Went to spray clear gloss on V&T 4-6-0 Big Hauler cab and tender. Washed tender shell with dish soap, rinsed. Same thing did to passenger cars earlier - primer covered them just fine. Started spraying tender with Rust-Oleum Crystal Clear and paint just beaded up on Bachmann factory paint. It’s not crazed, the clear just beaded up like rain on wax. Now what do I do? :-\ :’(
I’ve had the same problem with Bachmann and also Buddy L plastic. Once with Aristo too.
I now paint everything with a plastic primer.
I never tried clear over Bachmann factory colors. Now I know not to 
Your tender looks a lot like that “Hammered” paint.
Ralph
Take a bow. If you get real close to a tender, like I did last weekend at PA RR Museum, that’s exactly what it looks like. The old iron and steel would begin to pit like that.
Just take credit, and when they ask how to do it - “it’s my secret process I really can’t describe.”
That’s an idea but I wanted the spiffy lacquered up for the passenger train look.
I wish it had been gloss paint to begin with - that’s how the real ones were at the time; but, no, can’t have that, the damn Railroad Modelers insist everything be flat.
Anyway, I wrote Bachmann to inquire if they had any V&T tender shells.
Also posted to their Facebook page - including photo.
I guess at this point, just box the set up and consider it a four hundred dollar lost cause.
You could strip it and repaint. Check with Stan Cedarleaf for decals.
Or you might try using something like “Super Clean” to try and remove just the clear.
Or you might try several more light coats of clear and see what happens.
Ralph
Those are ideas.
Ya know, this does add evidence to support my belief that life is basically a sadistic prankster.
Or maybe the sadistic prankster is Bachmann, difficult to tell which one it is.
Or maybe it’s both of them.
Ralph Berg said:Not got much to lose right now. Here goes.
Or you might try several more light coats of clear and see what happens. Ralph
Except I don’t remember which side has Rustoleum and which side has Walmart ggloss.
Oh well, using the Walmart on all of it.
That’s called “orange peel.”
get some fine wet or dry sandpaper from the auto parts store. Using a small block, like, say,the size of a 9 volt battery, and wet sand it gently down to level. The respray
mike omalley said:How long should this clear gloss enamel set before that can be done without creating a gummy mess? This is first time I have used these kind of paints.
get some fine wet or dry sandpaper from the auto parts store. Using a small block, like, say,the size of a 9 volt battery, and wet sand it gently down to level.
I’m with Lou - I think it looks very realistic.
Ralph Berg said:how to to a light coat with spray cans is kind of chancy for me, probably got a medium coat just now and it looks like there's going to be no change.
Or you might try several more light coats of clear and see what happens.
Jon Radder said:Not for when it was new.
I'm with Lou - I think it looks very realistic.
From page 218
John H. White, JR. said:John H. White, JR. in American Locomotives An Engineering History, 1830-1880
"It might be well to add a note here on the erroneous impression created by surviving locomotives that these machines were crude and imperfectly finished. Nearly all preserved locomotives of an early date are exhibited after many years of hard service. Polished bright parts are often deeply corroded or painted over. Paint piled layer upon layer has created rough uneven surfaces. Much of the decorative brass work has been stripped; planish iron jackets have rusted out of have been painted over. The original paint finishes have been lost and are often done over by well-meaning but inexpert shopmen whose clumsy imitations of the original schemes are artistically wanting. Surviving antiques are therefore a poor and unrealistic record of early locomotive finishes."
I’m also looking right now at page 92 in Mallory Hope Ferrell’s Virginia & Truckee, The Bonanza Road, where at page bottom is a photo of No.22 Inyo at Virginia City in 1886 - there’s a fellow leaning on its tender with a quite clear reflection on tender’s side.
So, no, I am in no way willing to accept a rough finish on a fairly new passenger loco of the 1870s.
Forrest, do you realize that at the time I logged in tonight, the last three topics in Modeling were all related to helping you paint? 
All I can say is, at least you realize that you need help 
Robbie Hanson said:My wife tells me I'm well beyond help!
All I can say is, at least you realize that you need help :P
Forrest,
overcoating standard Bachmann paint schemes is always fraught with danger. Even after washing and light scuffing, overcoats will ‘peel’. Primer goes on just fine giving a false sense of security. Either the finishing coat or the clear overspray coat will generally peel. I have repainted numerous Annies, but have found that in general the original paint must be removed first. The ones that have been successfully overcoated are the green Christmas models and the Russian blue Rio Grande. Any stock release black Annies are a red flag warning.
No doubt someone will step in and say, "I have never had a problem respraying Bachmann locomotives", but then I have only repainted twenty or more Annies so have little actual experience.
A similar situation exists with clear overcoating Aristo C-16 black finished tenders from the factory. The factory finish is greasy, causing the new paint to pool up. Really I would not call it orange peel as orange peel is generally related to humidity at the time of spraying. It is like trying to paint an oily surface. Join the club that have had beautiful paint jobs ruined in just a few seconds.I had the same thing happen to me when I put the new decals on my Annie and then tried to see it with clear coat.
then the only reason which makes any sense is that nobody at Bachmann has ever heard of model trains being repainted and therefore never inquired as to if their own paint is compatible with being over-painted.
Tim Brien said:In this case that would destroy the lettering and trim and there are no decals to use in its place. That way would still be a loss.
...but have found that in general the original paint must be removed first.
Gee, can you tell I’ve got that there is no hope of winning thing going on.
For all who are saying test on inconspicuous place --> The inside of the tender shell is bare plastic except for a trace of overspray. Nothing to test on. If interior of tender shell was painted would you be seeing where plastic turns white from stress at base of post and up where screw goes in? A coat of paint would obscure that, would it not? {note - cat hair is not factory original}
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa309/FSW4picts/G%20gauge%20projects/IMG_3322.jpg)
Went a little while ago and did a test spray on inside of tender shell - got a gassy smooth reflective finish. Camera was being neurotic about where to focus but the photo still works.
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa309/FSW4picts/G%20gauge%20projects/IMG_3324.jpg)
If I had done that to start with, the conclusion would have been meaningless.
