Repainting N-Scale Rolling Stock - Need Tips

Ok, so I have these Arnold / Rivarossi Amtrak passenger cars - a mail car, some sort of diner or sleeper, and an observation lounge, all in N scale.

I am in the process of modifying them - from the trucks/couplers, maybe even to finding a way to light them. In the process though I was thinking of re-painting one [or more] cars in Amtrak's phase III livery, replacing the phase I scheme the car[s] came with. The thing is, I've never pained something this small. I've done a model rocket [Estes 1:100 scale Saturn V rocket], and a model of the Titanic, and for the most part, the painting was not as precision demanding as this will be - or for those few parts that were, I had help.

I was, first off, thinking about using typical model paint - the kind you use on model rockets, model cars, etc. Is this a right first step, and if so, what brands do you recommend in terms of longevity, not being prone to easily getting washed off, etc?

Fortunately, the roof and window plastic are all one piece, and the roof, removing my fear about being able to avoid painting that, but where do/should I go from there?

I was thinking about starting out by painting over the phase 1 stripes/Amtrak logo with metallic paint that matches the car body as-is [while retaining the car number, blue box with "Amtrak" written in silver lettering], then using something like painter's tape to cover the parts I don't want to paint over and slowly doing each of the three stripes within the confines of the height/width of the phase 1 scheme the cars came with - that is, with the overall 3-even-stripe phase III scheme being as "tall" I guess as the phase I scheme it came with.

Is this a good approach, if not, what do you recommend?

Do you have an airbrush? if not Tamiya makes a silver spray paint that is ideal for this job.
If you are thinking of brush painting these cars you will be disappointed.

Travelsonic wrote: ...
I was thinking about starting out by painting over the phase 1 stripes/Amtrak logo with metallic paint that matches the car body
...

two problems, first, you will not be able to match the silver. its quite amazing how many shades of silver there are.
next, if you paint over the factory applied stripes you will always be able to see them, they are thick pad printed , in N scale they are about three inches thick. you wont be able to see the colors, but they will be raised and the contour will be distinctly visible under the new paint.

I strongly suggest you completely strip the factory paint off down to bare plastic. 91% Isopropyl alcohol is a good paint stripper but if you can find a product called Chameleon paint remover thats the best.
soak, and scrub with tooth brush and those tiny dental brushes, repeat until all the old paint and markings are gone.

when thats done give them a good wash with dish detergent and dry thoroughly.
get a can of dark gray, and apply a light coat of that first, and let dry overnight.
apply the silver paint in many thin coats, allowing time to dry between coats.

dont even think of painting the stripes. use decals.
select your stripes and markings from Microscale
http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/mer ... _Code=AMTK

lay the stripes the whole length of the car right over the window opennings. apply Micro-sol with small paint brush, the parts over the window openings will melt and you can remove it with a toothpick.

place your numbers and other markings , applying microsol each time to melt the film onto the paint.

when its all done, apply a clear gloss enamel, Tamiya makes a spray can but Krylon is also good.

Wow, that was REALLY helpful, thanks.

thats what forums are for. there are some other threads in here about painting and decaling.
do some reading and get some practice on old junk cars before you go at your passenger cars.

ask any questions as you progress.

Did you know acetone free nail polish remover does a hell of a job stripping the paint off a model train car?

Funny thing, I took the mail car I had and began the process of stripping the paint off of it. As it was eating away at the paint - helped with a cotton swab - I noticed what looked like gold stripes showing through. Hmmph, weird. As it kept eating away, brown paint, and the words "Pennsylvania" showed up - trapped for some time under the silver paint of Amtrak livery.

At some point in its make, this, and maybe the other two cars in this set I have, were destined to be PRR cars. Interesting.

I'm thinking now, I'm just going to take the cars, remove the roofs, strip the paint from the car bodies - paint the underside and roofs a fresh coat of black, the bodies silver, and just use the phase III decals from that site - it will save me a LOT of trouble in this endeavor ultimately I reckon.

This book offers great information, step by step.

http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Painting-We ... 0890246246

-otto-

Micro Scale also makes the Amtrak stripes for all the different phases as well all you need to do it cut them and dip them in water then apply them to the car sides. Its vary simple to do and takes little time for the decals to dry.

You also might want to take a close look at the prototype cars. It is possible they may have been painted over the old markings, in which case the old markings could still be visible. On stainless steel cars, probably the old paint would have been removed by wire brushing.

When I repaint silver passenger cars, I use a flat or semi-gloss silver in a spray can. On your Rivarossi cars, the roof and window area is molded in one piece out of clear plastic. I would repaint the roof so the paint will all match. Use Scotch "Magic Tape". It will give better results than masking tape or painters' tape. Take the roof off the car and mask both the inside and outside of the window area.

Paint the roof and the car body before re-assembly. The masking job will be very easy since you will not have to mask individual windows. This would also be a good time to paint the interior details.

I got a chuckle about finding a PRR paint job beneath the factory paint job. This must have been a Rivarossi thing. When I was in college, I worked in HO scale. I bought an AHM Fairbanks-Morse C-Liner. It was painted PC black. I wanted to repaint it, and wanted to strip it first.
Much to my surprise, beneath the PC black was a full NH McGinnis paint job! Just as the real locos were repainted, so was the model! I am pretty sure the model was made by Rivarossi.

The Rivarossi cars lend themselves well to kitbashing. I made an N-scale CB&Q Denver Zephyr square-end dome parlor-obs by combining a Rivarossi square-end observation and a Con-Cor dome coach.

Les

got a link that might help with lots of photos of Amtrak equipment:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/amtk/amtk.html