesis for an answer!  That dude is hard core!

[Ryan87]

Sophisticated Finishes (the same guys that make the rusty stuff) have a line of paint they call Metallic Surfacers.

Look at the Steel & Pewter

http://www.patina.com/metallic-surfacers.html

[shamoo737]

I have used self adhesive foil on aircraft. The trick is to have a smooth surface. If your base coat has orange peel, it will show it. What I do is paint it as smooth as I can, then I sand it. After that, I buff it with a piece of tissue. Also, dont try to the whole car with one piece of aluminum. With compound curves, it takes couple couple of pieces.