To tell the truth I’m so confused right now with all these colors that I’m just going to buy whatever of these colors that I can find available in gloss. I just as soon get it done so I can put on the decals and run it. I’ve been working on this too long. If I knew of a color that can buy a Michael’s or Wal-Mart, I’d be painting it right now. I had it milled and I already installed the decoder. I have the decals ready to go and already painted the hand rails and under frame. I even bought micro miniature LEDs to make a flasher, but I’m going to give up on that unless I can find someone with good eyes and a steady hand to solder them up for me. And Rick I have no idea what CP red is and could not find it on Google.:tb-biggrin:
Color is relative. Did you know there were two versions of B&M blue or four versions of BN Green? Nothing is 100%. The color I gave you was based on a factory color sheet with a reference for appropriate Floquil colors. If Chevy red looks good to you do it. You can get it in Testors Model Master in enamel or acrylic. In the end, this is your locomotive and no one is going to judge you if the red is that far off. 99% of the people won't know if it is the exact shade it should be when it came out of the shops. As long as it looks close, it will be fine. Now finish it, we want to see pictures of this locomotive when it's done:thumbs_up: Jim
thats kind of my feeling .. I used an automobile touch up paint can red .. slightly lighter than the official red .. but then again, he asked Here is mine
Here is the explanation of your confusion of color. Color is an illusion. Take a jar of paint outside on a sunny day. Look at it. Take a jar of paint outside on a overcast day. Look at it. Take that same jar of paint inside under fluorescent light. Look at it. Take that same jar of paint inside under incandescent light. Look at it. Take Take that same jar of paint outside at night under sodium vapor light. Look at it. Take a picture of that jar of paint. Look at it on the camera screen. Load that picture of that paint jar onto your computer and open it. Look at it. Load that picture of that paint jar onto a friend's computer and open it. Look at it. If you compare all those versions of that same paint jar you will have seen at least seven different colors. Color is influenced by the light source that has been viewed under. It is also changed by age. Different pigments fade at different rates under exposure to light. No two batches of paint will be exactly the same. If not mixed thoroughly will produce different colors as you go through the container. Then add the interference of the photograph. Different film types have different color ranges Kodak tends to have a red/yellow cast. Fuji has blue/green cast. The dyes and pigments of film change over time too. Complicate all this by looking at through your computer. No two screens will render color in the same way And of course no two humans see color in exactly the same way So forget about getting the color right. When you stated this project you ignored the simplest concept. This is a military vehicle. The US military has specifications for every single thing it buys. Every thing is standardized and interchangeable. To paint a military vehicle you use military paint colors. Look in the model section of your hobby shop. Find the military colors. Buy the correct color. If the place you're buying your supplies from does not have a military model section, go to a proper hobby shop. Not a generic store that is destroying your local economy.
I know your right, once my wife and I painted our living room a greenish color and when I got up in the morning the walls were olive drab in the daylight. We ran right out to buy another color and repainted the whole room. That night when we were all done and admiring our work we noticed that it didn’t look at all like what we picked, so the next day we did it all over again with a color so light that you couldn’t tell what color it was. We figured that we had enough paint on those walls that it would last forever.laugh: I guess I’m going to have to make trip to the nearest hobby store to see what they got.
Richmond Controls makes them Ngineering makes a true three light rotating beacon. A SMD LED wired to a multifunction DCC board can be configured to mimic many different types of beacon. A couple of detail manufacturers used to make beacons. Sunrise used to make a really nice one.
Is this assembled, because I bought a kit with a control board and 3 micro LEDs already, but I can’t assemble it? My eyes are not so good anymore.
Rotating Beacon Simulators This is what I have. http://www.ngineering.com/rot-beacon_video.htm I wish they would sell the assembled beacon. Maybe someone can start up a business of making these.
You probably bought the kit from Ngineering. The one from Richmond Controls is usually a two wire hook up. I would buy the SMD LED prewired from Iron Penguin. They sell those and other special lighting effects. I believe that you can also buy them from Richmond Controls as well. About the color thing I used to work as a graphic designer and color matching was a nightmare. I spent six hours trying to match one label to a printed box.
Hey, thanks for the suggestions. I sent out an email describing exactly what I’m looking for as far as the Flashing Beacon and maybe if I’m lucky I might find one. I’m looking for something already assembled that I need only mount on top of my loco and maybe solder some wires to the DCC decoder. Oh and it has to be DCC compatible. And as for the color I decided to make a trip to Los Angles sometime next week and I’m taking the list of colors here and buy whatever one they have in stock that’s glossy. I need to look around anyway for some other ideas rolling around in my head. :tb-biggrin:
The MIL Spec paints will mostly come as flats. So to make them glossy just apply a layer of clear gloss over the flat. Then add the decals then another coat of gloss and your decals are protected and makes it really glossy. 11105 Red - Testors 1103 Red (little square bottle) http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CEsQFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aviationphotography.co.uk%2FPaintConversionChart.pdf&rct=j&q=testor%20model%20master%20paint%20FS-595%20FS%2011105&ei=RYQeTcO_L8G78gaOhKmLAQ&usg=AFQjCNFr3Nr1pthno9VqSW5oGn7IJc7N6g&cad=rja
Clear gloss, I never thought of that. Do you think I have a chance with using clear gloss on this or should I just paint over it? I did this months ago and I don’t remember it being so rough and I’m hoping that another coat of paint will smooth it out. I wonder if I can smooth it out some with steel wool or sand it. I don’t know if I can buy another LL shell to replace this on or not
Tamiya Acrylics are easy to use, thin it with Rubbing alcohol, I'll never go back to paint that use oil base. I have has great results with Tamiya. Makes clean SO easy ! fatalxsunrider43
You can tell where the Red has caused some Orange peel in the plastic. Thats why it looks dull. fatalxsunrider43
Is it possible to fix that? I tried to buff it with a dremel buffing wheel, but it was just going through the paint so I quit. I don’t know for sure when the orange peel happened, but it did not look like that immediately after I painted it or within the first couple of days. I put it in a box the next day or two after painting it and didn’t look at it for months until now.
I’m done! This is trash. Well when I first started with this thread I thought it was just the color, but now that I see it magnified in the photo, I realized it is destroyed and no paint is going to save this. This whole project was a disaster starting with the undecorated shell. I think I would have had a better chance if it had been painted already to seal it. The paint that was supposed to be specially formulated for plastic was a downright lie. I was advised by TB members not to use the paint, but did it anyway Then after reading someone’s instructions on installing a decoder in LL GP20, I sent out the frame to be milled for the wrong decoder. It turned out that TCS made a decoder to fit right in and it did not need to be milled at all. Now the decoder will not stay in place and needs glued. Then the flasher kit was a joke. Why they don’t sell them already assembled is beyond me and I could never recommend them to anybody. After searching for a new shell, I found out that Walters bought out LifeLike and are hoarding all the spare parts. Say what you want about Bachmann, but at least you can order almost any part. So I’m done with this and I’m pulling out the decoder and tossing this in the junk drawer. This is my first and last attempt to paint a shell.
I'm sorry you got so frustrated with your project. It happens, I don't think any one of us here has had a project go 100% right off. Sometimes all it takes is some time away from the project. Walk away, work on another project, then latter someday try and tackle it again. Painting N scale engines isn't hard, but I've learned the hard way, there are ways to make it easier. If your up to a good read, follow this post I did a few years ago on painting an N scale CB&Q GP30. http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=77908 I don't claim to be the end all to painting, I just show you what works for me. If you have any questions feel free to ask. Put on a cup of coffee or tea, this is a long thread. Jim
Thanks Jim! I believe I did see that before I started this one then I found some canned spray paint that was supposed to be for plastic. I did ask about it and a few members said that they also used it without any problems. I don’t know what I did wrong besides taking the easy way, but I’m glad I didn’t put on the decals yet. I bought a cheap air brush last year and I still haven’t tried it. So I’ve been using canned spray paint. I need to learn how to spray with an air brush before I ever attempt to do this again. I just don’t have the time right now. Well I found another GP 20, but I think I’m going to pay someone else to paint it and I think I am going to order one before they become extinct.
Since you're writing the loco off. Why not try some Chameleon or Easy Lift Off stripper on it. It may just be the paint and not destroyed the plastic. Depending on the damage you may be able to start again or convert this to another project. If you've just lost surface detail you could convert it to a B unit (little detail loss) or a slug (lots of loss). Look for a fixer upper out there and start again. Somebody has probably burned up a motor or trashed the trucks on their project.
