Rich,

I too use Maskol when painting my coaches.  The ones in this entry (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1009/entry-13801-2fs-gwr-4-6-wheel-coaches-u4-t38-continued/) were spray primed (grey acid etch primer - they're etched brass coaches), the chocolate and roof area was masked off with masking tape so that the cream upper part could be backed with white before being sprayed with cream.  Once all dry, the cream upper panels were coated with Maskol (roof protected with masking tape), then whole lot sprayed chocolate.  Once the chocolate was dry, the masking tape and Maskol were removed - the Maskol was rubbed off with the point of a cocktail stick where necessary (most peeled off happily, but behind the windows it stuck so had to be teased off).

I would have expected the solebars to be black by the way.

Ian

Ian,

Thanks for the comments.

Once I realised about the stuff going behind the windows, I used less on the next side and it worked a treat. Lesson learnt.

I'll check out the sole bars.

Rich

...I'm still not happy with the roofs, but don't know what else to do...

Paint them a dark weathered grey. The body colour up to the rain strip on the roof is more a feature of the 1890s and early 1900s, or clerestoreys repainted in the late twenties and thirties. I don' recall seeing it on any brown or lake liveried stock. Even if it was there, you would see it on a vehicle that had gone for so long without painting. Similarly, there would be no trace of white on the roof within two or three years, perhaps less, of painting. White lead went grey very quickly.

Nick

Thanks Nick.

So you think I should paint all the "white" roof panels and the Lake edge panels below the rain strip on the roof in a weathered all-over grey. But not the vertical Lake panels with the clerestory window panels in. And then no doubt weather it down with rain streaks etc.??

I have various other clerestories that will be in much better late twenties to mid thirties chocolate and cream livery and better state of weather. Would those have had the roof panels below the rain strip in body colour or roof colour?

Going forwards should all my "white" roofs be varying shades of grey, if the white didn't last long at all?

Rich

Thanks Nick. So you think I should paint all the "white" roof panels and the Lake edge panels below the rain strip on the roof in a weathered all-over grey. But not the vertical Lake panels with the clerestory window panels in. And then no doubt weather it down with rain streaks etc.??

Yes, Rich, that's exactly what I would expect.

...I have various other clerestories that will be in much better late twenties to mid thirties chocolate and cream livery and better state of weather. Would those have had the roof panels below the rain strip in body colour or roof colour? Going forwards should all my "white" roofs be varying shades of grey, if the white didn't last long at all? Rich

There are photos of recently painted clerestory coaches in the early thirties with bright white roofs and chocolate up to the rain strip, so anything between this and a well-weathered grey is possible. The discolouring of the white lead paint is, I understand, the result of chemical reaction with sulphut and other pollutants in smoke. It takes place fairly rapidly and often appears to be very uniform over the whole roof. What I don't know is how quickly any chocolate section becomes indistinguishable from the grey.

Nick

In these Tri-ang coaches, the glazing is simply an inverted U-shaped transparent plastic sheet inside the body. 

One screw in the centre holds the roof in place and the tabs can then be popped out of the ends to ease off the roof.  The 'glazing' then simply lifts out.

I find it much easier to paint the window surrounds and drop-light frames  after removing the windows.

Mike