Just finished up a paint job on a brass steam locomotive - Page 1

Site Notices

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Just finished up a paint job on a brass steam locomotive

Posted: 10/31/2021 6:10:32 PM EDT

Here are a few photos of an old PFM C&NW E-2 Pacific. This is the third brass locomotive I’ve painted and I’m getting a little better each time.

Eventually I’ll add DCC/Sound/lighting and a new can motor.

Attached File

Posted: 10/31/2021 6:45:18 PM EDT

[#1]

Very nice!

What paint type did you use?

Posted: 10/31/2021 6:49:14 PM EDT

[#2]

Very nice!

Posted: 10/31/2021 6:55:44 PM EDT

[#3]

Do you have any crab meat?

Posted: 10/31/2021 6:56:54 PM EDT

[#4]

Quote History

Quoted:
Do you have any crab meat?

View Quote

This ain't GD sport...

Posted: 10/31/2021 6:57:07 PM EDT

[#5]

Quote History

Quoted:
Very nice!

What paint type did you use?

View Quote

Thanks! Scalecoat for the black and Allclad II lacquer for the smoke and fire boxes. I primed it with SEM self etching primer.

Posted: 10/31/2021 6:58:31 PM EDT

[#6]

Can you make smoke come out of the smokestack?

Posted: 10/31/2021 8:28:19 PM EDT

[#7]

What scale? Looks larger than HO. Also looks good BTW!

Posted: 10/31/2021 8:58:18 PM EDT

[#8]

Very nice, OP! I also use Scalecoat to paint my brass models. (Scalecoat 1)

Recently, I bought a small enclosed sand blasting booth. I've been giving my brass models a light once over with the sandblasting media - which removes the surface oils and clear varnish they used to seal the models back in the day. I then shoot a light coat of Scalecoat 1, 1000 Gray Primer, and then the primary color when dry. I'm sad to say that I also have an oven in the basement, and bake the model at low heat to cure the paint.

Can't beat that combo! Keep on modeling and painting OP!!! It's a dying art!!

Posted: 10/31/2021 9:39:32 PM EDT

[#9]

Quote History

Quoted:
Very nice, OP! I also use Scalecoat to paint my brass models. (Scalecoat 1)

Recently, I bought a small enclosed sand blasting booth. I've been giving my brass models a light once over with the sandblasting media - which removes the surface oils and clear varnish they used to seal the models back in the day. I then shoot a light coat of Scalecoat 1, 1000 Gray Primer, and then the primary color when dry. I'm sad to say that I also have an oven in the basement, and bake the model at low heat to cure the paint.

Can't beat that combo! Keep on modeling and painting OP!!! It's a dying art!!

View Quote

Thanks! I do a very similar process.

First strip the clear coat with a bath in lacquer thinner and a ultrasonic cleaner. Once the clear coat is stripped I give it a blast with aluminum oxide, and then prime with SEM primer and then finish coat with Scalecoat 1.

I have a cheap toaster oven that I use to bake on the scalecoat.

Posted: 10/31/2021 9:41:35 PM EDT

[#10]

Quote History

Quoted:
What scale? Looks larger than HO. Also looks good BTW!

View Quote

It’s HO scale. I think it just looks bigger the way the photos were taken.

Posted: 10/31/2021 9:53:52 PM EDT

[#11]

Very nice! I like the level of detail in that locomotive.

Posted: 10/31/2021 10:47:40 PM EDT

[#12]

You did a really nice job. Now you gotta weather it.

Posted: 11/1/2021 1:39:12 AM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
Here are a few photos of an old PFM C&NW E-2 Pacific. This is the third brass locomotive I’ve painted and I’m getting a little better each time.

Eventually I’ll add DCC/Sound/lighting and a new can motor.

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/52190/1A3F3658-66AC-46FB-A39C-960FE1CA73CA_jpe-2150294.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/52190/6D265BAD-95F2-4882-9F19-5B47CF578943_jpe-2150296.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/52190/575ECAFE-DEF4-44DA-BC60-DBFBB448E8CE_jpe-2150297.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/52190/47864A97-31CE-420F-9448-DBADEBC32FA8_jpe-2150298.JPG

View Quote

That is really cool!

Posted: 11/1/2021 4:03:01 PM EDT

[#14]

Looks nice.
Is it a new brass loco? Or an older one? Are the brass ones even as common as they used to be? Now that there’s so many mass produced but nice ones from BLI and MTH etc.

Posted: 11/1/2021 6:13:52 PM EDT

[#15]

Quote History

Quoted:
Looks nice.
Is it a new brass loco? Or an older one? Are the brass ones even as common as they used to be? Now that there’s so many mass produced but nice ones from BLI and MTH etc.

View Quote

This is an older Pacific Fast Mail loco made in Japan back in the late 1960s or early 70s. I'd have to look up exactly when the run was done. There are still a bunch of brass locomotives around, but mostly they are old second hand. There is a limited amount of new build brass that comes in in small batches, but its usually extremely expensive and usually also comes factory painted. Those models do have excellent detail and are much better that the massed produced plastic stuff, but usually retail for over $2,000. They are mainly more collector pieces than stuff to use on your layout and operate.

Posted: 11/2/2021 12:13:04 PM EDT

[#16]

Quote History

Quoted:

Can you make smoke come out of the smokestack?

View Quote

if he puts enough volts through the sounds system!

Posted: 11/2/2021 12:21:17 PM EDT

[#17]

Quote History

Quoted:

This is an older Pacific Fast Mail loco made in Japan back in the late 1960s or early 70s. I'd have to look up exactly when the run was done. There are still a bunch of brass locomotives around, but mostly they are old second hand. There is a limited amount of new build brass that comes in in small batches, but its usually extremely expensive and usually also comes factory painted. Those models do have excellent detail and are much better that the massed produced plastic stuff, but usually retail for over $2,000. They are mainly more collector pieces than stuff to use on your layout and operate.

View Quote

the new stuff often has so much detail that they are pretty fragile, to the point where normal handling can damage them and break off details.

Posted: 11/3/2021 11:00:21 AM EDT

[#18]

Quote History

Quoted:
the new stuff often has so much detail that they are pretty fragile, to the point where normal handling can damage them and break off details.

View Quote

Fragile enough that taking them out of the box is traumatic.

Posted: 11/19/2021 9:20:42 PM EDT

[#19]

Speaking of delicate.... @DoubleARon @Bunn19 and other, do you keep an eye on the brass market?
I am looking for a Norfolk & Western, Precision Scale Co, Z1b in HO if you ever come across one for sale online or hobby store.

Posted: 11/19/2021 9:41:37 PM EDT

[#20]

eBay and brasstrains.com are probably the go to.

Posted: 11/20/2021 10:20:35 PM EDT

[#21]

Quote History

Quoted:
Speaking of delicate.... @DoubleARon @Bunn19 and other, do you keep an eye on the brass market?
I am looking for a Norfolk & Western, Precision Scale Co, Z1b in HO if you ever come across one for sale online or hobby store.

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/46582/PSC_Zib-2173677.png

View Quote

Keep an eye on brasstrains.com. You can also register and get on their mailing list that will send you alerts when they have a model you are looking for in stock. Also resourced rails is another good brass dealer that is fairly new.

Posted: 11/24/2021 9:16:35 PM EDT

[#22]

Awesome detail on a HO scale Brass.
Nice job

Posted: 11/24/2021 9:43:11 PM EDT

[#23]

That's HO? I should have recognized that immediately from the cutting mat but there's so much detail I thought it was bigger. I grew up on 027 Lionels. Anyway, that's pretty cool. Too clean though but I know, as a one-time model builder myself, it's hard to put all the work in to make something perfect just to make it ugly.

Posted: 12/7/2021 8:12:37 PM EDT

[#24]

If you ever go to Gettysburg PA check out Tommy Gilbert’s hobby shop.

He has a large selection of brass train stuff.

Posted: 1/9/2022 12:02:33 PM EDT

[#25]

Quote History

Quoted:

Thanks! Scalecoat for the black and Allclad II lacquer for the smoke and fire boxes. I primed it with SEM self etching primer.

View Quote

It looks great.

I hope that primer works for you. Every metal loco I airbrushed always had the corners wear off in a week or two from handling.

I guess the paint chemistry has gotten a lot better though.

Posted: 3/11/2022 9:48:37 PM EDT

[#26]

Got a new project. This one just arrived, and will be getting paint soon.
It had never been opened/unwrapped before. It is 1 of 50, from a 1982 production.
Me painting it will probably make some old guy cry for ruining a collectible.

hope to make it looks something like this...

Posted: 3/11/2022 9:54:25 PM EDT

[#27]

Quote History

Quoted:
Speaking of delicate.... @DoubleARon @Bunn19 and other, do you keep an eye on the brass market?
I am looking for a Norfolk & Western, Precision Scale Co, Z1b in HO if you ever come across one for sale online or hobby store.

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/46582/PSC_Zib-2173677.png

View Quote

Oh yeah... finally found my Z1b (middle loco) last month, too...

Posted: 3/12/2022 9:35:17 AM EDT

[#28]

Well articulated.

Posted: 3/12/2022 1:44:39 PM EDT

[#29]

Quote History

Quoted:
Well articulated.

View Quote

As a 20 year N&W modeler/collector, I have almost twenty 2-6-6-2's, 2-8-8-2's and 2-6-6-4's.
I want to recreate this photo at some point.
Why so many? My Grandfather was a fireman on the 2-6-6-4's in late 40's after returning from Paciific.

Posted: 3/12/2022 6:47:29 PM EDT

[#30]

Still not as cool as a Southern Pacific AC-9.

Posted: 3/30/2022 4:28:49 PM EDT

[#31]

looks pretty sweet. you DEFINITELY need to get a board, maybe 6" x 18", and put a well ballasted piece of track on it, to display properly for photographs. you'll like the way it looks too, when shooting pics. bonus points for powering it, so you can run the lights, when shooting pics.

Posted: 3/30/2022 5:04:29 PM EDT

[#32]

Nice!

Posted: 3/30/2022 5:12:17 PM EDT

[#33]

Very nice.

Posted: 3/31/2022 12:38:21 AM EDT

[#34]

Quote History

Quoted:
Still not as cool as a Southern Pacific AC-9.

View Quote

I saw a comment from social media, purported to be by Broadway Limited, stating they expect to receive first models of AC-9s in June.
I don't know if those are "for sale", or "pre-production samples".
Obviously, people are pretty excited by this bit of news.