Union Pacific 202 - Orange Re-Paint 18

Today before I started

Finally got some time to work on this some.

Striping her down. AGAIN!
Im using some Citristrip Stripping GEL
It says you can use it inside, but I prefer to do things like this outside. Outside well ventilated and if some spills no big deal. I also want to keep a close eye on it in case the plastic has a weird reaction to this stripper. I can run over to the water hose pretty fast to dilute the stripper and hopefully stop lessen any damage.

First coat of stripper

Im having fun working on this, and really trying to get it like I want it.

Since I have painted this a bunch of times, it will take a number of coats of stripped to get it all of.


Maybe the next train will be faster.

I have it sitting on an old 55 gallon barrel.

I did 2 coats, and everything looks like it is gong well. No plastic damage. I did not take a picture of it after the 2nd coat. I will get some more pictures before I continue. It started raining out, and there is forecast for more rain tomorrow. We will see.

Model Train Forum

So I posted my issue with the paint on the 202 on the Model train Forum
Just read my other posts and you will know my painting issues.

One of my concerns with starting over, was the decals. I just did not feel like messing with that again.

But after talking on the forum some, and learning a better way to tackle it. Im looking forward to stripping all the paint and decals off this engine one more time and starting over.

Its just too cold to paint, so I will end up waiting until it starts to warm back up.

If you are into model trains and scale, you should check out the Model Train Forum. There is a lot of good information there.
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/index.php

Who knows, I may start on the mechanics while Im waiting on the warmer weather.

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Union Pacific
https://www.up.com/timeline/index.cfm/1st-gas-turbine-electric

November 1948

TESTS BEGIN ON 1ST GAS TURBINE-ELECTRIC

To Learn more click here

Union Pacific 202 - Orange Re-Paint 17

ARRRGGGG!
Its still wet, so I don't know the extent of the damage.

 Sprayed Matte Finish and the paint started to blister!
The right top edge, and on the left front hood. There is also a place on the back.

I really did not want to make it look distressed.
GEEZZZ

Union Pacific 202 - Orange Re-Paint 16

Union Pacific 202

Had some free time tonight, started painting the back. It may need another coat. Then I will go back with the orange.
I like the looks of that paint scheme. I think once I get the lines looking sharper, and the orange to match the side colors. It should be ready for a finish spray.



















Not a close enough image, but I put a little touch of paint for the door handles.

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Looking at this ad, I will need to paint the base of the engine gray/silver also. I like that look. Currently it is all black.

Union Pacific 202 - Orange Re-Paint 15

Back at IT!
This has been a long but fun project.

I was having such a problem with the decals, had to take a break. First I had a hard time cutting them out, then they would stick better to my finger than the train.

Got them cut and stuck on the train. I had to redo a few of the letters and numbers, but finally got them where I like them. Put some clear nail polish on to hold them in place.

Here is what I got so far.

Union Pacific 202 - Orange Re-Paint 14

After a few more coats, the silver finally covered it. I may do another coat.











It took a very long time to get these decals correct. Getting the font size and spacing correct for one printer does not work for another. A lot of trial and error.

Putting on the decals -
I stuck on the "PACIFIC" first and tried trimming the letter out with a razor blade. That did not work well. The letters kept coming off while I was trimming. I printed out an entire sheet of the decals. I knew this would be trial and error as well.
I still need to clean them up, but I ended up cutting the letters out with scissors first, leaving a thin line between them to keep the spacing. The decals did not stick well. I sprayed it with clear mat paint. Once I'm done, I plan on spraying the entire train with the clear mat paint to help seal and protect it. Should be able to wash the train in the future without worrying about paint coming off or chipping.


I think it is coming along nicely. 

Union Pacific 202 - Orange Re-Paint 13

I know in these pictures there is very little difference, but I wanted to show the process I'm experiencing.  This silver paint goes on real thin. I've tried putting it on thick, but the paint strokes show. When I put the paint on thick it also filled in some of the detail of the plastic form. I had to sand it all off in those area and start over. This left side has 2 coats since the last picture shown. It still needs more to cover the bleed through.

Here is the right side. The paint is pretty much done. I need to look it over some more to see if I spot anything I want to add or change.



Next will be putting the "UNION PACIFIC" and "202" on the sides. Im a little nervous about messing it up. I also want to add an LED light for the headlight, but I will worry about that when I start in on the mechanics of the train.

Union Pacific 202 - Orange Re-Paint 12

I like the orange enough to move on to the silver. The silver is going on very light, it takes a lot more coats. So far Ive only done this side, the other side looks like last picture. Probably 2 more coats of silver and I will move around to the other side. It looks so much better without the black trim I tried.

Im taking my time, still trying to figure out what to put in the front for the lights.

Union Pacific 202 - Orange Re-Paint 11

Where Was I?
Its been crazy around here. Finally getting back to this Train Business.

Last time, I sanded and cut out some bumps I did not like around the doors. They really showed up in the paint. I also decided not to go with the black trim, that did not look right to me either.
Tonight I touched up the Orange.



Im thinking I will wait until this coat drys and take another look at. It will need another coat of orange.

Im thinking about weathering it as well. What do you think?

Union Pacific 202 - Orange Re-Paint 10

So after doing some painting, I found some more flaws. When I first painted the lines, they were to thick. I did not like the look. These pictures I have already used some steel wool around the edges. Its hard to explain, but look at the edges of the doors. They are not sharp. There is extra pieces of plastic that stick up.

I was not able to get a clean line on the door molding. It really looked terrible to me. I tried to take a few pictures so you can see the extra edges. It looks like when laminated plywood gets wet, the edges peal up. of course nothing here is pealing up, its just the way the plastic looks.

This is a door Ive cleaned up the edges. So there is only one hight point. Since it is not painted yet, it might be hard to see, but once I put the orange back down, it should mate all the way right to the molding line.

Union Pacific 202 - Orange Re-Paint 9

Touching it up and painting some trim. So far I've only done a little on this side. A long way to go, but wanted to post pictures as I go.

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How cool is this Train?

operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q, commonly known by the shorter name of "Burlington") between Chicago, Illinois, Omaha, Nebraska and Lincoln, Nebraska. It operated from 1947 to 1971.

Union Pacific 202 - Orange Re-Paint 8

I scored the edge of the tape and pulled it off. Still need to do some clean up, but this is what it looks like now. I like the colors.

After I get it cleaned up better, I will follow up with some more detail. Get the UNION PACIFIC decals on it. I need to think about how Im going to do the windows, and headlamp.

In 1957 Lionel redesigned their Alco Diesel trains. The Orange 202 was the result. It is lighter weight, and not as detailed as previous models.

"Prior to the 202, all Alcos were produced as an AA combination. The 202 Union Pacific Alco A was the first Alco released by Lionel as a single A unit. As production continued during the postwar era, the single A unit Alco locomotive became the norm as Lionel produced few Alcos as AA units." - "http://postwarlionel.com/"

Some more information on this diesel train can be found here "http://www.tandem-associates.com/"

I would not have altered mine if it was in better shape.

Union Pacific 202 - Orange Re-Paint 7

I had to pick up some more orange paint. I like this color better. That worked out well.

This is the second coat already. I will let this dry for a day or 2. It has been humid around here. This time, I plan on scoring around the tape to see if I cam make sure I do not peal up paint with it.

I can't wait to see the what the second color looks like when I pull the tape up.

Union Pacific 202 - Orange Re-Paint 6

Lets try this again!

If you read the prior posts, you know I tried painting this once already. Im having a good time messing with it. I guess that is what I like about these model trains.

I stripped most of the paint and sprayed some primer on it. Check out the Stressed post. Looks pretty cool with the different colors. Might come in handy in the future if I ever want something to look worn.

This time I figured I would use gray with the orange to be closer to the Union Pacific color scheme. I sprayed the gray first this time. Im running low on orange paint. I will try and get away without buying any more paint. Found some of that painters tape.

I like that color. Reminds me of a Silver and Red SantaFe or Silver and Blue SantaFe, or Delaware & Hudson. Actually there are a lot of trains that have Silver in them...

Here are a couple other trains. Both of these trains are missing horns. I need to find a place to get some horns. These trains also have windshields and side windows. Im hoping I can make a windshield and side windows for the one Im working on.

Anyone know where to get some horns?

Stressed

Started stripping the paint. Thought I would share these photos. I kind of like the stressed look.

 This is the same train, but the camera on the phone made it look red.

Union Pacific 202 - Orange Paint 5

When deciding to blog or not to blog in the beginning, I decided it would be more of a journey. I was not going to hide my mistakes. This was not the first nor will it be the last. I pretty much knew I would have to start over when the orange paint peeled (you probably knew as well), but I had to take it a step further.

 I should have used a painters tape instead of old masking tape. The masking tape stuck, but it also let some paint bleed under the edges.

The types of paints I used should have been considered more. The orange is actually a high heat paint for engine blocks.  

Definitely not the kind of paint that is best for this type work.

So whats next? Let see if we can get all this paint off and try it again. What else would I do? When you work on things sometimes you have to redo them to get them where you want them to be. Learning is part of the fun for me. Lets get cracking!