Changing the era from B R Blue to B R Green

Hi All                  Being impatient was always my "Forte" :oops:, but the era that I wish to model is the "Transition" of B R . Now I have green loco hauled carriages already, even then not all the yellow ends are from the same era, so I'm off to a bad start. I have a Green class 419 MLV.I have so many Pre Orders that have been delayed for whatever reason??:???: that I purchased a B R Blue class 416, sure, I could have waited for the Pre Orders to come through??:sad: but you never know what tomorrow might bring, Fire, Flood or Famine?? so live for today.Well, this is the Plan, Strip it down??(to save everything getting painted) or mask it with tape, paint it green (but I have not got an Airbrush or have ever used one.) Then there are the Numbers, unless I can get away with masking them, and that is where the Weathering comes in, oh I haven't done that either. Help, any advice would be appreciated.   all the best  Kevin:cool:

Hi Kevin,

Whilst you're waiting for the pre-orders, you may as well practice on some old wagons and carriages to get used to the various techniques with paint and weathering powders, etc. Don't expect to be an expert straight away and have a few cheapy sacrificial guinea pigs at hand to get you where you're confident to work on the loco.

It's rather good fun and you'll soon gain invaluable skills for your other projects. 

Have fun,

Bill :)

Hi Bill                      As my previous layout,  loco's, carriage's and wagons went "Down the Line" forty odd years ago, I haven't got any to practice on. It is a very good idea though. I will have to look for a junk shop, I should be so lucky??                                        all the best  Kevin

My best advice is to obtain an airbrush (the best you can afford) and enough of the bits then start learning on stuff that doesn't matter.

Some of us seem to have an untapped natural ability with redecoration and weathering.  Others find it taxing and a little beyond them.  We're all different.  But none of us knows what we can or cannot do until we try.

May I counsel against starting out on your front-line rolling stock?  Mistakes are not always undo-able and imperfections in technique show up badly in some cases.  

That said if you wish to change the 2EPB to blue you will need to remove the bodies, removed the glazing and possibly the fine detail.  Airbrushing is the only way to get an even and really thin coating - brush-painting will potentially apply too much paint and leave streaks and blobs.  It isn't necessary to strip the old livery first.

Then apply something like Fox Transfers numerals and details for the lettering.  Finally a Ten 0 paint brush will be useful for repainting the details on pipework, door handles and such.

When all of that is done the next step is weathering.  I ink in door frames with a 0.05mm mapping pen, brush over powders according to need and rub them in or wipe over with an old T-shirt.  Sealing is another airbrush job with Dullcote or similar according to the finish you wish to present.

Finally reassemble the unit with glazing and possibly a driver added, check it runs as well as it should (remove any traces of powder or paint from wheel rims / backs or pickups) and enjoy.

It's a fair bit of work.  But it's a process some of us thoroughly enjoy.

Here's one I made earlier.

Hi Kevin,

Airbrush, compressor, spraybooth, and the best you can afford. Plus some decent modelling masking tape. It's not difficult, and the weathering can be fun. You will need some sacrificial lambs.

You should always use a primer. It is possible with spray cans, although I only use these for fine etching primer for metal (cars) or for plastic primer (Testors). Depending on the color (new, old, faded) you might want to have a dark or light primer. Yellow ends definitely call for a light or even white primer. Not sure about the UK, but car paint supply shops over here can mix the color you want as an aerosol can from a small sample piece. You'll need the appropriate primer, and an aerosol can of matt or semi-gloss acrylic varnish (art supply shops) as the finish is "shiny new". Some of the Datsun greens may suit. 

George Dent wrote a very readable book on this ("Airbrushing for Railway Modellers"). Shows you how and what you will need. After reading this you may say "not for me", in which case invest in a professional spray/weathering and renumbering job. Plenty of good people out there who do this for a living. Then you will have something that's unique (and a lot less costly than decent spray gear).

Nigel

Hi Rick                    Thank you for your advice, I notice that you have a "Super B R (S)" model there, and such a good job on ageing.             The boot seems to be on the wrong foot?? the prefered colour change was from "Blue" to "Green" to fit in with the era that the layout will be set in.                                     all the best               Kevin

Hi Nigel                Thank you, your advice is always  welcome, you have given me a lot to think about. Perhaps for the time being I will just give it a good run, and see if there are any problems.               all the best  Kevin

Hi Kevin,

I like your ideas with the EPB. As far as an airbrush and compressor goes I would go for Iwata as a brand (get a decent but not too pricy Iwata compressor if your planning to do more in the future) I found that an Iwata HP-CS suited my needs just fine after only starting airbrushing a year earlier.
Hope this helps.

Cheers Connor

Hi Connor                         Thank you for your reply. I'm getting so much good advice, I don't know which way to turn. There is so much new rolling stock at the moment, that I would like to buy, but, I cannot and that is why I'm looking for Body Shells, chassis's, bogies and all the rest of it. But I will get there.                all the best  Kevin