painting locos

[union pacific 4014]

can i paint over factory paint or do have strip all the paint off first ? and do i need to primer? do i need to clear coat it ? and if i need  clear coat can i clear coat over decals ? im painting a union pacific 4-8-4 for passenger service i want a shiny look i think

[jonathan]

The locomotive you wish to decorate, is it metal or plastic?  What color is it now?  We need a little more information to help.

Is this a really old model?

Regards,

Jonathan

[jbrock27]

Funny you should ask these questions as I have recently been contemplating doing something similar myself.  I have read that you cannot just paint over the old decals.  They will "ghost" or show, through.  I have read that new decals should be clear coated.  I do plan on stripping the old paint off and starting from scratch.  Depending on how that goes, I may or may not use a primer base first.

I will go out on a limb and say that UP is asking about a plastic model.  Plastic is what I am considering as well.

[union pacific 4014]

it a bachmann 4-8-4 the engine and tender shell are plastic im painting it black with sliver smoke box and fire box  im going for this look http://www.steamlocomotive.com/northern/up806.jpg  im use this shell http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_68_215&products_id=7869  using it with this loco http://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=5706

[rogertra]

can i paint over factory paint or do have strip all the paint off first ? and do i need to primer? do i need to clear coat it ? and if i need  clear coat can i clear coat over decals ? im painting a union pacific 4-8-4 for passenger service i want a shiny look i think

First, remove the body from the chassis.  I usually leave the tender on its chassis.

If it's a Bachmann loco and it's already black, and it is lettered, you will need to remove the lettering either by very carefully wet sanding the letting with a 300 grit,  or more, wet and dry sand paper.  You could also use 99% isopropyl alcohol, NOT "rubbing alcohol" as this contain oils, which is the last thing you want on a surface to be painted.  This will make sure the original lettering doesn't show through the new paint.

If you are painting the loco black, you can now apply another coat of black paint using gloss black.  You use glass paint so the decals will apply nicely.  If you do use matte paint, then once the paint is dry, you can no longer smell the paint, then give it a light coat of glass finish and wait until that dries, so you can no longer smell the gloss.

If the loco your are going to paint is anything but black and you are not going to repaint it into the same colours, then you will have to strip the paint.

If the loco is black and you are going to paint it into a multi colour scheme, then you will need to first paint it primer grey.

There are books out there and lots of magazine articles on how to paint locomotives.  As you sound like a beginner at this, asking basic questions, my best advise is to suggest you go look for them before you start your project.  That's what I did.  You don't want to mess it up.

Best of luck and post photos when you are done.

Cheers

Roger T.

[jbrock27]

Roger, 99% or 91% isopropyl alcohol?

[rogertra]

Roger, 99% or 91% isopropyl alcohol?

I use the 99% but I think either one will do the job better than the 70%(?).  I just have always purchased the 99%.

It's great for stripping paint.  I soak mine overnight and then use a toothbrush to remove any stubborn pint.  Most of just peels off in sheets.

For removing lettering, I either use a cotton bud or just paint the isopropyl alcohol on with a paint brush and then use the toothbrush to scrub off the lettering before repainting.

Cheers

Roger T.

[jbrock27]

Thank you Roger.

One additional question.  What is it about painting more than 1 color that requires priming first vs no priming for just 1 one color?  Can't you just paint all of the loco w/color #1 first, then after dry, mask off and paint color #2 where you want?  Thanks for your help.

[rogertra]

Thank you Roger.

One additional question.  What is it about painting more than 1 color that requires priming first vs no priming for just 1 one color?  Can't you just paint all of the loco w/color #1 first, then after dry, mask off and paint color #2 where you want?  Thanks for your help.

If you are to paint any other colour over black, you need to spray with primer grey first, otherwise you will apply way too much paint and get a thick not so nice finish.

Again, buy a book or read the articles in the magazines, that's really good advice.

Many, many questions asked on here could be answered with the right book or by picking up a magazine every month, MR or RMC or even one of the on-line magazines.  Then, of course, there's always Google. 

Cheers

Roger T.

[RAM]

I over look a lot of things, but let me ask.  Is the locomotive already painted for U.P? 

[union pacific 4014]

yes it is but i don't  like the look of the locomotive shell its not any thing like real union pacific 4-8-4's   it look more like nyc 4-8-'s so im rebuild with this shell http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_68_215&products_id=7869  here a real union pacific 4-8-4 http://www.steamlocomotive.com/northern/up806.jpg and heres a real nyc 4-8-4   http://www.steamlocomotive.com/northern/nyc6000-hechtkoff.jpg  and here bachmann union pacific 4-8-4 http://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=5706 does look like UP 4-8-4 ram ?                        

[union pacific 4014]

check out what this guy is doing http://modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=24329  same  thing im doing but im  not adding all the extra piping and cab detail im adding number boards and maker light and up shield under head light and dcc sound im union pacific 844 on there

[rogertra]

 union pacific 4014

So, let me get this right.  You are going to paint the loco black?

If "yes" then there's no need to use a grey primer as the body you are using is already black.  Which makes life much easier for you.  And of it's grey, great, treat that as a primer.

Post photos when done.

You say you are going to add marker lights?  You know those are on the rear of the tender or on the last car of a train?  Without marker lights, or these days a FRED, you don't have a train.

Not sure if you already know and if you do that's great as many modellers don't:-

The small lights either aide of the smoke box are "classification" or "class lights" and tell you what class of train the locomotive is hauling.

No lights or flags displayed, a regular timetabled train.

White lights or flags during daylight, an extra train not shown in the timetable.

Green lights or flags during daylight, a section of a timetabled train.  The last section displays no lights or flags.

I don't follow railways much these days but I think that's all been, or is be done away with as everything, other than scheduled passenger trains, is an extra these days so they've removed the class lights from most diesels.

Once again, good luck and post photos.

Cheers

Roger T.

[union pacific 4014]

ok  im adding class lights to fort of smoke box  and to rear of tender

[jbrock27]

Thank you again Roger for taking time out of your day to answer my question, even though it came at the cost of my getting a little bit of lecture.  If you will do me the favor and spare me the lecture next time, I would appreciate it.
I am sorry that my prior question was not completely understood.  Since I had stated before that my plan is to strip a loco of it's paint, I did not mean to ask why it is necessary to prime before painting over old paint.  I was wondering why it would be necessary to prime a paint stripped loco.  Now I know that is not what you meant.  Thanks again for your answer.
I GOOGLE, buy books and magazines too.  But is there something wrong with posting questions here for answers to these questions?