Well the paint filtering worked well. After a careful rub down of the primer, a first light ‘tack’ coat of apple green was sprayed onto the tender. This was left to dry off for a few moments (don’t forget that cellulose paints dry very quickly).
A large volume of cellulose was then applied so as to give a ‘wet’ surface. Paint runs are less likely to occur because the ‘tack coat’ will ‘hold’ the paint.
If there are any blemishes then the new paint surface can be flooded with another heavy spray coat of thinners that will soften and then flatten the surface. There was, indeed, a hiccup in spraying the engine and so this flooding technique was applied here.
By it’s streamlined nature, the P2 is quite easy to spray because there aren’t many awkward corners to catch overspray. After a day under the lamp, both tender and engine were rubbed down again to give a smooth finish before the last top coat.
The blue leatherette mat is useful for supporting the model whilst working on it, being slightly compliant and not damaging the paint. The lack of a securing bolt for the mud hole doors is a great advantage at this stage, when rubbing down the firebox area. We’re back to the brown in some areas, where the paint thickness allows a better finish to be achieved.
The final top coat has come out OK and will be improved by gentle T-cutting when hard. The final photo shows the disposable plastic pipettes that I use for dispensing the thinners (non-blooming) and the paint. The two are actually mixed in the spray cup. The air brush is run through with thinners alone quite often to keep it clean and flowing nicely.
The problem I have is that the last painting and lining I did was on a 3/4 ton model, so this is quite a steep learning curve! Many of the above techniques are well explained in Ian Rathbone’s excellent book on painting and lining.
Tim
I'll quiz you some more on Saturday.
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