Preparing factory finish for paint

[exmouthcraig]

 

Evening All, I recently purchased these for a very reasonable price and although only the BG in SR green is hard to come by the rest are readily available in fully factory SR green.

However I bought these and the challenge is too make them look respectable against the fleet of coaches.

One concern is that the tops coded NOV, steel CCT or mini GUV never appeared is green. This I'd love to be proved one way or the other, the only colour photos I have of any on location are BR Maroon, which if they have to be they will.

My first issue is preparing these for paint. They are all stripped if parts BUT is there something I can dunk them in to remove the blue without damaging the detail? That's the reason I'm not straight on them with the 2000 grade wet and dry, I just think I'll loose detail and not prepare the surface well enough.

Help, information and recommendations I await, and if anyone can definitively say if the NOVs ever appeared green I'd appreciate it

[RailGooner]

I use Strip Magic which works well but needs testing carefully on each model - it'll strip one model quicker than another and in doing so may damage the plastic. I work on a small area (1" square) at a time. I wouldn't recommend dunking a plastic model in this stuff.

[exmouthcraig]

Got to be worth a punt then and just be very careful over applying it. 

[geoffc]

I have used Phoenix Paints stripper and it works well, I have also dunked them in warm caustic soda solution, note the latter discolours clear plastic. Others have used Brasso or brake fluid, I tried the later without a lot of success.

Geoff

[njee20]

I use IPA, which IMO is far less aggressive than anything else suggested. Leave bodyshell for 12 hours or so and the paint peels off.

[exmouthcraig]

I use IPA, which IMO is far less aggressive than anything else suggested. Leave bodyshell for 12 hours or so and the paint peels off.

Leave it submerged njee or just brush on and leave??

[crewearpley40]

One concern is that the tops coded NOV, steel CCT or mini GUV never appeared is green. This I'd love to be proved one way or the other, the only colour photos I have of any on location are BR Maroon, which if they have to be they will. paul bartletts site shows blue in later years. hope helps craig

[njee20]

I use IPA, which IMO is far less aggressive than anything else suggested. Leave bodyshell for 12 hours or so and the paint peels off.

Leave it submerged njee or just brush on and leave??

Submerged, I've left bodyshells for days before with no ill effects. Other things will melt your models.

[guest311]

I was put onto Mr Muscle oven cleaner by Chris, of Old Warren fame.

used it with no problems on locos and carriages.

take away tray, place loco / carriage / whatever in it, spray Mr M over it [foamy], put on lid and then leave overnight.

I have also been able, with this method and a shorter time period, to remove various coats of paint and printing, ie triple grey cl 37 into plain grey cl37.

as with anything, of course trial first.

[RailGooner]

I was put onto Mr Muscle oven cleaner by Chris, of Old Warren fame.

used it with no problems on locos and carriages.

take away tray, place loco / carriage / whatever in it, spray Mr M over it [foamy], put on lid and then leave overnight.

I have also been able, with this method and a shorter time period, to remove various coats of paint and printing, ie triple grey cl 37 into plain grey cl37.

as with anything, of course trial first.

With the added benefit of having to have a takeaway meal first!

[maridunian]

I was put onto Mr Muscle oven cleaner by Chris, of Old Warren fame.

used it with no problems on locos and carriages.

take away tray, place loco / carriage / whatever in it, spray Mr M over it [foamy], put on lid and then leave overnight.

I have also been able, with this method and a shorter time period, to remove various coats of paint and printing, ie triple grey cl 37 into plain grey cl37.

as with anything, of course trial first.

With the added benefit of having to have a takeaway meal first!

And since you had a take-away, you won't be needing it to clean your oven!

Mike

[martyn]

Craig;

From the HMRS/Parkin book on Mk1s;

Full brakes (BG)-mostly lined maroon, but two batches which were turned out in unlined crimson later had unlined maroon. A few WR were chocolate and cream-W80713 commandeered to work Bournemouth Belle, and others did 'escape' from WR for periods. SR did not have own allocation until 1965, when some dual heated ones repainted green.

Mk1 CCT and GUV;-mostly lined maroon, but the SR GUVs were green, as were SR allocated horse boxes (as per Farish).

For stripping, I also use Precision PS18 SuperStrip or IPA or brake fluid with success-depends what's available on my shelf. Do NOT use 'domestic' paint strippers-they will rapidly melt plastic, but I have used them on metal, with extreme care.

Martyn

[exmouthcraig]

Well following on this topic I managed to get 7 of the 9 items out of a 12hr soak in IPA and they scrubbed up immaculately clean apart from the GF Bogie Bs, these are absolute  to strip the paint from, I have even sacrificed Mrs ECs toothbrush to no avail!

However the 7 stripped are currently in the spray booth following on from 5 mistings of primer, these went exceptionally well with no blisters or dodgy bits, the best I've ever managed to get Vallejo primer!!

This afternoon I mixed up half a bottle of BR Green and started spraying. Now i mixed it to about 50/50 with Railmatch acrylic and Railmatch acrylic thinners. I have a new airbrush and pressure adjustable compressor and the results have been very good so far, i think a few more passes and varnish will give satisfactory results BUT this goes out to anyone who knows esp Mike @red_death and @Ben A because their bound to know, when a wagon or coach is manufactured and primed.........

How many coats of colour does each item receive?

I'm upto 6 coats and the colour is starting to look very good, and I've not lost any relief or detail yet but it's taken about an hour to spray 6 coats onto 7 coaches/wagons, do the factories hand paint (with an airbrush) items rather then a robotic machine?

There is serious work that goes into these £20 items we all want cheaper!!

[emjaybee]

Well following on this topic I managed to get 7 of the 9 items out of a 12hr soak in IPA and they scrubbed up immaculately clean apart from the GF Bogie Bs, these are absolute  to strip the paint from, I have even sacrificed Mrs ECs toothbrush to no avail!

However the 7 stripped are currently in the spray booth following on from 5 mistings of primer, these went exceptionally well with no blisters or dodgy bits, the best I've ever managed to get Vallejo primer!!

This afternoon I mixed up half a bottle of BR Green and started spraying. Now i mixed it to about 50/50 with Railmatch acrylic and Railmatch acrylic thinners. I have a new airbrush and pressure adjustable compressor and the results have been very good so far, i think a few more passes and varnish will give satisfactory results BUT this goes out to anyone who knows esp Mike @red_death and @Ben A because their bound to know, when a wagon or coach is manufactured and primed.........

How many coats of colour does each item receive?

I'm upto 6 coats and the colour is starting to look very good, and I've not lost any relief or detail yet but it's taken about an hour to spray 6 coats onto 7 coaches/wagons, do the factories hand paint (with an airbrush) items rather then a robotic machine?

There is serious work that goes into these £20 items we all want cheaper!!

For reference purposes only, I usually get two coats of primer, two coats of colour, two coats of gloss lacquer, (decals), and two coats of satin lacquer to finish.

All from rattle cans, all with no loss (that i can see) of detail. It does take quite a while to get that amount of paint on a wagon, so you get some sense of whats involved in any manufacturing process.

I'm impressed with anyone who's mastered the use of an airbrush, so all power to your elbow bloke.

[exmouthcraig]

I in no way imply I have mastered the airbrush



That should be enough of a disclaimer I feel 

But they are starting to look green and a very close match to GF factory green on comparison. All credit must go to Railmatch for that!!!!