Painting loco underframe. wheels and motion

[Torper]

I've just been watching Tim Shackleton's Weathering Right Track DVD and he's been weathering a Crab (locomotive!).  To paint the underframe, wheels and motion he's used an airbrush with a dilute mixture of (I think) Humbrol enamels 62 and Matt Black, and he's applied that fairly liberally over everything.  While the results are excellent, I've never done this as I've always been concerned that the paint, even in a dilute form, would gum up the motion and possibly hornblocks of my kit-built locos.  Are my fears in that respect groundless?  I'd certainly like to adopt Tim Shackleton's method as it is so much easier and the results are so good.

 

DT

[Michael Edge]

Put some oil in the bearing surfaces and it won't gum up anything, I do this routinely when painting frames with wheels fitted. Everything runs free afterwards, just needs the wheel tyres cleaning - don't forget the backs of the wheels if the pickups are there.

[Mick Bonwick]

If you use an airbrush to do the painting you are very unlikely to gum anything up. The volume of paint is so small that the parts will still be able to move, and the oil that Michael mentions above will certainly prevent any paint from sticking to the bearing surfaces.

[Michael Edge]

I use Halfords rattle cans, primer followed by satin black and it still doesn't gum anything up.