Restoring Old Red Comet Paint Questions

Dennis

I'm still an old rattle can guy myself. Look at Home Depot etc for a close shade of red. Krylon used to be a favorite, but when they reformulated a few years back, you could not get that old glossy enamel look that I like. You needed to add multiple coats of clear to get close. Recently I have switched to Rustolium. Takes longer to dry, but the shine is much nicer.

I hate priming, but find it necessary to get a nice even color. Just my thoughts on how I do it. There a lot of different opinions on this subject.

 

Steve

I'm a rattle can guy myself but I've always gotten the best results priming first.

If,I would take a dark primer, brick or something instead of a light one. Any scratch and the light prime color will show up. Personally I am not that keen on priming. It looks to me that it takes away something, may be one layer too much as the enamel on the original tinplate usually looks rather thin.

It's a strange thing. There's spray paint, and spray paint. It's not just the color, how smooth and shiny they are, it must have something to do wit the texture or grain too I think.

I am a rattle canner too, though I do have an airbrush. I just don't like that cleaning up afterwards, especially when spraying enamels.

BTW it seems to me the old tinplates were not primed at all?

A couple of years ago, I restored a Red Comet Commodore Vanderbilt. I used a can of hardware store green etching primer and a couple of coats of red comet paint from Charles Woods.

 

http://www.trainenamel.com/

 

I made a little baking oven with two sixty watt bulbs and baked it for a few hours. I don't know if the baking helped but the finish turned out nice and shiny and matched the tender almost perfectly.

 

Have fun and good luck,

Here are some of the before pictures...

 

Spray can paint will work just fine. Make sure you use multiple coats that are wet but not too thick. The primer is optional. I have done it both ways. I am a fan of baking the piece after it's painted. It will make the paint shinier and toughen up the finish. I have a big box I lined with aluminum foil with two light fixtures inside as the heat source. I usually bake my items for an hour or two.

 

Here is a 408E that was destroyed in a fire that I restored.

 

 

Prep is as important or more so than actual painting.

Try to get the tin as clean and water free as possible before spraying.

Pick up some medical exam gloves and once the tin is clean don't touch it with your bare fingers. Oil from your fingers will soak into the primer...

Try to find an auto paint supply store and get some SEM self etching primer.

Primer is actually a very important "glue" layer between metal and paint.

Since you are going to the trouble to restore the piece you might as well try to make the paint last.

Good luck.

Hi Joe. Do you have a photo of your box you bake in? That is something I might want to try next time I do a project. Thanks.

I always use primer.  I had been using Woods Train Enamel until I discovered the Hobby Horse paints which are incredible. I am in no way affiliated with them, just love their product...Jeff Davis

 

http://www.hobbyhorseproducts.com/paint.html

 

Their contact info:

Carl Burchett	1-260-347-3958	hobbyhorseproducts@att.net
Chris Burchett	1-260-562-2169	csburchett@embarqmail.com

 

Prep is crucial as well as a very thorough washing and drying before primer. Not rushing it is also crucial. Take a minimum of 24 hours between any stage. I have used automotive paint which is very durable. I also "bake" it in an oven for a more durable end result but do not exceed 250 for enamels. I bake the primer in at 150 @ 20 minutes.

Bruce

Chris,

 

I have photos some where but I have to find them. I basically took a big box, about 2'x2'x2'. It's a nice heavy box with 1"x2" wood supports on the ends. The lid is kind of a hinged lid. Any heavy duty box will work just make sure it's big enough to easily get you pieces in.

 

I completely lined the inside of the box with aluminum foil, taping it in place. Since the box has the wood frame inside. I installed two clamp on light fixtures with 60w light bulbs. With a plain box you'll just have to come up with a way to attached the light fixtures.

 

I recommend installing a metal pan or rack on the bottom of the box. Once the parts are painted, I let them dry enough so I can handle them and get them in the box without damaging them. I usually bake the parts for an hour or two.

Hi,

 

Might want to consider investing in a cheap blast cabinet and some glass beads.  Works great for train parts.  Just blasted a 2025 shell this weekend.  On the down side,  I forgot what shade of black I had used to paint the tender a year ago,  and grabbed the wrong can.  Much glossier than I wanted.  Just may have to strip it again.  My advice is to write down the paint name and brand if you need to duplicate the color in the future, as you'll never remember.  Also, the new fangled spray nozzles on the high dollar cans like Valspar leak and drip all over the place.  The old style nozzles on four buck a can Ace Hardware paint do much better.

 

John