Guide to painting a Brass Model.

[learmoia]

I recently acquired 3 NJ International New York Central Milk cars - Undec.

Great condition, little if any obvious tarnish, no foam rot..

I'd like to paint them and I know how to use an airbrush, but I've never painted brass before.

Any tips or tricks I need to know for Brass vs Plastic?

~Ian

[TrainCat2]

NJI should have a lacquer coating so your not dealing with painting direct brass.

Depending on the model condition, clean, rinse, blow the water off with air followed by a hair dryer to remove any left over moisture. Prime and paint.

[mark.hinds]

You could paint over the lacquer coating, but that would obscure some of the etched detail.  Back when I planned to use brass engines, I stripped the lacquer off using MEK in a sealed glass jar (I think it had wheat germ in it originally).  After soaking for several days, using gloves and ventilation, I scrubbed it with a toothbrush, and washed off the residue.  Most instructions then have us etching the brass, and then priming it, taking steps to avoid getting finger oils under the primer. 

WRT how to do it, a simple Google search yielded lots of hits for me. 

[Lemosteam]

Bill Lane, a serious S Scaler swears by his sandblasting method (an air eraser works really well for this in N scale).  With the right grit you should be able to remove all of the laquer and be ready for paint, with a great surface to adhere to.

A link to his modeling website:

http://www.lanestrains.com/My_Models.htm

Here are some of his painted models after sandblasting to original paint off:

[wazzou]

Way back in the day when I had some brass, I used plain distilled white vinegar to both remove the coating and etch the paint for primer.
I'm sure I'd heard or read it somewhere, but it was successful for me.

[learmoia]

Thanks for the info.. In the past I have come across other reasons to get an air eraser, so I suppose I should bite the bullet.

(But really, I should finish unpacking as I may already have one and not know it..  )

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Thanks for the info.. In the past I have come across other reasons to get an air eraser, so I suppose I should bite the bullet.

(But really, I should finish unpacking as I may already have one and not know it..  )

I was pleasantly surprised by how affordable they are.

[Sokramiketes]

I've painted those exact models, and since the details are a bit oversize anyway, had good luck with Tamiya spray bombs.  Only surface prep was to wash the model.  Left the lacquer clear as a base for the Tamiya lacquer sprays, as it was well applied on my model.   

Tamiya Fine Gray Primer
Tamiya TS-5 Olive Drab
Tamiya TS-6 Matty Black



Watch the Microscale decals.  The newer run is lemon yellow.  The older run, if you can track them down, are much closer to dulux gold.