As supplied, eg fitted to the class 153,  these come in bright metal.

I'd be glad to know the best way to paint these.

I've tried a cellulose red oxide primer before the black, but am not too satisfied with the permanency of this.

Is there some other base coat that I should be using to give a better result on this particluar material?  The shiny finish of the Hornby wheels doesn't seem to want to take primer too readily.

Thanks

Adrian

If you can't get a good result from painting you could always try chemical metal black.  Carrs (among others) make different types for use on different metals.

I have had reasonable results with Mat black straight from the tin, no primer needed.

lol::cool:

'Painted' mine using a black, permanment thick marker pen. Works well and is both quick and cheap.

Derek

A few weeks ago I raised the subject of painting the wheels on Hornby (and for that matter Bachmann) stock.  As supplied these wheels have quite an unusual and shiny finish.

I'd already tried cellulose red oxide with limited success and I tried the methods suggested in responses to my posting.   However, I do a lot of painting and this particular issue has always annoyed me - mainly because of the risk of the paint flaking off after a bit of service.  Wheel rim polishing also produced the same risks.

Anyway, the purpose of this "report back" is to let members know that I seem to have cracked the problem (to my satisfaction at least) and to outline my findings.

I've now painted around forty Hornby/Bachmann coach axles successfully and to date no mishaps - I think that's a fair, if preliminary, test of the approach.

The base coat I'm using is Precision PS1 Self Etch Primer - applied sparingly as suggested by the manufacturers.

After 24hrs I use Humbrol 85 Satin Black for the topcoat and leave it to harden off.

Last job is to clean any surplus from the treads - I scrape any primer (it dries like a plastic coat) with the scalpel then run round everything with a fine/medium wet and dry paper.  No flaking!!

One last tip ……………… I ruined the first brush because I couldn't clean the etch primer off with the thinners to hand (not Precision recommended product).  Next time round I was prepared - had decanted a spot of cellulose thinners from the outside workshop before I started!  Result: nice clean brush for next time, and cheap.

The vapour off this primer, plus of course the cellulose thinners, aren't good - so normal precautions are advised.

Hope this helps others blend in the wheels with the repainted/weathered underframes

I thought I'd point out that wheels are not black in service.  I notice that they are sort of a blacky, rusty, grimy, dusty colour.  I paint all my wheels with a grungy paint mix consisting of rail tie brown, black and rust (PollyS).  I don't bother with primer, the paint (acrylic) seems to stick OK.

John

One of the things I find less desireable about the Hornby class 153 cars is those chunky and bright wheels.  Not at all to scale and unwilling to accept some weathering methods readily.

So this topic has been timely and educational thank you as I have four to attend to.  I am hoping that once successfully blackened I might be able to also spray on a little "track colour" (the usual black-brown crud which arise from brakes and ballast dust) with the air brush.

The trick it seems is to get a base coat on first then add the finer details.

Another product I've used to blacken wheels,rods etc., is NEOLUBE….I don't know if it is available in the UK but if it is its worth spending a couple of quid on…http://www.p-b-l.com/pbl2002/Neolube2.html   I have no connection with the company I'm just a satisfied customer.

(Click to enlarge)

That looks like a great product Gene. :thumbs

Do you want me to delete your blank post together with my reply ?

If you would Peter...thanks.

Relevant posts deleted. :thumbs

thumbs

A fellow member of the BRMA is a retired painter. He used to build many white metal locomotive kits with etched chassis and "raw" wheels. He swore blind that the best primer was superglue!

While I don't entirely recommend his method, there are ways of achieving the same result. His method was to smear a thin layer of superglue onto the wheel with his bare finger. Once this set, any paint adhered to the superglue layer which had already bonded to the wheel surface.

I didn't ask him how many times he got wheels stuck to his fingers, or vice versa!!!  :cool wink

That sounds like a very risky operation to me Jeff .............:hmm