Anyone ever paint silver Kato F Units trucks/fuel tank black?

[wcfn100]

I'm looking at my fleet of F Units and most of what I have are the original drives and a few from the low friction drives.  I only have four units from the DCC friendly era except for all the F Units I bought for the California Zephyr.  I'm thinking about getting rid of the older drives and just using the new ones except that all the units I have from the CZ have silver trucks and tanks.  Kato only sells whole trucks (not just side frames) and at $12 a pop, it could get expensive.

I'm wondering if anyone has repainted the silver trucks black and how it went, looks and has it held up with normal handling.


Jason

[Bendtracker1]

I've painted them Black, Silver and Gray over time and I've never had any of the paint flake, peel or fall off.
If you're worried about that, could you take the trucks apart and spray them with some plastic adhesive promoter before painting?
With this being said, it was mainly Floquil that I used.

[jjb62556]

I have used Testors Flat Black and never had any problems...Make you clean the trucks to remove any oil or grease first...

[SP-Wolf]

Same here. I've painted quite a few Kato trucks. Not only "F" units but other locomotive types. Not a problem.

Wolf

[Wutter]

I've used Badger Modelflex Engine Black on Kato trucks applied by hand and its stayed on pretty well. Any paint that didn't stick perfectly is minimal and looks just like real wear in the trucks.

[Bob Horn]

I haven't had a lot of luck with them, I just ordered black GE trucks to put under a BNSF I had painted for FEC. I just did not want to deal with the rub off syndrome. Bob.

[peteski]

Bob - I agree. Paint (even applied over degreased plastic used on those sideframes) is nov very durable. I prefer to have them molded in the appropriate color plastic.  Then they can be painted to kill the shine, but when the paint rubs off, the color is still correct. 

The only luck I had painting that type of plastic (truck sideframes and handrails) is to sandblast it first, then use the Pactra paints for polycarbonate RC car bodies.  If I can't find appropriate color in the RC paints I just use neutral gray, then I paint a thin final coat of the appropriate Accu-Paint (or now Tru-Color) paint.  The Pactra paint creates a good bond between the sandblasted plastic and the final coat of paint.

[jpwisc]

I have painted many Kato trucks. Even if I get them molded in black I still paint them to get the correct black. After I paint, I apply a Dullcote or Glosscote and it all holds up great.

[PAL_Houston]

I'm looking at my fleet of F Units and most of what I have are the original drives and a few from the low friction drives.  I only have four units from the DCC friendly era except for all the F Units I bought for the California Zephyr.  I'm thinking about getting rid of the older drives and just using the new ones except that all the units I have from the CZ have silver trucks and tanks.  Kato only sells whole trucks (not just side frames) and at $12 a pop, it could get expensive.

I'm wondering if anyone has repainted the silver trucks black and how it went, looks and has it held up with normal handling.


Jason

I just ordered a set of black trucks from kato, to replace F3 passenger trucks that had an unfortunate landing at a bad angle just before Christmas.  My intention is to swap the side frames, which were not damaged, in which case I will have a set of black sideframes.  PM me and maybe we can work something out.....

[rrjim1]

I tried a product from Microscale call Micro Prep, on the couple sets of trucks, (gray) I have done it has worked pretty good.

[wcfn100]

Thanks for the replies.  I'll probably use the MS microPrep just to try it and see if it seems to help any scratching or flaking.

Jason