Type of Paint to use on MTH aluminum passenger car

Give us a just a wee bit more information, ....is this your first time painting a model?......definitely do not use a brush!....have you ever used a spray can paint before ?....I’m not trying to be a smartalic, but none of us know your skill level.....

Pat

I am just learning to paint train cars.  I have painted my landscaping a lot, to date.  So, pardon my ignorance.  Fortunately, I have several old aluminum passenger cars to practice on as I learn before I paint the new ones.  I have not spray painted models before, just household objects.  I would be glad to watch videos or read articles that anyone would suggest, and then practice on the old passenger cars.  I am open to suggestions along with the correct type of spray paints and in that case, the correct type of tape to mask the areas I don't want painted, I assume.

Let’s start with pics of the good cars you’d like to paint,....more than one way to skin a cat,....do you need to remove any lettering?..graphics?...numbers?......let’s see what you’re up against, and we’ll try to give the best tutorial right on this thread,....there’s no set way to approach a job like this, each repaint job may or may not have its own unique set of challenges,....

Pat

Sorry for the delay.  Here are pictures of the 2 cars I plan to paint- coach & observation. Side & end views.  The sides of the pictures were cut off in the posting, but you get the general idea.  The coach is coupled to an Illinois Central car (of which there are more on the track above), which has the green I am aiming to imitate on my 2 cars on the roof, ends and skirts.  I need to paint the gray doors on the sides of my cars yellow.  I am not going to change the yellow on my cars to the darker yellow on the Illinois Central car.  Also, for now, I am not going to remove the Union Pacific lettering and replace it with Illinois Central lettering.  it is enough to master the painting skills.  I will learn lettering later and deal with that then.

I have older metal cars to practice on.  I plan to actually do the painting when the weather warms up a bit in the spring and I can do it on my driveway or patio because I don't have good ventilation in the basement.  Any advice about spray painting technique, masking, and selection of paint will be much appreciated, including references I might read.

Once you get them masked, apply a primer before the color coat(s) - plain hardware store flat gray primer is fine. Let it dry overnight.

Sometimes lettering is raised and will show through the new paint.  I usually just sand it down.  Then I can re-letter in any scheme I want.  wet sand.

I suggest a single stage Paasche or Master airbrush.  They last a lifetime, and you will use it again and again.  the Paasche single stage is VERY easy to clean.  That's a big plus for me.

I have access to a good automotive paint supply shop and mostly use automotive paints.  They can match any color perfectly.  I just bring in the train car and say match that.  I've sprayed lacquer and like it because it dries fast, but acrylic enamel is my go to.  I spray several LIGHT coats, paint mixed thin.  And primer first.  Use a primer you don't have to sand before top coating.

If you want to knock the gloss off, or even totally flat, like military, buy some flattening agent while at the auto paint shop.  The more you add the flatter the paint gets.

Be aware that some old paints just react with new paints.  Or any contamination. So clean well with alcohol before doing anything, even sanding.  Otherwise, you can get a crackling effect.  There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for it.  however, spraying very light coats never produces any problems, at least for me.  Only when you try to paint a little heavier do things start to fubar.

Probably won't matter, but be aware that lacquer is a "hot" paint, and may react with any other paint underneath, especially if that paint is newer.  Use extreme caution with lacquer.  The enamels are a "cold" finish, and can be applied over fresh dry lacquer, and most anything else.

I've painted dozens of real vehicles using these principles, and it works from models to the real thing.  Just buy a bigger sprayer for the real vehicles. 

Thank you both for taking the time to give me detailed advice.  I will take your advice as I work on this project.