Advice on Painting Rods on Steam Locomotive

I can't speak to most of this but one thing I would suggest is since they are relatively small to dunk them in a small tin of Acetone to ensure they are completely clean. Swabbing sometimes just moves the gunk around and doesn't remove it.

As to the paint. These may be two small for this method, but you could think about painting a base of light grey and the taping it off and with a very sharp brand new razor blade "scrape" the tape off on the edge to be painted (it is easier show then described) and this leaves a nice edge on the stuff I have done, albeit, nothing this small?

I take the rods off of my engines and just wipe them down with alcohol. Then while holding them with tweezers, I just dip them in Neolube. Put them on an aluminum pie pan and put them in the oven at the lowest setting until dry. Then back on the engine.

Gilly  

Are you going to weather the whole engine Tom, or just paint the side rods? I wouldn't take it apart either way.

I will weather the engine, but first will paint the rods.  This is a Sunset/3rd Rail engine and has some pretty tiny and delicate parts and screws.  So, maybe I'll brush them with alcohol or something else that will evaporate.  They are not shiny, so I don't have to get over that obstacle, and I am not sure whether to brush paint all of them or airbrush them and then paint accents.

Brushing them with Neolube sounds like it might work better than black paint, thanks for the suggestion, Gilly.  Can you apply light grey paint over Neolube after the Neolube is well dried?

I'm not looking for just-shopped appearance, but would like to end up with rods that look like typical in-service ATSF rods -- grease flies when the engine is working, but you can see that, under it, there is paint.  Normally, most Santa Fe steam locomotives were not allowed to get as dirty as some other railroads, but, in places where water was scarce, washing was done less often and engines that stayed on those territories were "more heavily weathered".

By the way, Stan Kistler recalls that the light grey accents were only that color when new -- the grease stained them with a yellowish film.

Normally, most Santa Fe steam locomotives were not allowed to get as dirty as some other railroads,

Unless they were running on the Pennsy.

Good infö on this topic!

By the way, Stan Kistler recalls that the light grey accents were only that color when new -- the grease stained them with a yellowish film.

Can't beat that info.  An example of how easy it is to misinterpret photos.  I always thought the rods were metal with black paint.  Something like this.  (I realize this is an engine on display, but many in service B&W photos look similar.)

Tom - Please, post a picture when you are done.  I'd like to see your engine when you are finished, and learn how it should be done.  

I really don't know. I would expect that weathering powders would probably do fine. My suggestion would be to experiment with a piece off of an inexpensive engine and give it a try.

Gilly

For what it's worth, my buddy Gene, who has been weathering my steam locomotive models for more than 40 years, tells me he airbrushes the rods & running gear with the model running on a stand.

PLEASE use NeoLube!  It worked awesome on my side rods and its conductive so it won't cause any problems.  If you apply it in layers you can go as dark or leave it mottled as I did to create a very realistic look!  

Neolube isn't cheap, but IT WORKS!  I tried a dipping method before the Neolube and it didn't produce good results.  But when I broke down and bought a bottle of (how many more times can I say it and sound like an infomercial) Neolube from MicroMark I think, and it worked PERFECTLY.  

And you have nothing to loose.  If you don't like it, just paint over the finish.  It will probably act as a primer anyway!

Neo-Lubed side rods:

A little goes a long way.  Easy to apply with a brush, self levels.  If any wears off, a quick touch up takes care of it and matches perfectly.

Rusty

Another vote for neolube.  The effect is perfect, and if you don't like it, it comes off easily with alcohol.  You may want to swab the rods with alcohol first.  DON'T USE COTTON SWABS!  Buy some of the small brushes from Microbrush.

Dave

I am with Hot, but my rods are usually cast nickel silver, so I have no adherence problems.  I do not even bother cleaning the oil off the pins.  You might think my models are thus junk, but I have a bunch of first place ribbons.

Most operating steam seems to have bare rods - easier to check for cracks, I guess.  They get painted when on display to inhibit corrosion.  Most of mine are painted right along with drivers, then weathered with a mist of something out of the airbrush while running.

Hi Tom:

I run by locomotives back and forth on two sections of track and spray the running gear.  I used to run the heck out of my stuff, and if it starts to wear, I just brush on a little bit of Neo Lube.  I weather the whole locomotive while it is on the track.  

Here are two of my last efforts.  I won't be doing too many more in O scale, but I do the same thing in HO.

Regards,

Jerry

Cannot argue with success!

Another vote for Neolube!   I have a maintenance track section where I can run the loco back and forth a little bit and apply Neolube.   Works great!

How do you guys keep Neolube from rubbing off? I've used it on cleaned parts before and it just rubs off and turns my fingers black just from touching it.

Here you go, this will keep it from rubbing off (posted above)

I'd read that but didn't know if the rubbing off problem still existed. Good to know.

I don't think rods were painted on most RRs.    I think they were bare steel.   Some surfaces machined and some rough castings.    The rough surfaces tended to gather more grease adn dirt and look black, like between the raised edges.    the smooth surfaces tended to be steel with a coating of oil to avoid rust.    The steel color and the oil may look like a different color in differnt light

So I use Neo-Lube.    And if you do put neo-lube on it, you can't paint over the Neo-lube.   Neo-lube is an liquid with fine graphite mixed in.   I think it might be an alchohol base.   In any rate, it is a lubricant, and I doubt paint will stick to it.

Also, the rods would be in the right place to pickup every kind of dirt and weathering that comes up from the roadbed, or down from the stack.    So they would show weathering when no cleaned recently.

Hey Jerry, they look great!  Who is the mfg of the engine house in the background. Nice model and excellent job painting and weathering. 

butch

In my opinion, the biggest mistake that a lot of folks make when it comes to weathering steam locomotive running gear (rods) is, they are not really knowledgeable about what actually adheres to the rods/running gear. The forward portions of the running gear get the steam oil and machine oil thrown off the piston rod and crosshead guides, which tends to be pretty sticky stuff, even when hot. From the middle portion to the rear portions, the running gear picks up the white sand from the sander discharge nozzles, thus the wheels and rods pick up a very light color, getting heavier towards the rear.

I agree fully with this. You only have to google shots of rods and valve gear of operating steam locomotive to see this.

Jerry,

Beautiful work!

What class is the NP Northern?

Thanks,

Ed

Hi Ed:

Thanks for the compliment.  The northern is a class A-3.

Regards,

Jerry

Tom - As you are aware, most of the tips don't apply to prototypical rod painting for the Santa Fe.  You might take a look at the Steam Locomotive section of the 2014 National Convention Contest Winners in the Third Quarter issue of the Warbonnet, and go from there.  The rods on John Bruning's 3700 Class would be similar to the 3800 Class engine you want to paint.  Of course you would then want to go with Stan's observations regarding in use look.

The one thing that sticks out when watching Otto Perry's Santa Fe video, is that the eccentric rod is painted what I assume to be light gray.

Tom, I run mine on a set of rollers on a track mounted to an old lazy Suzann. That way you won't get any shadows on the wheels and you don't have to take anything apart.

This has been very interesting. After studying a lot of photos in Stan Kistler's Santa Fe in Black and White, I think I'll brush-paint the valve gear as Santa Fe did.  I'll use very light grey on the flat rods and black on all the joints and on the rods with raised ridges, and then scrape the black off raised ridges after the paint has dried. Then, I'll give the wheels and rods an overcoat of Neolube.  I'm getting ready to do some traveling, but, when I return, this will be a top priority.  The 2900-Class 4-8-4 with unpainted main and connecting rods (but with the rest of the valve gear painted) will be last, after the 2-10-2 and the 4-8-2.  The 4-8-2, being a dual-service engine will get lighter weathering.

I don't want to over-do this, as these are oil burning engines and need reasonable valve gear grime and sand (just as Hot Water described), and boiler scale, but not the heavy accumulation of soot that is characteristic of coal burners.  One can always add more if more is needed, but it's hard to go backwards with weathering.

Jerry, my hat is off.  Your personal record is awarded ten merits for excellent steam locomotive weathering.