Rattle Can

N scale, done with a spray can

 N scale, done with a spray can, a few brushed details (roof and handrails) and custom printed decals. The orange stripes are cut from a sheet of solid "Daylight Orange" Micro Scale decal.  The only "trick" is use of copious amounts of Micro Sol and Micro Set (decal solvent and setting solutions) to get them to snuggle down in all the molded details.

I used two cans on the hopper car.. the roof is a separate piece, and I took advantage of being able to take it off and sprayed it silver. Sprayed the body blue, and the rest is decals again.

You don't need an airbrush. It makes some things easier, but even if I had one working, I'd still do these exactly the same way. It's a lot easier than masking and spraying all those stripes.

Thank you

Thanks for the info guys. I have some locos and rolling stock I can practice on, so I will give it a shot. I plan to patch over most of the rolling stock, so that won't be a problem.

Lyle E Studer III

CEO Michigan Northern Railroad

Go for it!

Rattle cans put out a LOT of paint quickly, so you have to develop a technique to deal with that.  The only things you have control of are the distance from the can to the model, and the speed at which you move the can.  With practice, you can do a lot with those.  Do not try to cover a model completely in one pass, as you'll just end up with thick globs and runs.  Spray paint especially the cheap stuff) usually dries quickly enough that you can come back in a minute or two and give it another light coat.

I also suggest flat paint.  for some reason which I do not understand, most of the flat spray paints I've used cover much better and dry faster than the gloss versions.  It's also handy to be able to see what's dry and what's still wet.  Just give it a quick spray of gloss clear before you apply decals, then another of flat (or gloss, or satin, or whatever you like) to seal everything at the end.

"N scale, done with a spray

   Those look excellent but I wouldn't expect most modelers to be able to pull that off. What kind of spray cans did you use, most I've used would be too coarse for an N scale paint job?  For the newbie I'd suggest the easy way would be to use a painted model that is close to his desired scheme then patch it with new reporting mark and road name decals. Short lines often bought used power and didn't re-paint for years. If a whole fleet of custom locos is desired then buying and learning to use an airbrush is a good investment. For the price of one loco a good brush can be bought and then the paint cost goes down since no spray cans are needed..DaveB

Budget

If you are on a tight budget and don't have skills/tools to do a good paint job, then simply do exactly what the prototype does, buy a engine from another road, paint out the road name and herald (maybe the number) and use decals to apply your own name/initials and number.  The "patch" paint job has been used by railroads big and small for decades.  It allows you to buy almost any engine in any scheme and adapt it for your railroad.  Later, when your budget, skills, tools allow, you can, just like the prototype, strip down the patched engine and give it a full repaint.

   Those look excellent but I

Testors, but from the automobile color rack - French Blue and (IIRC) Indy Silver. I've found that "too coarse" usually means "held the can too far away and it dried before it got to the model". Experiment with distance on a sheet of plain styrene.

Yeah, you can buy an airbrush for the cost of a loco... and another two locos for the compressor or airtank... and another loco for the plumbing and filters. Now you're up to four locos and haven't even learned to use the thing yet. (The only loco I've paid over $100 for in the last 10 years has been an Atlas N Scale Shay, thanks to careful shopping... most have been in the $70-90 range, with DCC. )

That's really a poor line of reasoning to buy an airbrush. I can buy 20-30 spray cans for that kind of money. If you need an airbrush for the detail work and blending that's possible with one, then yes, absolutely. That's what they're made for, and there really is no better tool to use for it. But they're not necessary for laying down a solid color base coat on larger areas unless you're mixing  your own colors. A spray bomb will do just fine for that kind of general, single color painting.

I wouldn't worry about how close to the desired scheme a patch job is. It's certainly not a consideration for the real railroads, why should we worry about it? My BARR bought out the Union Pacific a number of years ago (my response to the fiasco UP brought on themselves by trying to charge modelmakers for every railroad logo they ever gobbled up...) and I've "patched" several UP locomotives with BARR reporting marks. I've done some rolling stock the same way - Railbox cars, for example.

"I wouldn't worry about how

  The theory is find a loco that's near your desired color scheme then you don't need to paint it, just change the lettering.  If you want red with white strips don't start with a green loco for instance. There a pretty good selection of pre painted loco around so something close to the desired corporate colors could likely be found....DaveB

Patch job

Dave, I plan to do the "patch job" on several of my locos, But, I would like to have a couple of repaints in my own scheme.

barr_ceo, I agree about the airbrush. I am a very frugal modeler as well. I model in HO scale and I've never paid more than $65.00 for a loco and decoder. I even bought a Bachmann GP 30 w/DCC for $15.00 once. So an airbrush and all that goes with it is more than I'm able to invest in.  

Lyle E Studer III

CEO Michigan Northern Railroad

"you can buy an airbrush for

 http://www.walmart.com/ip/39103891?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227026955516&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=56097948849&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=74039430969&veh=sem

    Here's a possible set at Walmart for $140 including a Paasche with 3 tips, a compressor ,and regulator/filter. That's about 2 used HO locos or 3 used N locos and would provide years of painting fun, probably more than the extra locos would, most folks have way too many locos and way too few modeling skills anyway :> ) .....DaveB

Airbrush

DaveB, thanks for the link. That's a pretty reasonable price for a complete set up. 

Lyle E Studer III

CEO Michigan Northern Railroad

Priced less on Amazon

Lyle and DaveB

Seems the same set is $10 less on Amazon, and free shipping like the Walmart version.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BR7XNI/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A23ADOZFIJNPFB

Regards,

Dave

Cheap Airbrushes

Have you tried your local pawn shop? I bought a dual action airbrush with compressor for less than $100. It came with a selection of paints too! You might also look at pawn shops for tools. Most of what they have are automotive, or big machinery, but you never know what you'll find.

One afternoon while pawn shopping I found at least three 0 Scale train sets for about $20 each.

Seems the same set is $10

 Good find Dave.  BTW If anyone is thinking about a set like this I'd suggest checking out reviews of the compressor. I have a VL brush and it's fine but I know nothing about that compressor. Any small homeowners type compressor would work too ,just add a filter and regulator if it doesn't have one. Learning to use an airbrush is an interesting facet of the model railroad hobby and I'd recommend it to anyone planning to model long term....DaveB

Cheap Airbrush

Dave, thanks for the Amazon link. While I was there, I found another complete starter set:

http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Master-Airbrush-Multi-Purpose-Airbrushing/dp/B00GYHVDBS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413753899&sr=8-1&keywords=airbrush+set

Has anyone had experience with this brand?

Ken, I live in a very small town with no pawn shop. The closest one is about 75 miles away. Thanks for the idea though.

Lyle E Studer III

CEO Michigan Northern Railroad

I've had good luck with spray cans, if . . .

1.  I use the previously noted techniques of being the right distance from the work and using several light coats to get good coverage without obscuring detail;

2.  I place the spray cans in warm water for a few minutes before use to thin the paint and increase the internal pressure - this seems to improve the spray performance.  

Good luck on your first custom locomotive paint job - please post photos; seeing everyone's original livery is always fun!

Have you done a little Internet research?

Some people are using cheap automotive or shop compressors from places like Harbor Freight.  Look for a sale.

Den

Great starter deal!

"Has anyone had experience with this brand?

Ken, I live in a very small town with no pawn shop. The closest one is about 75 miles away. Thanks for the idea though."

Lyle,

The Master brand that Amazon sells (as do other vendors) is a Chinese "knock off" of the Iwata brushes.  However, even though they're a Chinese knock off, they're absolutely acceptable for a beginner setup.  I don't say that lightly about airbrushes. I own an Iwata, a Badger, and a Harder & Steenbeck airbrush, but I have years of experience using them and for me they're worth the extravagant price. I have used the Master airbrushes, and found them to be quite good. Definately NOT an Iwata that they attempt to imitate , but eminently usable for a newcomer. Most off brand or cheapo (harbor freight) brushes are not worth even the cheap price they sell for, and are such a pain to use that they turn many beginners off of airbrushing before they ever really get started.  Not so with the Masters.  They're well made, work nicely, and are not finicky. Certainly a good investment IMO.  The price for these starter sets is outstanding, and gives you all you need to get started. They will last you years if you keep clean and take reasonable care of them.  They will open up a whole new dimension of modeling for you, and I encourage you to give serious consideration to purchasing one of these sets.  You won't regret it!  Just my 2 cents.  Happy Airbrushing!

Air Brush or Compressor

Perhaps I misunderstood, I thought the issue was the cost of the compressor, not the air brush!

Den

"The Master brand that Amazon

I think the question would be can one get parts for them?  I guess they are cheap enough to be considered throw aways but the Paasche VL has been around a long time and parts are everywhere. The VL set for $75 at Dixie Arts and a Home Depot small shop compressor for about $75 might be a better deal in the long run as the Airbrush is easy to repair and the compressor could run brad nailers or staple guns as well as painting with it? .DaveB 

Take a look at the link below.

you don't need an expensive setup to get started.  Like you said you don't know how to use one and need to learn. You need to get in for as cheap as possible to determine if you like doing this.  The equipment in the link is better than a rattle can.  About 5 of those and you paid for the equipment.  There are two things about learning.  One is control and the other is in breaking down the air brush to clean it.  You need to learn both before you can decide if it is for you.  If you decide you like air brushing then you can save up for the higher end equipment.  Check this out;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Badger-airbrush-compressor-with-master-mod-E-91-airbrush-/251680638804?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a9955c754

Den

Sign Writing Film

If you go to your local sign writing shop you should be able to bludge (or pay a very small amount) for a whole raft of off cuts in all sorts of colours. The film can be used for trim colours over a basic background colour. You can cut incredibly fine details eg 1/32" wide trim lines or detailed patterns. Once off the backing paper the film is very thin but still easy to apply.

Paint Schemes

Hi Lyle,

I try to separate my colors based on how the loco disassembles(Cab, running boards, body, etc.).

Masking between colors can be tedious and challenging.

When I go two colors on the body, I hide the color changes under the cab so the masking isn't critical.

Cleaning the loco shell before painting is also critical.  Soap and water cleaning, multiple water rinses, final alcohol rinse and air dry are a must.

Some people are using cheap

Some people are getting oil in their paint and spoiling their paint job, too. In general, air compressors meant for tool use are not a good match with air brushing. It's not just getting oil (and water) in the line, but also the airflow isn't smooth when the compressor is running. You can put oil filters and such on the air line, and run the air into a second tank before going out to the airbrush to help smooth out the pressure fluctuations... but then there goes your supposed "savings"...

The right tool for the job is always less expensive in the long run... and an auto shop compressor is NOT the right tool for airbrushing.