Conrail NW2 9253

[peteski]

I want to broaden my horizons by building up airbrush skills.  Do you think a home airbrush job can match Atlas or Kato factory finish?  I ask because most of the stuff I've seen doesn't.  Perhaps you could post a magnified, side-by-side image of a factory shell and a home-airbrushed one?  Ideally, these images would include raised detail, to allow the viewer to evaluate thickness of the paint layer. 

(If anyone else wants to do this, as well, I would also appreciate it). 

Mark H.

It is absolutely possible to achieve factory-like paint jobs (or even better than factory in many instances) by airbrushing at home.  The secret is to do it propely using the right kind of paint. 

Most common problem modelers have when airbrushing is improper selection of one or more of these.: paint viscosity, air pressure, nozzle opening and the distance of the airbrush from the painted surface.  The result is a pebbly, orange-peel-like paint surface.  But I think that everybody can learn the proper airbrushing technique which will result in high quality paint finish.

Ron Bearden is a good example - I hope that he doesn't mind me mentioning him, since the entire scenario played out here in his EP-2 build thread.  He was posting extreme closeups of his models and the paint surface was a bit rough.  He was offered some recommendations to improve his airbrushing technique and after some peer pressure he ended up stripping the model and repainting it.  The result was a drastic improvement of the paint surface.

For smooth paint jobs I exclusively use Accu Paint or True Colpr paints and whenever possible no primer (to reduce overall paint thickness).  I was told that those paints are actually solvent-based inks and they cover very well, even in very thin layer. They also dry to semigloss finish, eliminating the need for a clear coat for applying decals (which is another technique one has to master).

I thin the paint using the thinner specifically made for that paint, thinning it until my experience tells me that it feels right (roughly to viscosity of a low-fat milk).  I usually spray using air pressure between 12-18 psi, but sometimes go even lower or higher.   I spray rather wet coats (nozzle open fairly wide), about 6" from the model surface.  The wet (but not runny) coat is the secret to the smooth finish.

Here is a closeup of an old Arnold GP9 I airbrushed with Accu Paint. The lettering is dry transfer and then the model is sprayed with Dullcote.  I painted it about 25 years ago.   This is a small N scale model and the photo is an extreme close-up.   As you can see in this magnified view, none of the details are hidden and there is no paint build up around them.   I don't have any photos comparing it to a factory-painted model, but I don't think it is needed. 
Besides, some factory paint jobs can actually be pretty bad. Especially some older models.

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[sd45elect2000]

I'm with Peteski, I think airbrushing makes a better model especially when it comes to consistent colors. I spray all of my models with Scalecoat Milwaukee Orange. In the end they all match. I always hear on this forum about manufacturers getting the shade of say NP green wrong. That problem is neatly solved by finding the correct bottle of paint and sticking with it.

Randy

[mark.hinds]

I looked at Ron Bearden's thread https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=36215.200 , post 221, and that orange finish does look good.  Actually better than the B&M Peteski posted, as Ron's doesn't show the random bumps, which I assume could be airborne dust (?). 

Thanks Peteski and others who responded. 

WRT the OP, though, I still think Ed's is sufficiently good so that the appearance of the final model won't be hurt by it.  To be clear, when I say "sufficiently good", that is the ideal, as any further effort is not going to be noticed in the final product. 

MH

[peteski]

I looked at Ron Bearden's thread https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=36215.200 , post 221, and that orange finish does look good.  Actually better than the B&M Peteski posted, as Ron's doesn't show the random bumps, which I assume could be airborne dust (?). 

Thanks Peteski and others who responded. 

WRT the OP, though, I still think Ed's is sufficiently good so that the appearance of the final model won't be hurt by it.  To be clear, when I say "sufficiently good", that is the ideal, as any further effort is not going to be noticed in the final product. 

MH

LOL!  If you take a similar close-up of factory painted model, you will also see plenty of flaws.  Keep in mind thst this is highly-magnified view of a small N scale model. Depending on the size of the screen you are viewing it on, it could be magnified to O scale or even larger.

Some of those "bumps" are most likey dust on the surface model (not in the paint).  I mainly wanted to demonstrate the lack of the rough orange-peel texture which is most common problem when using airbrush.

[Rich_S]

So, "Chicken45"; a serious question: 

Although I think Ed did a good job on his brush painting, and am a brush painter myself (military miniatures), I want to broaden my horizons by building up airbrush skills.  Do you think a home airbrush job can match Atlas or Kato factory finish?  I ask because most of the stuff I've seen doesn't.  Perhaps you could post a magnified, side-by-side image of a factory shell and a home-airbrushed one?  Ideally, these images would include raised detail, to allow the viewer to evaluate thickness of the paint layer. 

(If anyone else wants to do this, as well, I would also appreciate it). 

Mark H.

I agree with Pete, with an air brush and a little practice you can produce quality paint jobs. I'm in no way an expert and my eyesight is not as good as it use to be, but I think I'm still half decent with an air brush.

N Scale models





Are my models perfect, not under magnification like seen in the photo's above, but the detail is still visible, which is sometimes lost with brush painting. Also these locomotives were painted when commercially available models were not available. I still believe the best way to paint a model with fine detail is using a air brush, especially when you have a model with multicolored paint schemes. 

[randgust]

Meanwhile, back at the NW2...

This thread did get me motivated to look at my 'SW8 on a Kato chassis' home unit again.

So Ed, before you get too much further, take a look at this idea.    You can unsolder the 'rear' LED on the circuit board, the one with the light pipe that wanders around and up the back of the cab to the rear headlight, and move that all the way up to the top of that 'light pipe post', so that the LED is actually shining out the cab headlight instead of that dim bulb of a light pipe.    I soldered it to a couple thin wire leads left over from bulbs and ACC'd it right up where the light pipe was, other than the precision soldering a darn easy fix.   That also removes the problem of the odd glow in the cab in reverse.   I also painted all the inside of the cab black and bent the light post a bit to really put that LED right behind the cab headlight.   When I was building custom SW1's on Kato chassis this was SOP, but I never did it to my own until yesterday.



That's a big difference in appearance when operating, and this will be an operating unit.   I'm not sure you'll ever get anybody to see your paint technique but that headlight smacks 'em up side the head immediately.  That's my approach anyway, distract 'em with shiny things.

And yes, she's dirty by design.

[MRLX1020]

Help - I bought a Kato NW-2 off Ebay this past week - it arrived with no front headlight....

3 searches on shapeways and no dice for this dual beam replacement light....

@Lemosteam - I'd be happy to get some from your shapeways store - any possibility of winged numberboards like a later EMD SW would have?

Thanks in advance!

Justin Sobeck
MRLX 1020

[Lemosteam]

Help - I bought a Kato NW-2 off Ebay this past week - it arrived with no front headlight....

3 searches on shapeways and no dice for this dual beam replacement light....

@Lemosteam - I'd be happy to get some from your shapeways store - any possibility of winged numberboards like a later EMD SW would have?

Thanks in advance!

Justin Sobeck
MRLX 1020

@MRLX1020 I'll have them up tonight.  Take a look ion my website www.keystonedetails.com after 9p.

[Lemosteam]

All three headlight designs are now available at Keystone Customs:

http://www.keystonedetails.com/keystone-customs/

[MRLX1020]

Thanks John!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I dropped some other photos in the switcher blankets thread, but here are some more. I've been making more progress. Got decals done, added the "blanket", and have done the first detail painting.

I have a good bit of touchup to do where I got a bit sloppy with the white edges and handrails, but it's coming along.

I was particularly amused by the presence of the original EMD builders plate, so I made sure to include it. Of course, this required a trip to Kleins to get the right decals (how I didn't have a builders plate set already, I do not know...).







I've also mocked up a box for it. Since I got it second hand, the original was missing, and the repurposed H15-44 insert just wouldn't do.





Here are some older in-progress shots.

[DeltaBravo]

I like it

[randgust]

Wow, and that's just the box!    Nice work.   Plating over the front cab windows makes it obvious it's custom work.

Under the category of things you can actually do when you're this much 'done' already - if you want to get a little more depth on the front radiator grille, I've discovered that Neolube is just ideal for that as a wash, because you can let it dry and then wipe it off the surface so that the 'blue' still shows on the grille with the black way down inside.    I did that on my USAF SW8 unit with a 00 brush and it was just so much better than any other method I've ever tried for that.  Both oil and acrylic washes would tend to dry in spots and not wipe off 'clean' where I wanted the body color to still show on the surface.   

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Ooh! I usually use paint for that,  but I'm going to give Neolube a try! That sounds great.

[glakedylan]

very nice work, Ed ... looking good ... congrats!