Airbrushing.... my journey from Enamels to acrylics... so far

[John TAYLOR]

The only real issue I have, which you are in the process of addressing, is the adhesion to brass. I have so far stayed with an aerosol of self-etch primer, then sprayed on top.

Watching with interest.

Yes John, like you I`ve always done the same with brass and have relied on Closterman rattle can etch primer but recently have tried Upol in a failed attempt to escape the new style spray can nozzles which are now predominantly fan cap design to give an enormous wide and flat spray angle that gives very awkward coverage on model loco`s.


I have forgotten to mention that this whole enterprise of mine was influenced by Hatchette`s O Gauge Build The Mallard Partwork Kit.

As many will know , all the brass and alloy parts were sprayed with a lacquer primer so that anyone out in the non modelling world could assemble the kit entirely with superglue.

I have built this kit as a soldered construction and I can tell you that the lacquer primer was a s*d to remove easily . After a lot of experimentation ,including my wife`s nail varnish remover, it turned out to be Wilko`s paint remover that stole the show in removing the lacquer without destroying the many delicate parts...... and that needed at least one hour of soaking.

.... and so, I`m hoping to emulate the effect on brass.....

 

[John TAYLOR]

Well, not particularly scientific but nevertheless some encouragement.

The brass sheet shows good paint adhesion overall.



At the top is scratchings from a coin. Middle area is P180 abrasive sheet rubbings . Bottom is a sharp edged metal object.

The left side has the etched primer first coat but overall the second coat polyurethane primer shows equal strength to me.

I`m more inclined to think that quality products have better adhesion.

More interestingly, cleaning the wheel treads was as difficult as the traditional acid etch primer first coat and despite using an abrasive sheet there are the usual primer remnants.....



I feel encouraged to continue with airbrushing the loco with my chosen products......

 

[timbowales]

Re quality products having better adhesion the old adage is true in that you get what you pay for

 

[simond]

the old adage is true in that you get what you pay for

I suspect it’s truer to say that you don’t get what you don’t pay for, but I may be too cynical by far.

 

[Chuffer]

Just a thought - have you tried cellulose thinners on a cotton bud to wipe the wheel treads clean? I find this will remove most paints from metal surfaces.

 

[John TAYLOR]

Just a thought - have you tried cellulose thinners on a cotton bud to wipe the wheel treads clean? I find this will remove most paints from metal surfaces.

Thanks Chuffer, I`ll give the cellulose thinners a try for the final tidy up. I wanted to assess the paint adhesion on the wheel treads with the acrylic products first.

 

[paulc]

I'm pretty sure MEK or equivalent will remove paint from your wheel treads as well , just don't splash it around . I guess the same caution applies to thinners as well though .

 

[steve50]

Thanks for starting what is a very informative thread. I'd like to use more acrylic paints and have had some good results using Lifecolour BR blue, thinned using their own thinners, I have found it needs days to harden properly. It's the weathering that I've not really tried yet, wiping off and moving the paint around seems a lot easier with enamels and I'm concerned about spraying the paint on then putting the airbrush down to manipulate the paint and having everything dry up or clean the airbrush first then the paint is too dry on the model!
The hot water cleaning tip is great, one I will def use.

 

[John TAYLOR]

Thanks for starting what is a very informative thread. I'd like to use more acrylic paints and have had some good results using Lifecolour BR blue, thinned using their own thinners, I have found it needs days to harden properly. It's the weathering that I've not really tried yet, wiping off and moving the paint around seems a lot easier with enamels and I'm concerned about spraying the paint on then putting the airbrush down to manipulate the paint and having everything dry up or clean the airbrush first then the paint is too dry on the model!
The hot water cleaning tip is great, one I will def use.

Thanks Steve, I`ve found Lifecolor paints to be great quality as is their thinner ( although Ultimate thinner is even better when using small needle/nozzles ).

I`m in the same boat as you with weathering railway locos/stock and my particular aim is to complete a finished model ,including weathering, by airbrushing alone.

My thinking so far is to airbrush a model, apply transfers , then protect with an acrylic clear coat and then apply weathering washes using acrylics or enamels and wipe of as required.

I`ve recently learn`t this from aircraft modellers and experimented with a Tamiya 1/48 scale Spitfire.............

So:.... Apply Primer.




Then highlight details with white.......




Apply livery colours using light thin coats............




I used `chippng` method using AK metal pencils



Then a clear coat (Pledge) and apply transfers.... and apply enamel panel washes and wipe off when almost dry.



Then a final semi gloss varnish..... should have used matt though.



I`m hoping to use this approach with weathering some railway models in the future.

The benefits of airbrushing is the ablilty to apply many varied coats of paint that won`t obliterate fine detail.

 

[steve50]

John that Spitfire looks superb, love the chipping. I've got some of those pencils but haven't used them on a railway model yet. Another difficulty I have is weathering for the sake of it. It's so easy to try a new method or technique then find out the prototype never actually weathered like that!
I'm currently trying not to overdo a loco roof, with the airbrush I should get a light coating of dirt.

 

[Max M]

Apologies as this is off topic, but for the aerial wire use some invisible thread and then paint silver (I use one of the paint sticks)

 

[John TAYLOR]

Here it goes then.....






A strip down of chassis parts and my preferred method of wheel blackening as mentioned a little further back. Including axles and bearings.






And then on to the main event >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> starting with both chassis, which were cleaned with Viakal.




Then multiple light coats of the `etch` primer tinted with black, using a Gaahleri GHAD 39 airbrush 0.35 nozzle @ 17psi.



Very enjoyable, now I`ve got the hang of things, and resulting for the first time for me , a very smooth primer finish.





Tomorrow will see an application of my other hard wearing lacquer black primer................................

 

[Phil O]

Hi John,

Who produces the kit, please.

 

[John TAYLOR]

Hi John,

Who produces the kit, please.

Sadly Phil, It is a Vulcan kit from the 1980`s. Difficult to find a complete unstarted one nowadays.



Warren Shepard produces a very good kit these days.

 

[markjj]

Sadly Phil, It is a Vulcan kit from the 1980`s. Difficult to find a complete unstarted one nowadays.

View attachment 227838

Warren Shepard produces a very good kit these days.

I believe and i standard corrected that Sanspareil do these kits now.
I'm sure I have read it online somewhere.

CSP7-Z208 Dean Goods 0-6-0

cspmodels.com

 

[John TAYLOR]

Very pleased and more encouraged after using Mr Hobby surface finisher.



I am omitting a final coat of satin black as Mr Hobby finished is a lovely smooth egg shell finish that will suffice for a chassis finish.......................

.............. now for some reassembly....

 

[John TAYLOR]

Chassis painted/chemically blackened and assembled into working order................



I like blackened axles as they seem to avoid rusting over time.....



I dropped the chassis during reassembly and bent a brake rod..... no paint damage during it`s re-tweaking back into shape.



Balance weights did`nt blacken that well but these can be sorted with the airbrush later....

Despite the 1980`s gearing standards she has the potential to be a more quiet mechanism once fully run in and lubricated as well as wired for DCC sound.

 

[John TAYLOR]

Bob Shephard was the paint chemist for Precision Paints until 2004. He established that there was only one GWR green colour from 1875 t0 1945.

It was the slow reduction of the number of coats of varnish over those years from 5 coats to1 or none that gave rise to the different shades of green. The varnish was made from natural materials and had a brown tinge to it.

Precision Paints don`t make an acrylic GWR green so I have used Railmatch Acrylic post 1928 green as a satisfactory example of GWR green whilst I experiment with an alternative non enamel paint.

TAMIYA are a hybrid acrylic which can be thinned ( up to a point) with water , so can be cleaned with water. But they are also an alchohol based paint and can be thinned with Tamiya X-20A thinner as well as Tamiya Lacquer thinner and Mr Color levelling thinner which give a more superior finish and are harder wearing than absolute water based acrylics. Tamiya cannot be mixed together with water based acrylics.



So far, this is the result of experimentation with three Tamiya colours mixed together, which unfortunately are all matte finishes.

The far right is the Railmatch product which has a satin finish.

I have given them both a coat of Johnsons Pledge to balance things up . I will be adding Tamiya gloss clear to the mix next.