Painting and Transfers - beginners questions

[D5541]

Morning morning :-)

 

I'm currently working on a resin loco kit, that all being well should be ready for painting by the end of the week, however, possibly because I'm a bit of a pleb sometimes, despite reading various articles, I'm still confused about painting. Hopefully it's not just me overthinking something blindingly obvious but...

 

I've got a can of the Halfords grey plastic undercoat stuff which I will use for a Base, I'm assuming that'll be ok for a resin kit from what I've read, and spraying undercoat is something I've grasped already so no issues there, however, next...

 

Paint/varnish combinations!! Here I'm lost, probably down to overthinking!

 

The loco will be in plain black with red bufferbeams, early br crest and steam style numbering, and in ex works condition because it's too nice to make mucky and I'm assuming the depot kept it clean :-)

 

So, my query is, what combination of paint and varnish finish do I actually need?

 

My thinking is that Matt paint + gloss varnish = shiny finish, but so does gloss paint and gloss varnish? Or would satin paint and varnish be a more realistic finish?

 

Then, adding transfers into the mix...

Is it paint, transfers, varnish or

Paint, varnish, transfers and varnish again for good measure?

 

If it makes any difference to the answers, undercoat and black will be spray cans but the bufferbeams will be brush painted (and I know my red is a gloss finish)

 

Thanks in advance for any and all replies, I'm sure the answer will be howlingly obvious n make me look a total berk for not working it out myself, but I'd rather be certain than have to strip the model and start again :-)

 

Dan :-)

[Karhedron]

Halfords primer is pretty good. I would recommend washing the bodyshell in warm water and mild detergent then rinsing well before applying the primer.

 

If you want a plain black body, you could even use an aerosol of black car paint. Spray cans give a much smoother finish than brush paint if you are not ready to invest in an airbrush yet.

 

I would recommend gloss paint because transfers are much easier to apply to a gloss surface than a matt one.

 

I would also recommend a satin varnish to seal the transfers and not a gloss one. The reason for this is that reflections do not scale well. A reflection of a 1:1 light source on a 1:76 model tends to destroy the illusion we are trying to create of the real thing in miniature. Also, we normally view the real thing from a distance where reflections become less obvious.

 

I actually paint my N gauge locos with matt varnish but if you are in 00 and you want to represent ex-works then satin should be OK. But I would avoid a gloss varnish. Like you, I tried it on my first loco kit and it just looked wrong.

[jwealleans]

Wash. Paint with your preferred black. Gloss varnish if you're using waterslide transfers, satin will do for HMRS or dry type.

 

For your bufferbeams, a coat of white before you do the red.

 

I use Games Workshop satin varnish to seal transfers because they're an excellent aerosol and I can get them locally. Make sure everything is thoroughly dry before you apply the next layer.

 

Once you're sealed it all, the final finish is up to you - I use satin for locos and matt for wagons. Gloss looks a bit OTT on a model. But the last varnish coat you apply will more or less determine the finish. Combinations before that are really what works best for you and your chosen paint/transfers.

[hayfield]

I would buy a can of black gloss spray paint from Halfords, fix transfers after painting buffer beams etc. Once nice and dry I use satin varnish (Humbrol) I now see Testers is available in spray cans, those who use it never use any thing else again.

[Norton961]

All good advice.

The key thing is to ensure that the resin is washed in detergent and dried. The resin will still have a release agent to get it out of its mold on it and paint won't stick to it unless its cleaned.

Avoid washing up liquid as this usually contains lanolin which paint does not like either!

Use something like JIF or something similar. I finish of with Cilit Bang and a good wash. I have had good reporrs of W5 Limescale remover from Lidle but have yet to try it.This will also ensure that all other residues(such as Flux) are fully removed.

The secret of a good paint job is in the preparation.

A trick when using an aerosol canister : use a fresh can, warm it in hot water and shake well all will help to ensure the paint is well mixed. Shake for more than the 2 minutes.

 

David

[Guy Rixon]

Some transfers, especially the waterslide kind, stick best to a gloss surface. If your paint isn't glossy, then spraying gloss varnish before adding transfers may help. If the paint is already glossy, then varnishing before transfers won't help much.

 

When varnishing over transfers, you need to be sure that the varnish won't damage the transfers. Some brands of transfer crinkle up in contact with certain brands of varnish. From personal experience, I know that Humbrol vanish ruins Fox transfers. I contacted Fox: they recommended Railmatch varnish, and that has worked well for me. HMRS pressfix transfers seem OK with Humbrol varnish.

[D5541]

Thanks all for the replies :-)

 

I'd actually given the thing a good wash n scrub when it first turned up but used washing up liquid, then realised as I'd be handling it a bit tidying up n fixing handrails etc it'd probably need a second going over anyways, think I've only got lemon flash in the cupboard so maybe a trip to the supermarket is in order!

 

Order form is going in the post today for transfers

 

Depending on when my order for handrail knobs turns up, it could actually be ready for undercoating by the weekend...

 

I'm actually starting to make something like progress with no major injuries, combustion, or other peripheral damage, quite worrying really...

 

Dan :-)

[CKPR]

Instead of varnish, you could try using Johnson's 'Klear' floor polish - put on a coat before applying the transfers and then seal them in with another coat. It's what the aircraft and armour modellers do and it works well as 'Klear' is much easier and nicer to use than varnish. 

[Mythocentric]

As an alternative, a method commonly used in the States and by aircraft and military modellers is to leave out the gloss varnish coat and soak the transfers in gloss varnish (Humbrol Clear works a treat!) rather than water which has the advantage of applying the gloss coat only where you need it, i.e. under the transfer! Then finish off with the varnish coat of your choice. A simple solution and one less coat to clog up any fine detail!

 

Regards

 

Bill

[M.I.B]

I would buy a can of black gloss spray paint from Halfords, fix transfers after painting buffer beams etc. Once nice and dry I use satin varnish (Humbrol) I now see Testers is available in spray cans, those who use it never use any thing else again.

 

I only use Testors on top of "Humbrol/Revell/Pheonix Precision" type paint.

 

For matt finish on gloss car paint, use Halfords Matt spray varnish.  It works much better with car paints.  See page three of my thread - link is below in my sig box.

[Karhedron]

For matt finish on gloss car paint, use Halfords Matt spray varnish.  It works much better with car paints.  See page three of my thread - link is below in my sig box.

Not knocking Halfords varnish but Testors works fine over car paint too.