Painting the Boiler
The “Daylight” paint scheme used on the Mountain engines was only a partial daylight painting compared to the painting of the GS class engines. On the locomotive only the cab carried the daylight colors. The tender carrier the full daylight colors as shown in the prototype photos above.
When painting I don’t normally spray a primer coat unless I’m spraying lighter colors. For this locomotive I primed the cab area and the area where I repaired the dents. The primer allowed me to confirm that the dents were fixed properly. I then started spraying the color coats starting with the lightest color (Floquil Daylight Orange) first. After each color coat I baked the locomotive in a warm (125 degree) oven for at least 12 hours. Next I painted the Daylight Red stripe, followed by Testor’s Burnt Metal for the smokebox and firebox area. After spraying each color I used a combination of masking tape and Micro-mask to mask off the already painted areas. For the black color I used a mixture of two parts Floquil weathered black to one part Engine black. The last step was the painting of the silver stripes on the cab. Using masking tape I masked off the entire cab except where I wanted the stripes. I then carefully sprayed a light coat of Floquil old silver over the openings in the tape.
I do want to make mention of the masking tape. On previous paint jobs I have used Pactra’s line of masking tape. I have had problems with the adhesive sticking to the model if the masking tape was left on when baking the paint, or if the tape was left on the model for more than a couple of days. For this paint job I tried Tamiya’s line of model masking tape, and I am very pleased with this product. Not only are the paint edges very clean, this tape has the added benefit that it will go through baking without breaking down. In some areas of the model I left the tape on for two or three colors and after all the baking it came right off as it should. I also had the tape on the model for upwards of a week without any problems. I would highly recommend this tape to anyone attempting a paint job like this one.
Here are some photos showing the boiler in various stages of painting:
After all the colors were finished I sprayed the boiler with a light coat of Testor’s gloss coat lacquer in preparation for decaling. I used three different decal sets on the boiler. The engine numbers came from Microscale’s 87-33 SP daylight set, the cab data and train numbers came from Foothill Model Works (now San Juan Decal) set of SP steam decals. The cab data came from the aluminum set, and the train numbers from the lettering gray set. I finished up with a couple of light coats of Testor’s dull coat to protect the decals and flatten out the gloss of the paint.
And for some photos of the finished boiler:
(Click on any of these photos for a larger sized version)
Page 6 - Last updated April 19, 2004