PHOTOS RESTORED: Alclad Basic Steps For Stainless Steel Cars
Oct 16, 2012 18:30:37 GMT -8
slowfreight, edgecrusher, and 1 more like this
Post by antoniofp45 on Oct 16, 2012 18:30:37 GMT -8
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Mar 28, 2020 - Hi everyone!
As requested, I've restored the blurred out photos (Photobucket) on this thread so that passenger car modelers can use them as reference for metalizing. I've switched to another photo hosting site. I hope that this thread is still helpful - High Greens.
------------------------------------------
Hello Crew
,
I've received requests to post an Alclad2 application thread as a number of modelers indicated they want to use this for their HO/N Budd and PS cars. I hope that this will be of help. I've been experimenting with Alclad2 and researching the appearances of stainless steel for several years and have been sharing my results with modelers.
I'm still working on my project cars as well as cars for a friend of mine, so I hope you don't mind my posting photos from a previous project that some of you likely saw before.
These are inexpensive cars that I metalized for my wife's cousin, a Santa Fe and BNSF modeler (I've forgiven him for that
).
A. Subjects : 1980's production HO IHC dome car and an HO Bachmann full length dome car. The models are based on prototype Santa Fe units. Although crude by today's standards, with modifications, these can look quite decent on a layout. BTW: My friend picked up the used Pleasure Dome for $10 at a model train show!
1. Paint Stripping. After removing the shells from their chassis', they were immersed in a 91% isoporpyl alcohol bath. After soaking approximately 5 to 10 minutes, the factory silver paint lifted off as I scrubbed thoroughly with a toothbrush. After stripping, the shells were washed with a generic version of Dawn dishwashing liquid.
NOTE: You should not use soaps that contain lanolins, aloe, or other strong moisturizers as that could weaken the adhesion of the paint that you will be applying on the shell later.
2. Basecoat Color (foundation) - Scalecoat 2, New York Central Light Gray. Thinned 50%-60%. Airbrush Paasche VL. Needle and aircap sizes: #3 (medium). Air pressure at tip: 25psi. Spray Distance to shell: 3" inches. Total number of coats: Two, medium wet.
3. CHECK POINT: Gray finish must be SMOOTH and GLOSSY!* After drying; check the shell for dry or rough spots. If mistakes are discovered, this is the time to fix them. Wet sand dry or rough spots. Clean and apply another coat over shell if needed. When finished, flush out & clean airbrush with lacquer thinner.
*For those not using a high gloss gray, you can apply Alclad's High Gloss Clear Base #303. The foundation must have a smooth high gloss surface to obtain the realistic effect provided by Alclad2's natural metal finish
4. Interior: As the basecolors cured, I took the molded plastic seating modules that were inside the dome sections and hand painted them with Polyscale acrylic colors based on photos I saw from a Santa Fe modeler.
5. Alclad Application - Formula: #107 (used here, however I now use #105--procedures remain the same). No thinning. Airbrush Needle & aircap sizes: #1 (fine). Air pressure at tip: 15psi. Spray distance to shell: 2" inches. Number of coats: 3. FIRST, I take a minute or so testing myself on the back section of a scrap shell (a damaged BB FP45 in this case) to check that my airbrush was spraying well and that my distance/stroke speed were good. This step is a headache preventer as I discovered that I needed to increase my speed, slightly.
Test Check, before proceeding:
As you apply the Alclad2. ---> Relax and enjoy! (I had my smooth jazz tunes playing) Maintain the airbrush parallel to the surface. Spray horizontally in a LIGHT MIST COAT pattern, never "wet it". For the sides and roof, stroke your airbrush as if you were painting with a modeler's paint brush. For the ends, stroke vertically, also in mist coats. DO NOT PILE IT ON. Airbrush fan should be narrow (1/4" to 3/8") not wide.
TIP: Wearing a paint respirator. As you spray, keep your head within 10" of your model, but over it, and either to the right or left of the airbrush so you can monitor your speed and distance. Some modelers have a tendency of standing directly behind the airbrush while spraying and not clearly seeing if they're getting too close or far (yes, been there, done that!). Wait 3 to 5 minutes between coats if the temperature is over 75F. Wait longer at lower temps. Check your shell(s) carefully for any areas missed; and stroke over on the next coat if needed. Flush and clean the airbrush with lacquer thinner upon finishing.
Note: Your 1st coat will appear almost invisible but don't worry, it's there. Your 2nd coat will be quite noticeable and you should be smiling by your 3rd mist coat. Practice this on a small scap of plastic first. Compact disk cases are excellent for airbrush practice. With practice, you'll be able to properly cover passenger car shells with just 2 mist coats of the natural metal finish.
7. Sealing/Toning down sheen - Instead of Future Floor Finish, Testor's Acryl or Pollyscale clears, I applied *Alclad's NEW waterbased clear; #ALC 600. Thinning: None. Airbrush needle & aircap sizes #3 (medium). Air pressure at tip 20 psi. Distance 3" inches. Number of coats: One:
In addition to sealing the metalizer and toning down the sheen, the clear will provide the foundation for decals. After testing my airbrush on the scrap FP45 shell, I applied the Aqua Clear to the shells. I was impressed with how finely this atomizes and smoothly lays on top of the Alclad finish. IMHO, this performed superior to the clears I've used before, including Future. However, upon finishing the airbrush should be cleaned asap. I used a mixture of distilled water and alcohol to flush out.
* If you prefer a solvent based clear instead of waterbase, you can use Alclad's ALC #310 High Gloss Clear.
The sheen toned down beautifully, imho, to a natural metal appearance of highly polished, reflective stainless steel. Only one coat was applied since this will be the foundation for the Santa Fe decals. Afterwards, 1 to 2 more coats of clear will seal the decals and tone down the sheen more. These are shots before re-assembly:
9. Window Tint: ( only the full length dome's glazing was tinted)
I applied Alclad2 #408 "Armored Glass" to simulate the green tint on the windows. I tested a couple of transparent scrap pieces. I then airbrushed the tint on the "inside" of the one-piece window sections (upper and lower). When I first applied the tint to the lower piece, it hazed up. However, it leveled out nicely with a 2nd coat. Tony Hipp from Alclad, explained to me that in high humidity conditions the older formula tints blushed. This does not occur with the newer tint formulas that were released last year. My camera doesn't do it justice. Overall, I like it and plan on using this tint on my Walthers cars.
10. Re-assembly: After lightly weathering the underframe and diaphrams, white styrene strips were positioned and glued in place to resemble window shades. Dome interior seat module was reinstalled and body installed on to chassis.
OUTDOOR PHOTOS:
Light weathered rust/grime on diaphragm compared to a prototype unit.
Prototypes and Models:
Finished results:
These inexpensive cars were fun to to do and look quite nice running on my friend's layout as part of his freelanced BNSF OCS train.
Imho, passenger rail car modelers starting out with Alclad2 should consider practicing on shells like these. They can fine tune their techniques then "Go for it" and upgrade something like a Walthers unit or a Union Station Products kit.
[/size]
Mar 28, 2020 - Hi everyone!
As requested, I've restored the blurred out photos (Photobucket) on this thread so that passenger car modelers can use them as reference for metalizing. I've switched to another photo hosting site. I hope that this thread is still helpful - High Greens.
------------------------------------------
Hello Crew
,I've received requests to post an Alclad2 application thread as a number of modelers indicated they want to use this for their HO/N Budd and PS cars. I hope that this will be of help. I've been experimenting with Alclad2 and researching the appearances of stainless steel for several years and have been sharing my results with modelers.
I'm still working on my project cars as well as cars for a friend of mine, so I hope you don't mind my posting photos from a previous project that some of you likely saw before.
These are inexpensive cars that I metalized for my wife's cousin, a Santa Fe and BNSF modeler (I've forgiven him for that
). A. Subjects : 1980's production HO IHC dome car and an HO Bachmann full length dome car. The models are based on prototype Santa Fe units. Although crude by today's standards, with modifications, these can look quite decent on a layout. BTW: My friend picked up the used Pleasure Dome for $10 at a model train show!
1. Paint Stripping. After removing the shells from their chassis', they were immersed in a 91% isoporpyl alcohol bath. After soaking approximately 5 to 10 minutes, the factory silver paint lifted off as I scrubbed thoroughly with a toothbrush. After stripping, the shells were washed with a generic version of Dawn dishwashing liquid.
NOTE: You should not use soaps that contain lanolins, aloe, or other strong moisturizers as that could weaken the adhesion of the paint that you will be applying on the shell later.
2. Basecoat Color (foundation) - Scalecoat 2, New York Central Light Gray. Thinned 50%-60%. Airbrush Paasche VL. Needle and aircap sizes: #3 (medium). Air pressure at tip: 25psi. Spray Distance to shell: 3" inches. Total number of coats: Two, medium wet.
3. CHECK POINT: Gray finish must be SMOOTH and GLOSSY!* After drying; check the shell for dry or rough spots. If mistakes are discovered, this is the time to fix them. Wet sand dry or rough spots. Clean and apply another coat over shell if needed. When finished, flush out & clean airbrush with lacquer thinner.
*For those not using a high gloss gray, you can apply Alclad's High Gloss Clear Base #303. The foundation must have a smooth high gloss surface to obtain the realistic effect provided by Alclad2's natural metal finish
4. Interior: As the basecolors cured, I took the molded plastic seating modules that were inside the dome sections and hand painted them with Polyscale acrylic colors based on photos I saw from a Santa Fe modeler.
5. Alclad Application - Formula: #107 (used here, however I now use #105--procedures remain the same). No thinning. Airbrush Needle & aircap sizes: #1 (fine). Air pressure at tip: 15psi. Spray distance to shell: 2" inches. Number of coats: 3. FIRST, I take a minute or so testing myself on the back section of a scrap shell (a damaged BB FP45 in this case) to check that my airbrush was spraying well and that my distance/stroke speed were good. This step is a headache preventer as I discovered that I needed to increase my speed, slightly.
Test Check, before proceeding:
As you apply the Alclad2. ---> Relax and enjoy! (I had my smooth jazz tunes playing) Maintain the airbrush parallel to the surface. Spray horizontally in a LIGHT MIST COAT pattern, never "wet it". For the sides and roof, stroke your airbrush as if you were painting with a modeler's paint brush. For the ends, stroke vertically, also in mist coats. DO NOT PILE IT ON. Airbrush fan should be narrow (1/4" to 3/8") not wide.
TIP: Wearing a paint respirator. As you spray, keep your head within 10" of your model, but over it, and either to the right or left of the airbrush so you can monitor your speed and distance. Some modelers have a tendency of standing directly behind the airbrush while spraying and not clearly seeing if they're getting too close or far (yes, been there, done that!). Wait 3 to 5 minutes between coats if the temperature is over 75F. Wait longer at lower temps. Check your shell(s) carefully for any areas missed; and stroke over on the next coat if needed. Flush and clean the airbrush with lacquer thinner upon finishing.
Note: Your 1st coat will appear almost invisible but don't worry, it's there. Your 2nd coat will be quite noticeable and you should be smiling by your 3rd mist coat. Practice this on a small scap of plastic first. Compact disk cases are excellent for airbrush practice. With practice, you'll be able to properly cover passenger car shells with just 2 mist coats of the natural metal finish.
7. Sealing/Toning down sheen - Instead of Future Floor Finish, Testor's Acryl or Pollyscale clears, I applied *Alclad's NEW waterbased clear; #ALC 600. Thinning: None. Airbrush needle & aircap sizes #3 (medium). Air pressure at tip 20 psi. Distance 3" inches. Number of coats: One:
In addition to sealing the metalizer and toning down the sheen, the clear will provide the foundation for decals. After testing my airbrush on the scrap FP45 shell, I applied the Aqua Clear to the shells. I was impressed with how finely this atomizes and smoothly lays on top of the Alclad finish. IMHO, this performed superior to the clears I've used before, including Future. However, upon finishing the airbrush should be cleaned asap. I used a mixture of distilled water and alcohol to flush out.
* If you prefer a solvent based clear instead of waterbase, you can use Alclad's ALC #310 High Gloss Clear.
The sheen toned down beautifully, imho, to a natural metal appearance of highly polished, reflective stainless steel. Only one coat was applied since this will be the foundation for the Santa Fe decals. Afterwards, 1 to 2 more coats of clear will seal the decals and tone down the sheen more. These are shots before re-assembly:
9. Window Tint: ( only the full length dome's glazing was tinted)
I applied Alclad2 #408 "Armored Glass" to simulate the green tint on the windows. I tested a couple of transparent scrap pieces. I then airbrushed the tint on the "inside" of the one-piece window sections (upper and lower). When I first applied the tint to the lower piece, it hazed up. However, it leveled out nicely with a 2nd coat. Tony Hipp from Alclad, explained to me that in high humidity conditions the older formula tints blushed. This does not occur with the newer tint formulas that were released last year. My camera doesn't do it justice. Overall, I like it and plan on using this tint on my Walthers cars.
10. Re-assembly: After lightly weathering the underframe and diaphrams, white styrene strips were positioned and glued in place to resemble window shades. Dome interior seat module was reinstalled and body installed on to chassis.
OUTDOOR PHOTOS:
Light weathered rust/grime on diaphragm compared to a prototype unit.
Prototypes and Models:
Finished results:
These inexpensive cars were fun to to do and look quite nice running on my friend's layout as part of his freelanced BNSF OCS train.
Imho, passenger rail car modelers starting out with Alclad2 should consider practicing on shells like these. They can fine tune their techniques then "Go for it" and upgrade something like a Walthers unit or a Union Station Products kit.
[/size]
. Has happened to me before. 
