# Chipping paint



## Anthony Duarte (Dec 27, 2007)

I've been into live steam for about a month now, and i've been running my C-19 and Forney to death. That said, there are some areas where paint is beginning to rub off and expose the brass. Is there a good paint that won't burn up at high temperatures? I'd like to keep my engines looking good!


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Contact Cliff at Accucraft. This should not be happening.


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## k5pat (Jan 18, 2008)

Black Marks-a-Lot or Sharpie works great on the black edges and areas of wear. You may have to give it a couple of coats to cover adequately. I've also used a soft 
lead pencil on the silvery-grey smokebox and stack.
The paint chipped off the cowcatcher on my black Accucraft GS-4 and I used some Testors silver paint in a tube with the applicator on the end. It matched very well, but did not come up to the thickness of the original paint.
IMHO it seems like Accucraft paints are more prone to chipping off and wearing through than other brands. Probably due to improper surface preparation or use of the wrong (cheaper) paint for the application.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

The areas you show are areas that get more wear than other spots. How do you carry them? what are they stored in? When you lay the locos on the side to oil, what to you put it on? The smokebox numberplate gets a lot of handeling as its how you open and close it. Using anything but your finger will nick and chip the paint while opening or closing. How do you clean the loco 

Best idea would be to touch it up with some testors Enamal or other brand if you have it. You must use an Enamal though. 

As to it being not a good paint?? Ive seen Asters that have chips also but people just never want to tell the public. Ive seen smokeboxes repainted because the paint sucks in the oil when hot and stains and yet you havent seen a post about that either.


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## JEFF RUNGE (Jan 2, 2008)

Jason, I run my engines.. a lot! They have oil stained smoke boxes and paint worn off ( not really chipped) on different areas. It adds "character" they're not "shelf queens" WHY would I complain?


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

jeff my point was more to the fact that there is too much bashing names on here. Just look at there the K36 thread went... There shoudl just be a sticky post on name bashing or complaints. Be much easier to ignore them.


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## Fritz (Jan 11, 2008)

The paintjob in the above pictures looks like a very poor job. The wrong kind of paint on brass without priming. Probably without degreasing as well. I´d return it to the maker to fix. Looks like they used the old lead paint, which they can´t use for children toys anymore. 

Just imagine, your car would look like this after the first few thousand miles. You definitely would not ask at a forum what to do, you´d shoot or kick the maker instead. 

Have Fun 

Fritz / Juergen


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## Anthony Duarte (Dec 27, 2007)

Posted By Kovacjr on 09 Jan 2010 06:57 AM 
The areas you show are areas that get more wear than other spots. How do you carry them? what are they stored in? When you lay the locos on the side to oil, what to you put it on? The smokebox numberplate gets a lot of handeling as its how you open and close it. Using anything but your finger will nick and chip the paint while opening or closing. How do you clean the loco 


I carry the engines from the ends. One hand under the cab, one hand under the cow catcher. As for storage, so far I've just kept them out on a glass table. I always put down a rag when oiling the C-19, but not always with the forney, but it's on a smooth granite surface, and not something that would really grab the paint and pull it off. I open the C-19's smokebox with a rag or paper towel when it's too hot to open with my fingers. 

Interesting thing about the smoke box door though... when I first got it, it was nearly impossible to open! It took a lot of force just to pop the dang door open, and after the second time or so, the little clip that's supposed to fasten it in broke off. It still took quite a few times for the door to wear in and open/close easily. Was this something that happened with all the C-19s? or did I just get lucky? I just hope it doesn't get so loose that it doesn't swing open all the time.

I just clean them with a rag or paper towel. Although sometimes I wonder if i'm not waiting long enough for the locos to cool down, or if i'm rubbing the paint too hard?

I've noticed the paint from the spark arrestor rub off when I hold a paper towel on it while first starting the engine, but it seems like that shouldn't happen.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

when you are laying the loco on the side on a table, if you so not use some sort of heavy cloth or thin foam you will get the wear on the cylinders like you see. I have locos from Accucraft, Aster, Argyle and Wrightscale. Any of these will chip over time. I touch them all up as necessary. The hardest one would be the forney as I see you have the green, Cliff could tell you where to find something for that though. 

Try removing the paint on the arrester and repainting with the black engine paint from duplicolor found at Pepboys or R&S. This part is pront to chipping from the high heat and handeling when hot. 

The paint is not a lead based. You can confirm this with Accucraft as thats who told me what was used.


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## llynrice (Jan 2, 2008)

Paper towels can be a bit abrasive. I think you'd be much better off using a soft cloth such as a scap from an old flannel shirt. I spritz my Accucraft K28 with Simple Green and scrub it gently using an inexpensive 1" paint brush, rinse it with plain water from a spray bottle and then gently dry it with a flannel rag and I've had reasonably good luck with the finish holding up.


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## JEFF RUNGE (Jan 2, 2008)

Please visit the K-36 thread so you see who is "nit picking" Accucraft... it is NOT the Aster Snobs now is it ???????????????????????? NO it's the people who have one (K-36) ... now don't that beat all..... 

Llyn, I was told by some automotive paint specialists many years age to NEVER use anything labeled "detergent" primarily referring to dish soaps, because the would pull the "oils" out of the paint causing it to breakdown. However since oil is what we are trying to remove..... ?? If Simple Green your using or any of the half dozen products I've tried are too harsh for the finish on our engines it will be too late by the time we find out.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

the little clip that's supposed to fasten it in broke off 
Anthony, 

While my door was tight, it does open and the clip hasn't broken. Cliff at Accucraft will send you another one if you call or email him. 

I just clean them with a rag or paper towel. 
I hardly clean my locos. A bit of oil never hurts. I do wipe the big globs off the top of the boiler usually. I have used paper towel (gently) most of the time with no adverse effects. 

I've noticed the paint from the spark arrestor rub off 
Either you're rubbing too hard, or your engine wasn't prepped properly. While my C-16 exhibits similar wear, it is 8 years old and has been used! 

I have a black enamel "Gloss Paint Marker" from Testors, which makes it very easy to dap onto areas that have rubbed off. They seem to be widely available at hobby stores.


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## Pauli (Jan 3, 2008)

Personally, I kind of expect a live steam engine to show some genuine wear from operating and handling - it's just not comparable to electric operation, and anycase, we wouldn't want it to be, right?!? ;-) I keep touching up my engines all the time. I avoid cleaning with detegents, since I think I have to do a really good job putting oil back where needed - like an axle-pump. Consequently, I touch up the paint without thoroughly removing / degreasing - I just wipe with a cloth. In my opinion, regular hobby ENAMELS (not acrylics) stick really well anyway. As for matching colours, I just buy two colours close to the one I want, and mix. I was surprised myself, how easy this was for my Preussian paintscheme Aster. None of my engines have a gloss finish though. Maybee touching up gloss paint might be trickier to do nicely. And also, since my engines always wear some oil everywhere, spotting my touch-ups is even more difficult. 

You can tell I'm a messy operator, right? ;-D


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## Chris Scott (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Anthony Duarte on 05 Jan 2010 11:23 AM 
I've been into live steam for about a month now, and *i've been running my C-19 and Forney to death. * That said, there are some areas where paint is beginning to rub off and expose the brass. Is there a good paint that won't burn up at high temperatures? I'd like to keep my engines looking good!


Isn't wear the natural result of running them to death? 

Accucraft I believe uses an Epoxy Resin paint, the kind that's banned in the US, Europe.


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## zubi (May 14, 2009)

Posted By Chris Scott on 11 Jan 2010 09:10 AM 
Accucraft I believe uses an Epoxy Resin paint, the kind that's banned in the US, Europe.  
 


Chris, not on the C-19 and probably not on the Forney, or the majority of the recent releases. The only engine I have with that kind of durable two-component epoxy paint is the K-27, but I actually prefer the finish they first started applying on the K-28. It looks much better, although they achieve the effect by first using the thin layer of colour and then cover it with satin finish. The visual effect is very good but the paint is not really suitable for live steamers. Too delicate. And the satin transparant finish washes away in contact with alcohol... Don't ask me how I know... Zubi


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## Chris Scott (Jan 2, 2008)

What type of paint does Aster use? Roundhouse?


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