Painting Brass what Primer?

I have been a Pro Painter for 38 years, and although my Pro Painting techniques are more involved than below,I would recomend the following for Mr. Average Modeller when painting a Brass model:

1/.Completely dissasemble the model & put all screws back into the holes they came out of.

2/. Soak all Brass parts in MEK overnight, (follow the safety instructions), this can be found at Ace Hardware etc, use a sealable glass container, scrub with a soft toothbrush to remove all Paints /Laquers then soak again.

3/.When the model is air dry use Pollyscale paint, it gives good coverage and dries fast, no metal primer is needed. 

4/. Use whatever method of decal application you feel comfortable with.

5/. Reassemble and smile at what you have achieved.

This is basic, but will give you a good looking Painted Brass Model

I have no affiliation with Polyscale Paint, and the success of your paint job will rely on your own personal skills.

David Cooke Snr. 

I have not done this yet, but

I have not done this yet, but I aspire to.

The best resource that i have found thus far is this page; I refer to page as my Bible for rebuilding Brass; the methodology looks solid and tried and true, so I bet the techniques from this page apply well!

http://schutzer.net/index.htm

David's method sounds like it will work really well too - the main crux is preparation followed by using the Airbrush.

RMC has an article this month on tips and tricks for rebuilding brass.  The one that sticks out the most is DO NOT TOUCH the bare prepped brass metal with your fingers, use gloves.

Decals

I have used this method and I find it works great.  I have found that a primer, PolyScale Undercoat Gray, helps a lot if you are not using a dead black.  The primer when thinned works out nicely when you want to represent a faded loco that is essentially dark gray not black.  That will make the loco photograph beautifully. 

I would like to know everyone's experience decalling over PolyScale without a gloss coat?  I use some really thin decals such as Microscale and Thin Film and they can pick up tiny air bubbles to the point of having spots that look silver under the decals.  I have tried using Future Furniture Polish, diluted and a gloss coat on plastic and it works fine. 

I would like to save the gloss step on steamers if possible but would appreciate any experience in that area.

Tom

Safety Note:  Make sure your MEK stays sealed in the jar.  If you have a gas fired hot water heater in the area, the fumes can sink to the floor and travel to the flame.  Then you get the paint removed from your entire shop, not just the loco!