# PAINTING ROLLING STOCK



## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I have a NW-2 Cow and Calf.

The Cow is Union Pacific.

The Calf is Chessie System 

I am going to paint it Gray to match my USAT MOW Cars.

When you Paint a Engine do you strip it down to it's individual parts?

Should the grab irons be black ?

The trucks should be a rust color along with the couplers ?  

The wheels are a silver right now I intend to paint them rust color too.

Is there a spray can color you use to get the rust look ?

Got any suggestions of any kind Please add them .

JJ


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## bicyclexc (Mar 31, 2010)

BUMP-ing this post because I need the same advice. 

Tom


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

JJ...


A very simple way to paint them would be to use Krylon gray primer... Should be available at Walmart... Take the shells off and remove all the windows and lighting... Wet sand all the original lettering off with 200, 600 and 1200 wet/dry sandpaper used wet... Wash the shells and let 'em dry real good... 


Shake the cans real good, spray with light even coats until completely and evenly coated. After the paint has dried for 10 minutes or so, spray with light coats of Krylon Crystal Clear Satin followed by a slightly heavier, even wet coat or two.. Let cure in the Arizona heat for a couple of hours and you'll have very fine looking locomotive shells ready to be relettered........ After relettering, if you are going to used decals, the satin provides a great "tooth" to apply them. After application, let dry for 24 hours and seal with the Krylon satin again... 


You certainly could use an airbrush with gray airbrush colors but I would think in this case, the rattle cans would do just fine... 

All the Montana Rail locomotives and rolling stock I painted were done just that way except using Krylon black for the primer, followed by Krylon color overcoats ending with Satin... 

Just my thoughts.. 

Come on up and we can "fix" 'em...


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Take off the lettering first ... When I didn't ... I did afterall. 
I had to sand the ink off so the paint would stick and not show through. 

My experience was on a freight car, but I don't think engine paint is different. 

John


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

JJ,
I am in the process of repainting a Bachman 4-6-0 and tender. I removed all the individual parts and will paint them seperately because I will be using different colors.
When I converted a reddish brown AMS box car to a grey Pearl Harbor Car, I left everything on (except the trucks and couplers). After removing lettering, I sprayed it as a unit, since it was all the same color. Trucks were dissassembled and painted separately. 
Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

IMO, its much better to strip the paint first..
especially with a complex and variable paint job like Chessie System..
the variable colors will probably show through, unless you really put on the paint thick..
yes, you can just spray primer right over the stock paint, that will work! but it will take more, and heavier, coats of paint to cover up the old paint and lettering..
the final results will be much better if you strip the paint first..

I repainted (and kitbashed) a USA Trains NW2 a few years ago..
builders log here:

Scots USA trains NW2 to SW1 project 

Scot


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I got the sandpaper and started on the Chessie calf. 


I started with the 200 snd paper 

I went to a Jewlers flat bladed screw drive and it worked much faster.

I will go back over it with sandpaper.

Do you think I should sandpaper the whole engine to make the paint stick?

Maybe with 1200 paper?

JJ


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

I used Krylon's Fusion and didn't need to sand all over, washed and dried worked. 
IF you use the Fusion follow the directions on time and 2nd coats. 

John


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I am using Wet and Dry Sandpaper and 99 % Isotropyl Alcohol as a wetting agent. 

It is removing the paint quite easily 

The bad part is it softens the plastic and I have sanded off some of the detail trim. 

So with some caution it may be a quick way of removing paint. 

JJ


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