Scratch & Bash
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Engines / Rolling Stock
Painting your Large Scale Engines
Jan 21, 2009
By Scott Suleski |
Author
Bio
Painting large-scale engines and rolling stock isn't as hard as you'd think. I paint of lot of equipment for Suleski Transportation. I think engines are the most fun. Just like real railroads the engine is what shows off your image to the public.
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Painting large-scale engines and rolling stock isn't as hard as you'd think. I paint of lot of equipment for Suleski Transportation. I think engines are the most fun. Just like real railroads the engine is what shows off your image to the public. A while ago I was asked to paint 5 engines for Ernst Transportation Company. Some engines they had painted were stolen. They were blue with gray front and back and white logo letters for ETC on the sides. Just in case any of you get offered these for a deal - they're hot. I was given 2 undecorated Aristo Dash 9's and three USA GP38-2's. Naturally I had to write the whole thing into my story while I painted. You can check out my webpage at www.suleskitransportation.com  Here is a photo of a finished unit next to the second undecorated Dash 9. 
To start I'll tell you that I use water based paints and an airbrush. The paints I have had good luck with are Polly Scale Model Railroad colors, Badger Accu-Flex and Model-Flex. I use these because the pigments in airbrush paints are smaller to go through the brush. If you use paint from a spray can the pigments are larger for better coverage. The problem with larger pigments is they cover the molded detail on the engines and fill in the embossed detail. If you've never painted with an airbrush before - it's not as hard as it looks. You can practice on anything from cardboard boxes to soda cans. Along with painting you can also weather with an airbrush. It is a great tool for any modeler. Before starting I cover the table with an old sheet. I wash my hands to get the oils off. I then mask all the windows and lights with blue 3M paint masking tape. This tape is made to pull off without leaving any adhesive residue. I use the straight edge of the tape along the larger windows and push the tape down into the corner and then cut it with an x-acto knife. I cover the smaller windows with the tape and trace around the edges with the x-acto knife. I removed the fuel tank because I wanted it to stay black. Also the trucks are going to stay black so I wrapped them with masking tape to keep the wheels and side frames clean. I also masked the coupler and power connection. Here is a photo with everything masked. 
Since the Aristo undecorated engine is already painted black to begin with you don't have to worry about washing it like you do the USA undecorated that come unpainted in grey plastic. Both Badger and Model RR colors make a prewash prep that you can use. If you are going to wash the shell by soaking you'll need to remove all the electronics. I use a cotton T-shirt rag with the solution and hand clean everything. Even though the front and back of the engines paint scheme calls for silver I paint everything blue first. Then when I mask off the area for the silver I get nice sharp edges between the blue and silver. Photo of engine painted blue.  After leaving the engine to dry over night I then mask off the area to be silver. The original paint scheme used a gray primer for the front and back with white letters. I talked bill into using Metallic Silver for the lettering. I matched up Gerber 3M vinyl in metallic silver with Poly Scale Dull Aluminum (Which is anything but dull). Here is the photo of the engine painted silver. 
The engine numbers are thermal printed on to rectangles of the 3M vinyl. When they are applied to the cab sides under the windows they match the painted front and backs. I also had the number board rectangles printed in blue on 3M translucent metallic silver vinyl. I applied these after the silver had dried and I removed all the masking. The large ETC logos are applied to the sides. I use my fingernails to work the vinyl over the hinges and into the side panel door grooves. The fuel tank is put back on and the front hand rails. Originally I forgot to paint them blue with the side frames, but I liked the look of the black against the silver so I left it.  Here is a photo of the finished unit. If they were mine I'd used some mild weathering on the trucks and couplers. I don't do heavy weathering on Suleski Transportation engines, because we wash our engines for a good public image. 
Many people wonder about the graphics I use for all my equipment. Being in the sign business I have access to $25,000 computer printers and graphic programs. If you have a sign company in your area, stop in some time and introduce yourself. Bring an engine in and show it to them, tell them what you want to do and they can take measurements and cut what you need. They have color charts and font charts that you can look through. It isn't that hard to apply. Here is a photo of two of the USA GP38-2's that have been masked and painted. You'll notice the side railings were painted off the unit. This was because USA doesn't send them preinstalled. I painted the dash 9's with them on because I didn't want to take a chance on breaking them when removing them.  You'll notice I spilled some paint on my drop cloth. Whenever you are painting with an airbrush you should always screw the tops back on your paint bottles. While painting you'll forget that you're dragging an air hose along with you. Murphy's law says the air hose will always tip over the paint bottle. I got going to fast and forgot.
Here are some photos of the finished and lettered GP38-2's.   All I can say is practice makes you better at it. Don't be afraid to try it. No one is perfect, even in real life. Remember when your train is running around people don't get a chance to see if there are small chips, smudges or over spray. If you ever look real close at a 1:1 engine there are all kinds of minor flaws in the paint jobs. After all it is the overall image and appearance that impresses the public. Weather its BNSF, CSX or Suleski Transportation. Logo recognition is the same in real life or in the garden. If you have specific questions please feel free to ask in the LSOL forums. If you have done and custom painting please share some photos of your work I the forum.
| Masking |
| Scott, Very informative article. I'll have to try the blue painter's tape. Good looking locomotives. Even if they are dismals! |
| JD Miller - 01/23/2009 - 18:10 |
| painting |
| Yea the blue painters tape is a great supply to have on hand since it wont pull off the previous coat of paint like some of other types of masking tape can. Scott I cant believe you airbrush on your dining room table, you are braver then I am. As for airbrushes, I have a simple single action airbrush with different adjustable nozzles, it is a great and inexpensive way to get started in airbrushing. As you advance you can upgrade to a good double action internal mix airbrush, or stay with the single action jobbie. So many people have commented that its so difficult to paint models. I don't believe that it is, it just takes a little courage to jump in and try. Like you said the more you do it the better you will get. Thanks for sharing and I hope more people give it a try. |
| David A. Maynard - 01/24/2009 - 14:42 |
| airbrushing |
| Scott, You make it sound so easy. I have 2 airbrushes and don't use them. I can't seem to get a thin enough consis tency with my paints I can't use them without having them clog rite up and then I spend the rest of the evening trying to free them up. I hve become a fairly decent rattle can artist but There is a limit as to colors. I will get some of the paints that you sugest and maybe I'll try again. I do have rolling stock that I would like to paint. I had discovered the blue masking tape also. Great article. Jim Sweeney VGRS |
| Jim Sweeney - 03/05/2009 - 08:14 |
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