Painting Hornby Wheels

[Ribird]

So I'm testing out painting some wheels of an Railroad Golden Shuttle, before I go to the detailed models. I sprayed some primer onto said wheels, and the primer peeled right off both the metal and plastic bits. Air-bushing the paint and hopefully removing said paint off of contact points on the metal, like what I've seen most do after they weather a model.

 

What does everybody use before painting the Hornby wheels? Or what primer do you use?

 

Any suggestions would be helpful, thank you.

[Mick Bonwick]

I make absolutely sure that there is no oil or grease on the wheels by using isopropyl alcohol, and then paint with thin layers. No primer.

[Ribird]

4 hours ago, Mick Bonwick said:

I make absolutely sure that there is no oil or grease on the wheels by using isopropyl alcohol, and then paint with thin layers. No primer.

I did clean the wheels before I had primed them with some lacquer thinner. But I will most definitely try going straight to paint! Thanks!

[MGR Hooper!]

Use slightly thinned acrylic paint....start off in the middle and work your way towards the rim.

 

The reason behind the slightly thinned paint is to get an even and smooth coat. Thick paint will end up with groves because of the hair on the paint brush.

 

I painted one below to show you....

 

[DCB]

Getting paint to actually stick to wheels is one issue making it stay there is another. To be honest I have never really achieved a satisfactory effect comparable to 1940s Hornby Dublo.  I reckon they must have been stove enamelled.

Getting the surface absolutely clean is the key, pun intended.   I find the thinner the paint the better it sticks so a nice quick blow over with an acryllic rattle can  sprayed in warm dry conditions works better for me than carefully priming and then adding top coat,   I actually spray over the stream of warm air from a hair dryer but even then the finish chips in service and lets the model down unless constantly touched up. 

[Ribird]

I got some paint to perfectly stick to the Hornby wheels without chipping (ran hard through sharp curves and switches for testing). I used phosphoric acid mixed in with the paint. Phosphoric acid is one of the main chemicals in etching primer. I do not remember the exact number I used from Dupont, but it was called converter, I believe 620S. Images below are the same model, just two different sides for testing methods (like devalancing one side for post war livery)

 

Since I work in a Model Shop, I used my works DuPont Vinyl paint mixing to achieve this red (yes I do think it should be brighter.) The vinyl did not stick by itself, until you mix in some phosphoric acid, which does not mess up the gloss or quality, only thins it out! I did apply silver sharpie to one side to achieve the look of Mallard. Do ignore the shade of red in the in process photo, as that color was changed.

 

For my process (which I need to make more efficient for upcoming rounds) I started off by masking off the axles and making a painting jig. Then I sprayed the wheels with 3M gray etching primer, which doesn’t stick well to the metal but perfect to the plastic. I sanded and scraped off the primer that’s on the metal, including the face surface. Then sprayed a light layer of paint with phosphoric acid. Did another coat after waiting over night. Once the second coat is done, I applied acrylic glazing putty to the valley that Hornby has on their wheels (where the plastic and metal meet). Once sanded flush, I applied some more glazing putty since it valleys slightly when drying, and repeat sanding. Then the obvious next step by doing two coats of the phosphoric acid mix. Then to make sure everything was good, I applied a good coat of paint w/o phosphoric acid mixed in. I did have to scrape off the paint on the tyres (and backside). For future rounds, I will be masking off even more, since you’ll never see the backside of the wheels and won’t matter if you do see Hornby’s horrible A4 red wheels. Between the in process photo and final photo, I had stripped the paint on and restarted.

 

Sorry for the long post, but here are the final results  Also also, I know the final paint job is too textured, if you can see that in these pictures, During one coat, my airbrush was clogging from me not 100% cleaning it properly. If the point wasn't made clearly, it takes an exacto knife blade to remove this paint from the metal and does not pit from the etching primer or the phosphoric acid.

 

I do have two questions:

• How does one not scratch the connecting rods and gear when screwing in the screws? You can see the discoloration in the valve gear/connecting rods in the de-valanced picture.
• Is this is the right shade of red? I believe it is a tad too dark and just needs some more bright red added to the mix.

 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2019 by Ribird

[Ribird]

Final image of my test model with 90 sheen gloss applied and the added silver trim using Baremetals Matte Aluminum.

 

Yes, it can be improved upon for the quality of the gloss and painting. I already know how to improve on them for future version. 

Edited October 23, 2019 by Ribird