Painting brass: Your opinions on paint?

Not so long ago yours truly found a 1960s Suydam-imported Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee interurban coach for a pretty reasonable sum, thus putting me in the "brass side" of this hobby. The model is not in the correct paint scheme, which brings me to my question: When painting brass, what types of paint have you had and not had success with? Right now I'm leaning toward using Scalecoat 1 to paint this NSL car, but I'd like to hear experiences of others. For the benefit of anyone reading this (and myself), feel free to share any Dos and Don'ts that go with painting brass.

From what I understand, the hardest part of painting brass is making sure the bare metal is clean and ready to accept paint. Fingerprint oil is the number one reason for a ruined finish. Sometimes any oxidation or chemical reactions from the manufacturing process can also ruin a good paint job.

Once you have the bare metal clean, I understand the process is like painting any other model. One coat primer, two coats finish.

Hope this helps point you in the right direction, anyway.

-otto-

byte wrote:Not so long ago yours truly found a 1960s Suydam-imported Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee interurban coach for a pretty reasonable sum, thus putting me in the "brass side" of this hobby. The model is not in the correct paint scheme, which brings me to my question: When painting brass, what types of paint have you had and not had success with? Right now I'm leaning toward using Scalecoat 1 to paint this NSL car, but I'd like to hear experiences of others. For the benefit of anyone reading this (and myself), feel free to share any Dos and Don'ts that go with painting brass.

one of the issues with brass is that a lot of details are shallow. its important that you make very light coats with your airbrush (which if you don't have, you should buy, because a brush won't cut it). you want to get the most coverage in the least amount of layers as possible. this is really important in brass.


also, if the brass engine still has its protective clear coat, it is safe to paint on without primer, but I'd still avoid handling the external parts of the model until the new paint job is finished.

in the end, though, its just like any other model. careful masking and good technique will generally allow you to make a brilliant model.

Get yourself a can of "Fyr-Pruf!"

A nickel to the first person who recognizes the reference!

-otto-

I do remember Fyr-Pruf stove polish. Ya gotta be able to remember cast iron stoves to know what it's for!

alchemist wrote:I do remember Fyr-Pruf stove polish. Ya gotta be able to remember cast iron stoves to know what it's for!

Former Model Railroader editor John Page related a story back in the 1980s about when he was editor in the 1950s and an article came up about painting brass and metal casting locomotives. Acting on a tip from a fellow modeler, he picked up a can of Fyr-Pruf stove polish and got a really great finish! When he published these results, the people at Floquil were mad, because they felt he trashed their line of finishes as inferior. Apparently it was 25 years after the article was printed that Floquil considered advertising in the pages of MR again.

-otto-

For painting brass the best paint is Scalecoat I for metals. Primer is not needed and the finish is glossy so you don't need an extra coat of gloss for decaling. I usually bake the finish on the model, with the oven set as low a possible. Purchase an oven thermometer as the dials on an oven are not accurate. Be sure no plastic items are baked as they will melt.

Rick

Otto Vondrak wrote:

alchemist wrote:I do remember Fyr-Pruf stove polish. Ya gotta be able to remember cast iron stoves to know what it's for!

Former Model Railroader editor John Page related a story back in the 1980s about when he was editor in the 1950s and an article came up about painting brass and metal casting locomotives. Acting on a tip from a fellow modeler, he picked up a can of Fyr-Pruf stove polish and got a really great finish! When he published these results, the people at Floquil were mad, because they felt he trashed their line of finishes as inferior. Apparently it was 25 years after the article was printed that Floquil considered advertising in the pages of MR again.

-otto-

Oh, so that's where the falling-out came from? I always thought it was because of an article that John Allen did using stove paint for weathering a UP tank car.

A.C. Kalmbach's answer when Floquil pulled their advertising: "Oh well."

-otto-