JackM

Over twenty years I've never mastered using my air brush.  I spend more time unclogging it than painting with it.  Recently my compressor stopped pumping air.  I sent it to the manufacturer who pronounced DOA, not fixable since it was over ten years old and parts not available.  The only thing I need to paint that is color specific are boxcar kits.  I notice Krylon has a good selection of colors that look close in their brown section.  Does anyone have recommendations of what colors are close to various box car colors.  I am trying to get by without spending a bunch od money on another compressor and frustrating myself using the air brush.

 

Jack 

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David Husman dave1905

Colors

You will probably have to take a boxcar (since there are dozens of variations of "boxcar red") and find what is close, buy it and then try the color.  Matching an existing color exactly with non-hobby spray paint probably not work exactly.

The hard part will be getting a thin enough coat without melting the plastic.

Regular old red primer is pretty close as a starting point.  It also works for bricks.

Dave Husman

Visit my website :  https://wnbranch.com/

Blog index:  Dave Husman Blog Index

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johndrgw

Rattle Can colors

You can try Scalecoat in a spray can. The spray cans can be purchased at better hobby shops. Scalecoat has several boxcar red colors from tuscan to mineral brown type colors. If you are careful you can spray plastic in LIGHT coats with the spray can. I have done several plastic projects with Scalecoat spray cans hich turned out fine. Practice first on some scrap plastic..

John

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laming

Eons ago I modeled the

Eons ago I modeled the Frisco, circa mid-60s. My mid-60s era choice meant the Frisco's "orange and white" paint scheme needed to be in evidence. Krylon's Chevy Engine Orange was THE actual color that the Frisco used, so we Frisco modelers of the time did likewise. We used Krylon's rattle cans, sprayed into a small paper cup, then cut with a bit of lacquer thinner. Through our airbrushes it went, building up a few light coats with no issues "crazing" the plastic.  Worked great I have models so painted still toiling away on friend's layouts. Worth a try?

Andre

 

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peter-f

Rattle cans! Good for something!

I Agree  "Regular old red primer is pretty close as a starting point"  but I find different brands are "different".

Remember, boxcar red was probably a Lead-Oxide pigment... thus a red primer is a very good starting point.  Also note, with exposure to sun, even THAT red faded and didn't 'match' anything newly painted.... don't be rigid in your color specs... it's Not worth it. 

Just find a spray distance that delivers fine spray, doesn't pool and run, and arrives on the models' surface wet enough to spread.  If it arrives as dust, it'll look like sand (I use that effect on Other things).

And as for color matching, I like to point out the turquoise that the NYC used.... almost Never matched anything unless it was freshly painted.

And my favorite "base" color for brick is barn-red house paint. Latex house paint!  Thin it with a bit of water. Once weathered, it's all the same, and different.

- regards

Peter

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gnagle

Remember to clean the nozzles

I like and use rattle cans for my structure scratch-builds as well as for much more. Not so much for rolling stock, though.  One tip: I found that simply wiping off the nozzle with a rag or paper towel after each use vastly extended the life of the can of paint. It also prevents that dreaded "clumping" that can ruin a paint job.

George (Opa) Nagle

Tiger Mountain Barge & Navigation Co. (build 3)

Harrisburg, PA

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Graham Line

UP freight car red

Krylon's Ruddy Brown indoor/outdoor primer is a good match for the UP's warm oxide red. Be aware that Krylon's spray tips deliver a lot more paint than you will be accustomed to in spray cans from Testors or Scalecoat.

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railandsail

Rattle Can Spray Paint

Quote:
Quote:

Also note the Rustoleum Dead Flat rattle can spray I reference in that article. It’s as good or better than Dullcote and A LOT more economical.

Joe Fugate

I had an early experience with trying to recolor a silver Santa Fe passenger car with a regular can of spray paint. I found that the nozzle allowed bigger 'blobs' of paint to come out than might have been obtained with a fine air-brush?
It was not as good of a paint job as I anticipated on this corrugated side passenger car body.

Do you think that was just because my can of spray paint did not have a good nozzle ? (I think it was a previously used can, but I can't remember as its been quite a number of years ago).

I just thought it might have been due to the size of the nozzle and the amount of paint these cans need to deliver for most of there work,...verses the fine spray and smaller amounts we need for model work??

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Warflight

$20 compressor

I just got a $20 compressor for my airbrush from Amazon, and it's a work of art. Plus, I've already got my $20 worth out of it, so now it's all just gravy.
 

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Rick Sutton

Blobs

I used to build custom “one offs” for recording studio use. The majority of these devices were in rack mount enclosures with metal front panels that needed to be painted. After dealing with spitting and blobs more times than I care to remember it became obvious that it was obvious that I never had problems with a quality brand like Krylon even when the can had been used multiple times over many years.

Bottom line for me was when using hardware store rattle cans:

Krylon is always first choice with Rustoleum a close seconds.

Off brands and store brands are a disaster waiting to happen even on first use. As to why.....I don’t care. 

Krylon and Rustoleum also decant easily for airbrush use.

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JackM

Hardware Store Brand Rattle Cans

I have used hardware store brands a few times.  Hardly ever get all the paint out of them before they clog up or stop blowing air.  My go to rattle cans are the 'Camo" colors, I think they are Rustoleum brand. Have used them a lot on buildings with no problems.

Jack 

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Rick Sutton

@JackM

Totally agree. I use a lot of those. Camo colors are available in both Rustoleum and Krylon.

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Graham Line

Nozzles

Hardware store spray paint is designed to cover things like lawn chairs quickly. A 1:87 scale box car doesn't stand a chance.

Some brands are more controllable than others. Spray farther away from the work with a spray can than you would with an airbrush and make quick and light passes to build up the color -- too far away and the finish will dry too fast and become grainy.

I generally stick to the airbrush for individual projects.  Krylon is more economic for projects like the two dozen second hand rock cars we built for the club layout.  Those got enough oxide red to obscure most of the old lettering and proprietary club heralds, reporting marks, and numbers were applied when the paint dried. Dimensional data and warning panels were masked with tape before the cars were repainted.

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nachoman

These cars were painted I

These cars were painted I think with Krylon red primer.  May have been another brand.
7_145902.jpg  flat1.jpg 

Kevin

See my HOn3 Shapeways creations!  Christmas ornaments too!

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/kevin-s-model-train-detail-parts

 

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railandsail

Grainy

Quote:

Graham Line

Hardware store spray paint is designed to cover things like lawn chairs quickly. A 1:87 scale box car doesn't stand a chance.

Some brands are more controllable than others. Spray farther away from the work with a spray can than you would with an airbrush and make quick and light passes to build up the color -- too far away and the finish will dry too fast and become grainy.

I think that is what I experienced in painting that silver passenger car. I was concerned about the excessive amount of paint that might come out, so I backed up too far and got a 'grainy' finish

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JWhite

They make custom spray can

They make custom spray can nozzles for the graffiti artists who desecrate modern railroad cars and other things.

https://smile.amazon.com/Graffiti-Spray-Paint-Caps-York/dp/B00GXH0QZ8/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1514495076&sr=8-12&keywords=spray+paint+nozzle+tips

You will find all kinds of them on Amazon.  I use a lot of the Rustoleum camo colors and Rustoleum and Krylon primers.  I've had good luck with the replacement nozzles.

Jeff White Alma, IL

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UglyK5

Jwhite thanks for the link. I

Jwhite thanks for the link. I was unaware of graffiti spray tips but will give them a try on some repaint cars in my queue.  

Jeff

 

—————————————
“Think before you post, try to be positive, and you do not always have to give your opinion.....”
-Bessemer Bob
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mjwitcofsky

This hopper was sprayed with

20161(1).JPG 

This hopper was sprayed with Rustoleum red primer. If you are careful it turns out well but Im not sure I would chance it on a finer detailed freight car.  

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MarkLewis

Rattle Can Spray Paint

I have used both Scalecoat II (for plastics), Krylon and the Rustoleum Camo colors with success. One tip, is to set the spray can in a container of very warm- not hot- water for 5 minutes before spraying....it really makes a difference warming the paint and how it applies.

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Rick Sutton

Mark

You are so right! I haven’t used my spray booth in quite a while and this weekend I decanted some Krylon and Rustoleum to work on a water tower project. The paint had been sitting in an unheated garage and I was in a hurry so I forged ahead.

 HUGE MISTAKE. Jammed up two air brushes and made a royal mess of the paint job. I’ve successfully used this paint in my airbrush many times before. I looked at all possible causes and the only thing conclusive was that the paint was at fault. As of this morning I was figuring either age or temperature of the paint was the culprit. 

Thanks for your post, I’m going to warm the paint in the future.

 Rick

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Al Carter tabooma county rwy

Pre Warming

Mark and Rick are right on - warming up the rattle cans prior to spraying makes a huge difference.  I have an old Claussen pickle jar (plastic) that I fill 2/3rds with very warm (but not hot, as Mark also said) and stick the can in the jar for a while - probably longer than 5 minutes if the paint was stored out in my cold garage.  

Another tip - very thorough shaking also makes a huge difference. I shake the rattle can for at least 30 seconds, which seems like not very long, until you actually time yourself.  

Al Carter

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David Husman dave1905

Rattle can

Since some of the only commercial models in my era are the old MDC/Roundhouse 36 ft cars with metal underframes or the Bachmann cars that I substitute a cast resin or scratch styrene underframe, I have to paint underframes.  I use rattle cans for painting the underframes, mostly flat black or red primer.  The shells that I kitbash I paint with an airbrush.

 

Dave Husman

Visit my website :  https://wnbranch.com/

Blog index:  Dave Husman Blog Index

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smadanek

Rattle Can BCR?

Has anyone tried Tamiya Dull Red Spray TS33. Google search shows Tamiya color swatches ranging from dark hull red to light washed out brown. I know color on web pages can be wildly off. 

Making a trip the the LHS tomorrow and will buy a can if on the shelf. 

I am no longer able to use an airbrush in my townhouse quarters. It is usually too windy to set it up on the deck and there are no windows usable for a vent.  Right now it is wind and rain. I may be able to use rattle cans in the garage. 

Ken Adams

 

 

Ken Adams
Walnut Creek, California
Getting too old to  remember all this stuff.... Now Officially a COG (and I've forgotten what that means too...) 
CAUTION : The above message may contain irony.  Please read it in that context. 
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Graham Line

colors

Krylon has samples at http://www.krylon.com/spray-paint-color-center/

Variations are grouped by color.

That's an unfortunate situation, Ken. You might try a CO2 cylinder and airbrush with acrylics and one of those desktop fan filter systems. But most acrylics leave an odor in the air.

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ctxmf74

." I may be able to use

Quote:

." I may be able to use rattle cans in the garage."

  I can't see an airbrush making any more fumes than a rattle can? Probably less if you are spraying acrylic in the air brush and solvent paint in the rattle can.... ......DaveB 

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