Locomotive Repaint - Anyone had one done?

Jason,

   Repaints can be done by you or by a proffesional. Costs vary by type of engine and paint scheme desired.

  I model the T&P (Texas and Pacific) railroad during the steam era. There is a real shortage of steam engines and rolling stock for the T&P, however thanks to my own work and one professional job I now have a 4-4-2, a 0-8-0, a 2-8-0. and a 2-8-2 on my roster. Steam engines are easier to repaint than diesels if they are basic black. Finding decals can be challenging for both types. Consider buying an"undecorated" engine from a manufacturer instead of another railroad, this eliminates the problem of having to remove or paint over other lettering.

  Another suggestion, buy a cheap shell similar to the one you will repaint so you can make mistakes on the shell and not have to repaint on your good (expensive) engine.

  Good luck on your project.

Yes...I had my post-war Lionel 2055 Hudson repainted in the Brisbane & Bushong RR livery.  I also had an MTH SD70M diesel repainted in the same livery.  Matt

I have done several of my own.  I can't tell you what it costs to hire someone but I can tell you how much time it takes for various repaints (below). If you know about what people charge per hour for repaints you can get some idea of what it would cost.  I do know from talking to others that often the repaint costs as much as the loco did. One person I knew who did it (no longer does) charged about $25/hour for repaints.

The actual repainting itself is a small part of the time required on many locos.  If stripping the old paint, sanding, smoothing old corrosion, filling nicks and cracks, etc., gets very involved, that can take a lot of time: I spent over 24 hours just striping paint, sanding and filling pitted metal smooth, and priming a beat-up postwar steamer.   Multiple colors - a complicated livery - can eat up time.  You have to do the colors one at a time and mask the boundaries between each: getting the edges correct and crisp between them, can take a lot of time.

Easiest is repainting a new or nearly new steam loco black.  Both locos below were repainted when new.  The Pacific in the foreground was a Legacy Southern Crescent - green and red, etc: about eight hours was all that was required to mask, prime and repaint both loco and tender.    That behind is a Legacy Berkshire that was black, but I put a new cab on it and made some other changes and had to repaint the black, including the tender.  About ten hours - the masking around the silver made it more work. 

The little pre-war Marx loco below took about twenty four hours over several days (for paint remover to work, for filler to harden, primer to dry, etc): had to strip paint, do "body work" on dents and scratches, fill, smooth, prime, then paint.  Maybe twenty hours.

Different colors side by side require both painting the loco several times (once for each color) and careful masking to get the lines between colors correct and crisp.  The loco below is a Legacy N&W J repainted UP greyhound.  About twenty hours total over a period of five days (they black is the original paint, I did the gray next and had to let the gray dry for four days before masking and doing the yellow, etc.)

The Trainmaster below was once some other railroad than UP - I forget which.  This took about twenty hours including decals, over two weeks (did the yellow first, then the gray, then the red). 

I have not tackled multiple colors with curved boundaries - that would be more challenging yet. Something like ATSF's Warbonnet would be very difficult to do.  I plan to do one someday, on something cheap,  just to learn how to do it. 

I've done several on my own, never paying someone to do it.  I can't tell you what it costs but I can tell you how long it takes.

Easiest - and certain to be the least costly, is repainting a steam loco black.  I repainted my Southern Crescent (bottom, below) flat black: took about five hours of work.  I repainted all the black on the Berkshire behind it - that one was already black but I did a bunch of work (it doesn't have the original cab, etc.) and had to repaint it: with the silver color areas to mask out and a bit more comoplexity to how and where I had to mask it was about eight hours.  

More difficult is multiple colors with a straight line between colors, as in the two locos below.  The top one is a N&W J repainted in UP - it took about twelve hours of work spread over a week (several days between color coats for paint to dry).  

The Trainmaster below was once Southern RR.  This took about fifteen to twenty hours including decals.

Most complicated, to the extent I have not done it yet, would be multiple colors with curved edges between colors.  the most difficult repaint, I think, would likely be something like Santa Fe's Warbonnet would be every difficult to do. 

A PRO paint job in SP Daylight would not be cheap!!! But you could do it yourself like Lee and I do often.

These started as a Conrail units.......

Both were done with spray cans. Anyone can do it with practice.

*

These were baseball units, red and gray,  that had their electronics striped.....got them for under $50.

New paint and decals.......

Again all done with spray cans. Automotive based Duplicolor and Tamiya hobby paints.

And one last Toy Story II General......reworked cab and all new paint and decals....

SP Daylight E-8's would take some work......but not a LOT more than my 3 colored CSX units. I have not looked but I bet there are automotive colors that would work too!!

BTW....custom painted SP E-8's....I'd count on spending as much on paint as the units cost....or more.

Matt:

The paint job on your diesel is outstanding. One of the best I have seen.

Jason:

If you can pick up a set of E units inexpensively, I think you could get these painted at about the cost of new ones. If you pay full retail or a little less, it depends how much you want thees diesels and hat you are willing to pay to have them professionally painted.

I would talk to Harry Heike before I did anything. He is a top notch custom painter who could give you what you are looking for. He did the RailRunner train set for me with excellent results.

Matt, thanks for posting that pic of the SD70. I remember  painting that one a few years ago.   Still one of my all-time favorite custom jobs I did. Ah the memories... 

Dave, you did an A #1 job on that Lionel General locomotive.  The cab looks great.  I want to modify a Lionel General also, can you tell me what is involved in the cab work.  I wish there was more room to add a decent smoke unit.  Thanks for posting photo's, great work on all the engines.

Steve, Lady and Tex

Thanks.....I just cut the 'bay window' off the front of the cab and made a new front wall from sheet plastic. I also had to make a small boiler segment that the bay window used to fill. I do not think this conversion will work on older Generals. The bay makes room for the old AC motor. The DC can powered Generals can be converted this way.

Jeff....I have always admired your work!  I sure wish that you would start doing some custom painting again....I would love to have one of those beautiful PRR 5 stripe paint schemes done on a F59PH....

Alan

I'm almost finished with my Hudson, I had to put it back together but it came out 

nice.

Tin 

I'm in the progress of getting my Lionel Legacy S-2 Alco Southern painted L&N. I chose black so it's nothing flashy. But it will be weathered for a more realistic look. Being done by Brother Love.

I'll post a pic or two when it arrives.

Hi Jeff, I am another customer who misses you doing custom painting.  I don't know if you remember but you did the Lionel Trainmaster FM in MKT livery.  When I put that beast on the tracks I get a lot of comments on how good it looks.

Steve, Lady and Tex

Thanks guys- I just finished this one for my layout last night- originally a MTH Pennsy Heritage unit, repainted using custom Microscale decals, Scalecoat II black, Model Masters pure white, and Floquil UP light orange (handrails and steps). One of my favorite locos, and I had to have this one with PS 3.0.  I kept the number the same so the lighted number baords were functional.

Looks great Jeff!

I bought some of the "horse head" NS decals off of ebay a few weeks ago in the hopes of doing something like this.  I have a couple questions... 1 - Where did you get the decals?  2 - How did you manage to slide the decals in the small groves (doors?) where the NS is on the side of the loco?

Thanks,

Mike

Mike, I use Microsol and Microset to help with layering the decals into all the grooves, doors, etc. works like magic. Same source for my decals. Just take your time for sure- the nose is tricky to get that around the door..

Also, as for the original post on the SP "Daylight" units, finding the right decals is going to be tough. Champ made these with silver lettering and stripes, but are long gone. Maybe somebody has some out there, not sure, but I've seen them from time to time.

This is a LionMaster that I painted for an Army train...

If it is something you've been wanting, then it is worth it.  Harry Heike does custom paintwork still.  I've never used him, but have seen much of his creations on this forum.

Keith, nice looking engine, it's a shame most steamers were black because the detail really stands out on that OD paint scheme.

I painted a Railking 2-8-0 a few years ago using Weathered Black which is a bit lighter than Floquils Steam Engine Black I've been using:

Here's my 2-8-2 with the Steam Engine Black paint:

I had a Lionel GP7  Milw. 2338 from 1955, with the bright orange plastic shell. Had her repainted into B&O passenger colors a few years after getting the piece in 1973. Thought it was an OK idea at the time as there were a few paint blems in the black.  Dumb move, I should have had this done on an unpainted cab, which were available has I taken the time to look......Oh well !

Northern Pacific GG-1

Originally a Lionel Pennsy GP30.

Started off as a Weaver NYC U25B

I really like your Army locomotive.  Did you ever make a video of this engine pulling your military cars? 

Steve, Lady and Tex

I too, used to do custom painting for folks, but even with getting paid, it wasn't worth my time.  Like it has been said, it's very time consuming.  I'm now spending my time working on my own trains and layout. 

The Warbonnet scheme was mentioned, and it truly was a bear to do.  Decals are available, but aren't perfect.  I had to make my own for the B unit, and finesse them for the nose of the A unit.

This was done for a friend of mine, and took QUITE a long time to do.  BTW, it's S scale brass.

I also just completed a scratch built Thomas for my S empire so my 2 year old grandson can relate better to the trains.... not that he needed much help!

However, as AMC Dave pointed out, you can learn to do it yourself.  It's like the old joke, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?  Practice, practice, practice."

Jerry in Wayne, MI

Former WBB GP38-2 that was originally GTW livery.  I also retained the road number on the side so I wouldn't have to correct the number boards on each end.

Super Job on the "Army engine" Keith.