Large Scale Central

Engine painting SP to Conrail, SD 40-2

Modeling
#1

Just gave this SD 40-2 a face lift, and wanted to post my results for future modelers looking for help doing some paint work of their own. hope this helps. i dont know how many fans there are of Conrail here but I grew up around the blue and have aquired this USA model used just recently and decided to go ahead with the transformation even though it didnt really need it. Im very please with the results and happy to add some blue to my line. i used acrylic through an airbrush for my color, and shot it over flat white Krylon which i used as my base, then clear coated with gloss clear duplicolor in the can. I contacted Stan Cedarleaf for the decals. I used wet transfer decals for ease of application over the not so smooth surfaces, then finally covered the decals with a matte clear acrylic through the airbrush again… about 5 coats. the hazyness you see is the difference in the color tone due to applying the matte clear over the gloss. the matt really lightens up the color in those areas. ill do a weathering job on this engine after a few months of service so the differences in sheen is unimportant to me. before…

after…

inbetween…

#2

Nice! I love the basic Conrail blue. I’ve a bunch in N scale:

(http://zbd.com/photos/NScale/locofleet1.jpg)

#3

Nice work. What kind of acrylics did you use? I tried using airbrush acrylics over Krylon white primer once, and had some trouble with the color coat cracking.

#4

Bob, that N scale track sure looked like Aristo track at first glance. I thought “Damn, that’s a ton of real estate,” then wondered who made those hoppers towards the bottom. (Incidentally, code 55 rail–as oversized as it seems for N scale–is still proportionally smaller than code 332 for 1:29. Even code 100 HO scale rail scales out smaller than code 332 in 1:29. Never gave that any thought until just now.)

Great paint job, even if it is on one of them dismal engines. I grew up in Conrail territory as well, and saw my share of those locos pulling coal down the Pope’s Creek branch to the power station.

Later,

K

#5

Mr Hatala - you paint in the kitchen?

Oy.

tac

#6

Care to do some Amtrak work?

#7
Terry A de C Foley said:
Mr Hatala - you paint in the kitchen?

Oy.

tac
www.ovgrs.org


Dont we all?

#8

I’m trying to figure out how to turn my shower stall into a paint booth. Obviously one that can be disassembled easily so the shower can be used for it’s intended purpose…:expressionless:

#9

Ray i used Model Master acrylics form the LHS. didnt have any problems like you mentioned.

Terry, yes and i eat in the garage.

Vic let me know if i can help.

Warren, you serious? how about some good old visqueen hung from the cieling in the garage in a corner with a small fan hooked to dryer tubing that runs somewhere else? done it before. works good.

#10

Except Jason, my house is the latest design in “Late American Poverty”…:smiley: The garage is out back behind the house. That would be about a 50’ run for the dryer vent. I don’t think there would be much heat left. :expressionless:

#11

Nice Warren, i meant just run the dryer hose out the door to vent the paint fumes, or punch a hole in the wall in the corner to vent out of…depends how permanent you want to get. or your just joking… :smiley:

#12

It’s far too cold to paint in the garage. That’s why I was thinking of the shower stall…but I’m not thinking of major paint projects…just a place for that occasional squirt of primer right now. I have to wait until spring to do any serious painting. I normally do mine outside. Once good weather gets here…then look out. I’ll have paint jobs lined up left and right.

#13

Do I need an exhaust fan if I don’t use solvent based paints with an air brush?

#14
Steve Featherkile said:
Do I need an exhaust fan if I don't use solvent based paints with an air brush?
If you thin only with water, probably not. I've not had much luck thinning with water. Air brush thinner for acrylics works well, but has some VOC content so caution needs to be used.

I learned the hard way that it doesn’t pay to avoid the warnings. Painting a boat under a poly-tarp enclosure with no respirator about 8 years ago I was almost overcome by fumes. Got out in time to keep from passing out, but I burned the receptors in my nose so bad I had no sense of smell for almost 5 years. When it came back I had to re-learn smells again.

I paint outdoors or in a spay booth power ventilated to the outside regardless of what I’m spraying.

Jon

#15
Jon Radder said:
Steve Featherkile said:
Do I need an exhaust fan if I don't use solvent based paints with an air brush?
If you thin only with water, probably not. I've not had much luck thinning with water. Air brush thinner for acrylics works well, but has some VOC content so caution needs to be used.

I learned the hard way that it doesn’t pay to avoid the warnings. Painting a boat under a poly-tarp enclosure with no respirator about 8 years ago I was almost overcome by fumes. Got out in time to keep from passing out, but I burned the receptors in my nose so bad I had no sense of smell for almost 5 years. When it came back I had to re-learn smells again.

I paint outdoors or in a spay booth power ventilated to the outside regardless of what I’m spraying.

Jon


this is off the subject but what was that like? learning to smell again? wierd to think about that one.

#16
jason hatala said:
Jon Radder said:
I had no sense of smell for almost 5 years. When it came back I had to re-learn smells again.
this is off the subject but what was that like? learning to smell again? wierd to think about that one.
Very weird. For a long time I smelled skunk and thought vanilla. It goes downhill from there. The mind and body and wonderful things - Unfortunately I've got it all sorted out now.

Jon