Repainting Russell

[Andrew]

Evening all,

Having completed a three coach Welsh Highland train I thought it was time I made a start at improving the locos that will pull it - in Russell's case that means a lining job. I've got a Peter Spoerer lining pen which I've used for some very basic carriage lining but I've not plucked up enough courage to tackle a loco - until now... A test run on some painted hardboard has indicated that I've got a hope of achieving a reasonable result, as long as I'm patient and pay attention to detail. In truth neither are strong points of mine, but there's nothing like the prospect of ruining hundreds of pounds worth of loco to focus the mind. Well, that's the theory...

The first task was to dismantle the loco:



I've cleaned the body with degreaser - the next step will be to repaint the front panel where I've removed the Westinghouse pump, then mask up the body for spraying the black edging. Does anyone have any tips for neatly masking round curves, eg round the cab door and roof?

Progress reports to follow - unless it goes really badly wrong of course...

Andrew.

[steamie1]

Go for it! and do show us the end result..

[laalratty]

Must admit I cheated when I did the lining on my Russell for the masking round curves, I used trimline for the line between the black and body colour, and painted up to it (using brush paint obviously). Trimline of course is much easier to bend round corners then masking tape

[Snailrail]

I have painted and lined a loco in L & B Southern colours using a Peter Spoerer lining pen with results which I was quite pleased with. I have been meaning to write a thread and post some pictures of it.

One point I would mention is that Peter recommends using a drop of lighter fluid to help the paint flow. I tried that and made a horrible mess. I found that neat paint works perfectly well.

The way I did it was to spray the green all over first, then apply the white lines. They are mostly straight but where I had to go round a curve eg round the cab door I made a cardboard template to run the pen round. On a flat surface it is best to stick another small piece of card underneath to hold the template slightly above the surface so the paint doesn't run underneath.

Once the white was completely dry I did exactly the same and ran a black line round the outside of the white, filling in up to the edge of the panel with a small brush as I went.

I don't know exactly what the lining on Russell is like but I hope this may be of interest. I will try to post some pictures shortly of what I achieved.

Brian

[Andrew]

Thanks for your thoughts folks, much appreciated.

Laal Ratty, just looked back at your Russell thread, and if that's the result you get however you achieved it it ain't cheating! It looks fantastic, it wasn't until I read the whole thread that I realised it wasn't a professional job. Great tips Brian too thanks, yes, photos would be much appreciated! I'm going for black edging with an orange line on all panels, then yellow/black/yellow lining round the tank...

From your experience it sounds like brush painting the edging is the way to go. Sounds good to me, less chance of masking errors that only show up when it's too late. Not weather-dependant either. Like the idea of using the lining pen to get a neat edge to the black Brian, but I guess that would mean using gloss for the edging wheras I was planning to go with satin to tone down the overall shine? Did you use gloss too LR?

Thanks again,

Andrew.

[GTB]

but there's nothing like the prospect of ruining hundreds of pounds worth of loco to focus the mind.

If you are lining over the original Roundhouse paint job, you'd have to try really hard to do any permanent damage.

If you use enamel, eg. Humbrol, then all you have to do if it goes pear shaped is not to panic. Take a deep breath and then remove the lining with lighter fluid, or methylated spirits within a few hours. The two pack paint R/H use is unaffected by most solvents and it takes an industrial paint stripper, or a sand blaster, to have much affect on it.

For masking complicated shapes, I stick a piece of masking tape on a piece of glass sheet, mark it out in pencil and cut to shape with a new scalpel blade. My masking is usually a patchwork quilt of little bits of tape before I finish.

Also, avoid the standard cream coloured masking tape like the plague. It's cheap for a reason and is awful stuff.

Use the blue 3M if you can find it locally. There are two sorts, either is OK for models, but I prefer the one labelled for use on delicate surfaces. Tamiya tape from the hobby shop is also very good, especially on curved surfaces like diesels and it comes in narrow widths, as well as wider ones.

Practice until you get the paint thinned to flow just right. I always test the pen on a scrap of plastic before I start a line. The paint will spread and give a blotchy line if it is too thin, or not come out of the pen at all if too thick. FWIW I've found gloss enamel to flow better for lining than matt, but I use a bow pen and a tubular pen may be different.

Regards,
Graeme

[laalratty]

I've used satin Tamiya paint on a couple of my lining jobs, but the Russell had gloss as that is what the shop had. In reality there doesn't appear to be any difference, personally I'd go with gloss, with satin or matt for the tank tops.

[Andrew]

Excellent, thanks for the further advice chaps, very much appreciated. Graeme, I should be able to get to the model shop at lunch time so will pick up some Tamiya tape and a couple of decent brushes...

Watch this space. Just not too closely - things tend to take a while with me...

Andrew.

[Andrew]

OK, here we go...

I've got a week off work, and we're staying at my sister-in-law's in Cambridge - this afternoon she's off browsing sofa-beds with my wife and the kids are all off shopping, so I should get a couple of hours in with the lining pen... Wish me luck!

[Snailrail]

Good luck !
May your paint flow well and your hand be steady.

Brian

[Andrew]

Thanks for the encouragement Brian! So far, so good... I was still undecided on which technique to use until I couldn't find my specially purchased Tamiya masking tape when packing for our trip away - so I'm going with your method Brian. So far I've lined one side, the tank fronts and the front of the cab in a .5mm band of orange. When that's dry tomorrow I'll use a combination of lining pen and brush to do the black edging. Won't really know how I'm doing until that's finished, but the orange looks smooth enough I think - and any smears or imperfections on the "outside" of the line will be covered with black tomorrow. Will post photos when I get home... Right now I need to rid my sister-in-law's very des. res. of thinners and lighter fluid fumes before she notices or accuses her teenage children of substance abuse...

Andrew.

[Andrew]

I managed to get another hour or two in this afternoon and am still very pleased with the results so far - I've now edged in black the bits I lined orange yesterday. Yes, there are one or two bits that I'd ask to be re-done had I paid to have the job done professionally, but - so far - the overall effect is as good as I could possibly have hoped for. There's still time for it all to go horribly wrong of course...

Photos to follow later in the week when we get back home...

Andrew.

[GTB]

I managed to get another hour or two in this afternoon and am still very pleased with the results so far

That's the main thing, you will be more critical of it than most viewers and you will be looking at it for a long time......

Forgot to mention before, but a supply of cocktail sticks is useful when lining for cleaning up the odd blob in the wrong place and straightening out any minor wiggles as you go.

Look forward to seeing the results.

Regards,
Graeme

[Snailrail]

Glad it's going well for you so far. I was nervous at first which makes your hand shaky but once you've done a few good lines you soon gain in confidence. And there's nothing that can't be put right, it just takes a bit more time and patience.

I look forward to seeing the photos,

Brian

[Andrew]

OK, here are the promised photos, taken this morning before I finished the black edging to allow a kind of "in progress" comparison.

Here's side 2, with just the orange lining:



Not a great photo, but you get the idea. The great thing about this  method is that you've got quite a lot of room for error with the orange lines because 50% of your mistakes will be covered by the black edging. I found this second side harder than the first, either because I'd got too confident and tried to rush it, or because I'd lost my nerve, or both. It took about 30 goes to get the last line right, although by then the problem was probably that I was losing the plot due to the fumes from the lighter fuel I was using to wipe away mistakes - the more mistakes you make the higher you get... Should I add an H&S disclaimer about how I was actually doing the work in a well ventilated room etc etc?

Here's side 1, with its black edging complete - it's quite a cruel close-up:



I found adding the black really satisfying. I'm not used to working with gloss and really love the way it flows round rivet detail etc. The front of the tank isn't actually fluffy but I did find that to be a problem in places - where I had to re-do lines over and over again the surrounding paint became tacky and fibres from the tissue I was using to wipe away mistakes became stuck. Think I found and sorted most of 'em, will use a decent cloth for the next bit.

Anyway, that's where I'm at so far. The next stage is to touch up the black, then add the yellow-black-yellow tank-side lining. The curves have been by far the trickiest bit so far so I think I'll make a template for the tanks. Don't think I'll get much done for a week or two now, but I'm pleased with progress so far - many thanks for the tips and encouragement...

Andrew.

[laalratty]

That looks fantastic, a credit to you, especially considering that its your first go with a lining pen

[Snailrail]

Quite agree, looks very good to me. Well done

Incidentally I found that small imperfections can often be fixed once the paint is completely dry using the tip of a sharp craft knife. I used an X-acto with a curved blade, against a straight edge. Scraping very carefully I have managed to remove small offending blobs and straighten up edges without harming the paint underneath.

Brian

[Andrew]

Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated...

I found myself with a little more time on my hands than expected, so I made myself this hi-tech tool:



And added a single black line:



That looked OK, so when it was dry I plunged on with the rest of it:



Don't look too closely! Those parallel lines were a swine! Not perfect, but it'll do I think. Now I've got to do it all over again on the other side, arrrgh!!!!

Cheers,

Andrew.

[MuzTrem]

I found myself with a little more time on my hands than expected, so I made myself this hi-tech tool:

I had to do a double-take there - for a moment I thought that cornflake box was your engine's new livery!

Very good idea though, and one that I might just have to steal at some point! A few questions though:

1. How did you mark out/cut smooth curves for the corners?

2. How did you secure it in place on the loco?

3. Did you have any problems with paint running under the template?

Thanks

[Andrew]

Hello,

Yes, I've recreated an early example of an all-over advertising livery...

OK... Smooth curves. Or lack of... I found these the most difficult bits, and they're the weakest points I think. But, for what it's worth... The orange curves were mostly applied using an edging tool in the Spoerer lining pen - a little gizmo that sits in the pen and enables you to follow the edge of the model. Not always easy because of the tabs etc that RH use to secure the body to the rest of the loco. The other lines were too far away from the edge for that method, so I traced the shape of the tanks onto greaseproof paper then stuck it onto card to create a template. The two larger curves I drew freehand, and the smaller ones in the corners were made using a stencil - that was another add-on I purchased with the pen. I don't think it would be much use for lining directly but was good for this bit. The template was just cut out with a sharp Stanley knife. I used the template for the black line but did the cream ones freehand - and they were horribly difficult!

Holding it in place. I had though of using clamps etc, but in the end my thumb seemed to do the job just fine! The holes for the name and worksplates did help keep it in the right place.


Paint running underneath. No, not a problem because I added another layer of card to the bottom of template, slightly inset. Would've been an issue otherwise though. You can see the inset layer on the template photo because I made it double-sided for when I tackle the other side.

Think that's all - hope it's useful!

Andrew.