Will gun metal blue stuff work to blacken or darken the steel tires of a Sunset 3rd locomotive ?

yes.. some you have to put in your oven and bake it on..?you may have to sand those wheels for the bluing to bite/take on to those wheels..Dont like the chrome wheels??LOL  I'd changed My 3rd rail S1 and S2 wheels .. bought some acouple of smoke units with a bag of wheels and challenger drive wheels..Of by the way I have a daughter with the same name..

I have some 3rd rail models in 2 rail and the method Jim describes is the best way that I have found.  It works very well and you will get the right "look" when finished. 

Question for you2?  did you sand your parts? and did you even use an  etch primer on the pieces before you painted them?.. If not in time the paint will flake off those parts..etch primer is a acided base primer that will bite into the metal in which give a paint adheasion surface for paint to grip on to. This methoid is used on real cars and trucks and locomotives  bair metal surfaces..and I dont use Floquil or any hobby paints to my trains or any of my hobbystuff... I use automotive paints for best paint matching durabuilty and lasting affects. You did a very nice job on the weathering affects on your train..just dont have any luck with hobby paints that can match or last..

No sanding - no priming.

We are not talking about the original durable paint job. By definition, weathering is an extremely thin, light finish applied on top of the original finish to simulate a coat of dust and grime. It will never stand up to abuse. Weathered engines or rolling stock should be handled carefully and as little as possible.

Over time, some loss of paint might occur at the rims. This can easily be touched up. If durability is important to you, I would not weather. If weathering were applied in the same manner as the much more durable original finish, it would not look realistic IMO.

Nicely weathered engines do best on a layout with some sort of on-track storage such as a turntable/roundhouse area so that handling is kept to a minimum.

Condensed smoke fluid will also affect weathering. Many who take pride in their weathered engines do not use smoke at all.

Jim

No I did not sand or prime first...I cleaned things off with a q-tip but this stuff will stick to pretty much anything.  The stuff is graphite and alcohol, so once the alcohol evaporates the graphite is left sticking to the surface...it basically penetrates into the metal, but not so well on ultra smooth surfaces.  Now will it rub off?....If not fully dried it will very easily (learned that one the hard way) but once dry it will tolerate mild handling with out any problems. I have applied it to the drivers and running gear on 6 different engines and no problems, but when I pick up my brass engines I do so by grabbing the cyclinders and the cab roof and not the wheels. But be careful where you apply it as it is conductive....more of an issue for the 2 rail side of things but still....

Im not to much into weathering on my train its self.. like the new off the assembly line looks..Dont know what my S1 would looked like weatherd? just only seen the black and white pics of the real version weathered... I seen what a Q2 looks like one on youtube..looks great!!Id handle my train alot plus love having my trains smoke too. That why I use automotive paints plus I paint cars for a living for aliving.. whats the use to have a train that doesnt smoke?  Makes it more realistic..

If all you want to do is blacken the side rods, Neolube is the way to go. 

I don't do my weathering that way, I use a combination of grimy black, and either grime or mud, depending on what region of the country the beast ran it.  I spray it on with a good old Pasche Model H air brush. 

As Jim P has stated, this is not a durable paint job, and will wear with handling.  When my side rods get to the point that I can't stand it, I just get out the jar of Neolube and touch it up. The 0-8-0 had a couple of spots below that I did that to this year. 

Some samples:

Regards,

GNNPNUT

I recently bought a bottle of "Blackin-It" and applied it to the siderods of my RailKing 2-8-0:

I probably need to apply another coat and apply it to the tire rims also.

Here's what the engine looked like before:

I also applied it to a brass drawbar I made to replace the original.

hello Bob Delbridge.......

That does look better after the blacken the siderods. Have you tried it on the driver rim sides ?

the woman who loves the S.F.#5021

Tiffany

Not yet Tiffany, but I've got all the stuff I need ready to roll, probably tonight!

I tried to do the rims with Blackin-It but so far it doesn't look promising.  The other parts I soaked them in it for a while, but with the wheels still on the engine (and me not wanting to take it apart) it may take longer (applying it with a Q-Tip).

I may end up painting them weathered black or something between that and brown/rust to match the siderods.

As I posted in the other thread on this same subject, over on the 3-Rail Trains Forum, ever single one of my steam locomotive models are weathered, and I have no problems with the "weathering" coming off the rods nor drivers. But then, I don't pick up my models by the running gear!

GNNPNUT, probably said this before, love looking at you guy's engines!

Neolube! I've used it for years. I believe I once read that it won't interfere with electric contacts. I've even used it to paint smokeboxes on my engines. Easy to use and it works great!