I have a large number of AtlasO 33" diameter wheel sets that need to be painted and weathered. What approach have you used that doesn't require disassembling the trucks while minimizing the amount of paint getting on the wheel treads?
FYI - when painting wheels that can quickly be removed from the trucks I spray paint them in a fixture made from sheet plastic. The painting goes fast and the fixture keeps paint off the tread.
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Wow, cool idea. Do you simply drop the axle out by lowering clamp pressure? The painted axle can't be touched, right?
A felt tip pen may be helpful. John in Lansing, ILL
Ed,
Do you paint the needle point axle ends? If you do, doesn't that affect how easy the wheels roll in the journals?
looks like tips can be easily cleaned with solvent and a q tip... thanks for sharing
You have the right idea, but I'd suggest making a jig that allow you to paint at least 8 wheelsets at a time. Here is an article in Jan 2016 MR Hobbyist on how to make a jig for HO wheelsets. You can easily adapt it to O gauge wheels. If the link fails, you may need to enable flash.
This will work well for easy to remove wheelsets such as Weaver or Intermountain. You can spray paint or airbrush 2 or more car's wheelsets at a time. With modern Lionel or MTH wheelsets it is difficult or impossible to remove the wheelsets. It's easier to brush paint them in place. Apply a brushful of paint to the concave wheel face and rotate the wheel until the face is covered.
The prototype modelers generally recommend rust color and some region-appropriate dust color for roller bearing truck wheels. Use black for the wheel faces of "friction bearing" trucks due to grease leaking from the journals.
Bob
Ed,
I finished my hopper fleet on the auction site. The cars were painted and well decaled. The paint had been quickly done by spraying EVERYTHING so much so that the wheels would hardly turn. I replaced the trucks and wheels and brushed painted them.
I did make it less exasperating by doing one car at a time when the mood or time permitted.
Feeling the pain with you.
Ed
Sometimes it is not the paint. A good metal truck with proper lubrication, if parked for a decade, will be very stiff.
Bob - I have been painting with a brush as you describe - was just asking to see if someone had a better way.
With regard to the fixture - the wheels pop out by just spreading the plastic. Even doing one wheel at a time it goes very fast. A little thinner on a pipe cleaner quickly cleans the paint of the pointed axel end - but I usually don't bother as it wears off almost soon after running the car around the layout.
The simplest way I know of is to use the washers from our garden hoses. They slip right over the wheels. The parts can be set down, with the washers left in place, until the paint dries. This trick has been around for years, I think I read about it in a magazine. I also cut up pieces of rubber hose (model airplane fuel line works well) to mask the ends of the axles. I don't like paint on them...goes against my nature.
Years ago when I was fussy, I used hose washers.
I would slit through a washer at one point to make it like a lock washer and slip it over the wheel mounted in an assembled truck but removed from the car and shoot it.
Selecting the best washer is the trick. Big box and hardware stores have all this fitz all cra* that really do not fit anything quite right.
Check in with a pressure washer supply house. They have a better washer selection IME.
You can get as many washers as you want to paint as many trucks as you would like at one time and never get any paint on the axel end or inside the bearing. A slight larger than 5/8" or slightly smaller than 3/4" would be snug. A piece of tape on the bolster seat and you're better than Earl Schieb.
Guys - thanks for the input. I'm going to give the slit hose washer approach a try. With 27 AtlasO H21's to weather before a December open house I'm looking to speed up the process.
Follow-on question - what kind of paint do you prefer. Until recently I sprayed or brushed solvent base Floquil or ScaleCoat gray/black black (early 1950's era friction bearing trucks). I did it in a vented spray booth and wore a mask - but it gets old fast. Perhaps it's time to change to acrylic.
Ed, when you use a split washer you will need to try several different ones to find the brand and size which fits snug when cut. Then buy a few dozen of them. Agreed, R & R ing the axels can be a pain after a while.
Spray painting outside during the warmer months is what I do to help minimize paint ingestion. Of course you may have to wait a bit for a dry and non-windy day. Helps immensely to have a walk out basement like mine. For some this suggestion might be a bit of a logistical challenge.
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