# Custom Paint question... you buy undecorated or strip?



## Justin9 (Dec 30, 2011)

I got a couple of Bachmann Dash 8s that were undecorated. This little sucker can be hard to get right due to the small size... do you guys, when you know you are going to do a custom paint scheme, buy undecorated shells and do all the gluing and installing, or do you buy finished locos and strip the paint or print over them? I like the fact I can do a bit more customizing with the undecorated kit, but I guess it gets a little harder for me detailing something so small, trying to glue all the parts in and keep them in place while they dry.


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## Xnats (Dec 5, 2010)

I have not ventured down this route myself. I have been looking at add-on decals to add to my factory detailed stuff though. For your question, I think who-ever would buy, what ever is available in the engine style. Getting an undecorated saves on stripping time, if available, I would think.
Then there are company take overs like Conrail to CSX. I've seen a lot of real life photos were the new paint scheme was done. The old lettering shows though and the road numbers where boxed out and not touched. Look at the old Conrail blue up front. So buying a road name and redoing it would look proto.


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## Justin9 (Dec 30, 2011)

Well, I guess my idea was if you bought a shell that needed to be stripped, would you be saving time or coming out the same with having all the small detail pieces already assembled and attached. For example, on these undecorated kits from Bachmann, I have to install all the grab irons, railings, brake lines, plow, manual brake, air horn, etc... the time it takes me to do one, I am thinking I could dunk one in some stripper and have a ready to paint shell and all the detail nitty gritty is taken care of, but my thick fat fingers, blind eyes and small scale are making it quite challenging.


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## Xnats (Dec 5, 2010)

But your finial paint job would not look to good. There is no way to mask off stuff so small, so you really have no choice but to strip parts down to paint. You could try and mask stuff but it would take more time then just pulling it off. My thoughts at least 
We know the feeling of fat fingers and feeling blind, it comes with the scale :laugh:


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## Conductorjoe (Dec 1, 2011)

I have done alot of painting and decaling over the years. I always try to buy Undecs when possible. Chameleon paint stripper works well but its kind of a pain to do so when you dont have too. It is also pricey. Some will tell you that Brake fuid will work , However unless you know what youre doing you could melt the plastic as well, so I dont recomend it.
The repaints Xnats talked about are easy, especially freight cars. I am modleing CP Rail. They purchased alot of older American equipment. They just blocked out the road names and painted fresh reporting marks.
As far as seeing N scale parts, I always use an Optivisor and of course good lighting. For the small parts? Purchase some quality modeling tweezers.
Just like any project , having the right tools make the job easier.


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## flyvemaskin (Nov 19, 2011)

I've gone both ways, sometimes I can get an engine really cheap, and can't always find an undecorated shell, so I strip the shell down and repaint. It's not hard, and an airbrush can make em look factory fresh. Besides the items listed above, oven cleaner with lye in it will also remove paint. I've used this and brake fluid, and don't really like brake fluid as was mentioned above. If you plan on quite a bit of repainting, I'd get a good airbrush and a compressor to do it with. Paint the lighter colors first. Masking can be tough with the small rivits and indentations on the shells or bodies. Good tape and good toothpicks are a great help.


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