loco painting

[brianusa]

With the advent of the rebuild Saint and others, how are they painted?  Upon fabrication of each assembly and then all connected as per plan or paint the finished loco?  Presumably the originals were brush painted and the rebuild sprayed?  A pity it wasn't painted in works grey for the picture as per tradition.

 

Brian

[Davexoc]

I think you'll find parts are primed, and then the whole brush painted. With good paint and brushes, correctly thinned paint will go on better by brush without all the masking and extraction required for spraying.

 

Dave

[Steamport Southport]

Painted as they go along with plenty of rubbing down. Filling and rubbing down again. Then a few top coats and varnish.

 

The photos explain it better than words really.

 

http://www.thesaintproject.co.uk/Pages/LatestNews.html

 

 

Jason

[Gibbo675]

Hi Brian,

 

As the above have noted all the paint is applied by brush. That said some painters use a gloss roller to apply the paint and then lay off with a brush, the reason for this is that the paint goes on more evenly and more quickly.

 

Modern brushing grade paints allow for the following from bare metal:

1. Primer coat.
2. Filler and sand.
3. First under coat, filler and sand.
4. Second undercoat and sand.
5. First top coat and sand.
6. Second top coat and light sand.
7. Lining and transfers.
8. First coat varnish.
9. Second coat varnish.

 

Many years ago Seventy One Million, AKA the Duke of Gloucester was spayed in two pack epoxy paint, it looked fantastic close up but flat matt from a distance because there were no brushing lines in the paint finish.

 

As noted above, when brush painted there are usually two coats of varnish applied, this has two effects, one that gives depth to the paint finish and the second, to reflect the sunlight at all sorts of different angles bye way of the brushing lines in the depth of the finish. Even a locomotive that needs a clean will still retain an amount of shine due to the effect of the brushing lines in the varnish. Unfortunately the effect of cleaning the paint work flats it off over time leading to the loss of the brushing lines and eventually a dull finish. Varnishing also allows for locomotives that become so dulled in their paint finish to be rubbed down without recourse to relining and replacement of transfers or painted numbers and gold leaf and then re-varnished to look like new again.

 

The painting of components such as wheels, frames and bracketry is done prior to assembly with touching up done if it chipped in the process.

 

Gibbo.

[AMJ]

Some people prefer to use a roller to paint large areas as they believe to be able to get a perfect finish.

 

This obviously still follows the many coats and sanding process.