discussion HST paint job

[Andy T]

Well, I never imagined that I'd be posting in this corner of the forum!

A mate of mine that I've done a lot of work for in the past (1/50 fairground builds) has been working on a OO gauge layout in his loft and has asked me to paint a couple of pieces for him.

Basically he wants the ones in the foreground to look like the GWR ones at the back



I can safely say that I've never had one of these in bits, but a few minutes with a spudger and a screwdriver soon changed that



The first big stumbling block is the glazing on the carriage. It appears to be glued in place so I either need to brave taking it out, or get ready to mask 24 windows



I'm currently trawling the Internet to find GWR stickers or stencils. It's a whole new world to try and find my way around!

 

[rickoshea52]

Have you tried Fox Transfers?

 

[Andy T]

Have you tried Fox Transfers?

I haven't. I'll give them a try, thanks.

 

[HAWKERHUNTER]

I would mask the windows Andy. If that is an old model like Triang Hornby then the plastic may have gone brittle. An interesting project but its in the right hands. Good luck.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Plus one on masking the windows. They are inset to mimic the flush glazing on the actual units, so are probably glued in to keep them in place. Those on the doors (drop lights) and cab area are at a different level, so taking them out might be a little easier.

Other transfer manufacturers include Railtec, Modelmaster, Precision Phoenix, and HMRS. Lots to look through there, and I’m not sure they will have what you want , so I’ll leave you that pleasure. Best one for colour matching the paint will probably be Precision. Might also be worth checking with Hornby for transfers as they could do them as spares

 

[Tim Marlow]

How to - remove hornby mk3 coach glazing

What is the easiest way of removing the glazing from a hornby mk3 coach prior to respray in a way that doesn't destroy the glazing. No point reinventing wheels. This is more a question for somebody like @Richie who's probably resprayed more mk3 coache than popeye has eaten tins of spinach. Thanks...

irishrailwaymodeller.com

These might be worth a look. Also seen a comment that placing the body in a freezer can release the glue on the glazing. Never tried it myself though.

 

[Andy T]

Thanks for all of that Tim , I might pass some of it onto my mate so he can spend hours searching for transfers! So far I've only come across the older red & yellow style.

I'm weighing up other options like printing my own (in grey) or making stencils, but transfers or stickers would save me some work.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Just a technical heads up, might help with the transfer search. They are class 43 power cars with Mk III coaches. I went on a spotting trip to see some of them being built at crew in about 1977. Must be something out there as they were used by a lot of operators by the end of their life. The replacement Hitachi units are nowhere near as comfortable…..

 

[Andy T]

I managed to find something by using a reverse image search.

Of course they are out of stock

https://www.railtec-models.com/showitem.php?id=2006

 

[Tim Marlow]

May be worth contacting them Andy, they could print to order….

 

[Andy T]

I've registered my interest with them Tim, hopefully something will come of it.

I don't really want to start painting these until I have a solution.

 

[Andy T]

I'm still pottering along with this one.

I put the ball in my mates court and he's managed to find some rub-on transfers, so I resumed work.

A lot of fiddling saw me finally removing most of the windows and after some sanding & masking they are now in primer



In the foreground you'll see some test spoons. The colour I ordered turned out to be nothing like the engine I'm trying to match it to so I'm playing around to get it right. A splash of this, a dribble of that, and I'm homing in.

Much better than it was straight from the bottle anyway

 

[Tim Marlow]

Looking good. Your usual spraying excellence on display. I travelled on those occasionally from Westbury to Paddington when visiting the daughter, and I’d say the spoon is by far the most accurate colour. The other model you are matching is definitely on the blue side.

 

[flyjoe180]

Nice work Andy

 

[Andy T]

Thanks guys.

The spoon is much closer to the real life pictures I've seen too Tim, even given the potential variables of working from online images, so it's good to hear that it's the same in the flesh.

I'm not sure if Hornby have included some kind of scale effect, or whether it's just the closest colour they could produce in what is coloured plastic rather than paint.

Either way it's a headache

I'm getting pretty close but decided to ask Gemini /AI for suggestions before I used up all of the original paint. It was amazingly helpful to be honest, recommending that I try a different blue to the one I had been using.

I gave it the above image and one of all the spoons, then what paints I had available. I'll see how it goes later.

 

[Tim Marlow]

I’m sure you’ll crack it Andy. The colour on the full sized trains is pretty close to GWR loco green I think, but as you know I don’t get too anal about exact colour matches.
As to AI, I’ve found it really helpful for technical advice when setting up software etc, but not tried it for anything like that yet.

 

[Andy T]

I'm the same Tim, I'm not normally too bothered about exact matches but he's going to have the two trains running on the same layout, so I ought to get it at least closer lol.


Until I get the green sorted I've made a start on some of the other colours, starting with the yellow nose. I'm using SMS lacquer which covers really well but yellow is notorious for being transparent so I still gave it a head start with a light coat of Desert Sand, which is in the same ball park for value & hue.

After that the Trainer Yellow covered in just one coat, but I did two to be sure.



And it looks quite decent compared to the one I'm trying to copy.