# Painting Rolling Stock



## majordadsage (Mar 17, 2013)

I am new to N Scale but, I am in the process of painting my first locomotives. They are not expensive and I thought it would be good to learn on these. 

I am modeling the B&O, era 50's & 60's. A time of transition for the railroad. The paint schemes changed during this time period. 

I bought some paint on line that was advertised as B&O Royal Blue. Well, it may be but, it doesn't match my Bachmann or LifeLike B&O diesels. I have tinted it with black acrylic and I have the color pretty close. 

What I want to ask is this; has anyone ever taken a locomotive to Home Depot and, using the computer scanner, matched the paint color? The Behr Ultra sample 8oz jars are water cleanup and safe on plastic. I took one of my F7's in there today and the computer matched the B&O blue perfectly. 

Just wondering if anyone else has tried this. I am going to use it to paint my F7's....thing is it is only $3.82 including tax for the 8oz jar


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

A guy who posted on a G scale forum that I used to be on did that with a G scale loco.


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## powersteamguy1790 (Mar 26, 2012)

majordadsage said:


> I am new to N Scale but, I am in the process of painting my first locomotives. They are not expensive and I thought it would be good to learn on these.
> 
> I am modeling the B&O, era 50's & 60's. A time of transition for the railroad. The paint schemes changed during this time period.
> 
> ...


I used Home Depot to match Rail Tie Brown, Grimy Black and Burnt sienna plus other colors. The matches were close but the paint particles are much larger in size than model railroad paints, so the paint is much thicker in consistency.

Have fun with it.....


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## majordadsage (Mar 17, 2013)

The paint from Home Depot did not work for the N Scale locomotive. It would have taken a lot of coats of paint to ever get the color right. By the time the color would have matched, the detail on the engine would have been "long gone". Stripping paint and going to repaint using model paint. It is still fun....


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Model paint for models. House paint for houses.*



majordadsage said:


> The paint from Home Depot did not work for the N Scale locomotive. It would have taken a lot of coats of paint to ever get the color right. By the time the color would have matched, the detail on the engine would have been "long gone". Stripping paint and going to repaint using model paint. It is still fun....


majordadsage;

You're not the first to try using house paint for models. Others have tried it due to the economic attraction of getting a lot more paint for their money; than those high priced little jars of model paint. 
However, as you have discovered, they are two different paints; designed for two different jobs. House paint has particles of pigment that are gigantic compared to those in model paint. That's fine for painting the walls of a twelve-inch-to-the-foot-scale house; but not for a 1/160th scale locomotive.
Well, you tried. hwell: Glad to hear you're still having fun. In the end, that's all that really matters.

regards;
Traction Fan


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Ahhh...well remember those halcyon daze using stove black or lacquer with talcum powder mixed in...


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