Merioneth Railway Society
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  • Mercury Reprints & Articles
    • Copyright Notice
    • Acts of Parliament >
      • Original Act
      • Extension Acts
    • Mercury Reprints 1 - 6 >
      • MM No. 1. October 1974
      • MM No. 2. May 1975
      • MM No. 3. December 1975
      • MM No. 4. Spring 1976
      • MM No. 5. June 1976
      • MM No. 6 Autumn 1976
    • Mercury Articles 7 - 10 >
      • Mercury Issue 7 >
        • Festiniog & Blaenau Railway locomotives.
        • The weekend at Hassocks 7 - 9 January, 1977.
        • Quarry Workers Coach.
      • Mercury Issue 8 >
        • ELECTRONICS AND 16mm
        • THE WATERMOOR LIGHT CLOSES
        • Redlake Revisited
        • Rubbish
        • PHOTOPAGE `NO. 2
      • Mercury Issue 9 >
        • A Double Fairlie in 16mm scale
      • Mercury Issue 10 >
        • Copyright & Credits Page
        • Les Tortillards
        • The Presidents Carriage
        • Coffeepots I
        • Cerrobend Casting
        • A Double Fairlie in 16mm scale
    • Mercury Articles 11- 20 >
      • Mercury Issue 11 >
        • Skip Wagons
        • Fiji
        • Port Class Pictorial
        • Hohenzollern
        • Coffeepots II
        • Victoria Amused Me
      • Mercury Issue 12 >
        • Cerrobond Casting Part II
        • Coffee Pots III
        • Excelsior
        • Side Tip Wagons
        • The Binnie File
        • Westcock Tramway
        • Drawings from Mercury 12
      • Mercury Issue 13 >
        • Trains by Emett
      • Mercury Issue 14 >
        • Ashbury Contractors Van
        • Corris
        • Flocking
        • Lady M
        • Lister Auto Truck
        • Ruston 16hp
        • Sauterelles
      • Mercury Issue 15 >
        • The Gentle Annie
        • Portable & Permanent Trackwork
        • The Boat
        • Trevellas Quarry
        • The Cherry Tree Brisk & Tile
        • A Chest of Drawers
        • The Planet 60HP Diesel
        • Excelsior The Facts
        • Railplane
        • The Finishing Touch
        • Open Day Pictures
      • Mercury Issue 16 >
        • Portable Trackwork
        • Permanent Trackwork
        • Bryant Switch
        • A Chest of Drawers
        • General Electric
        • The Ten Laws for Narrow Gauge Modellers
      • Mercury Issue 17 >
        • A Chest of Drawers
        • An Article for Cranks
        • Ffestiniog Gunpowder Vans
        • Ramblings on a Sunny Morning
      • Mercury Issue 18
      • Mercury Issue 19 >
        • Hookers & Shunters.
        • 10hp Planet & Penrhyn carriage.
  • Gallery
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    • Outings >
      • Mad Hatter's Tea Party - 2014
      • Statfold Barn - 2014
      • Apedale Gala Day - 2014
      • FR and WHR (Dave P) - Aug 2014
      • Statfold Barn - 2015
    • Models >
      • 7mm Narrow Gauge (Chris Holmes)
      • Clockwork Models
    • Members Open Days >
      • The Startops And Tringford Railway - 2014
      • Dave's July 2015
      • Dave's May 2016
      • Dave's December 2016
      • Dave's January 2017
      • Dave's July 2017
      • Graham's August 2017
      • Dave's July 2018
  • Technical
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    • Wheel & rail standards
    • Data sheet
    • Binnie Conversion chart
    • Pontifications
    • Muddling through with Desperate Dan
    • Mercury Drawings Index
    • Links
  • Modelling News
    • EPITAPH FOR A TRAIN SPOTTER
    • Dave P's Mogul
    • Geoff's articulated steam Sentinel "Updated"
    • Geoff's Kerr Stuart
    • Geoff's O-16.5 Layout

The Finishing Touch.
Ray Wyborn gives you a few painting tips.

Most people in our hobby will at some time or other have painted an engine, coach, wagon or something connected with railways.    Each person may have his own pet way of doing things and I wouldn't want it any other way, so this article is only written to show how I do what I do and why.
 
A short while ago I gave a lecture to the High Wycombe Model Engineering Club. (I was Hon. Sec.) and was very surprised to find that a fair number of the members didn't know about much of the equipment I showed them. So for those of you who count yourselves amongst that fair number, let's go over the most useful items.
 
Try to buy a couple of decent sable hair brushes made by a reputable company such as Winsor & Newton or Reeves. For general painting a No. 3 is very useful, together with a smaller brush for fine work, say a No. '1' or '00'.
 
This, I find, is a matter for the individual. I use Humbrol but believe that Floquil or Precision Paints are as good if not better. Whichever paint you use, make sure you have the right thinners/brush cleaner. I still haven't come across a good etching primer for brass, so if anybody has a source please publish the secret. If you don't wish to go to the expense of brass name plates, these can be made up with Slaters plastic alphabets and painted with an excellent gold paint called Liquid Leaf obtainable at the better art shops. If you own an airbrush, you will probably be aware of the superb finish you can obtain with cellulose, but beware of spraying direct onto plastic or you will find out the hard way, as I did, that the cellulose thinners melts the plastic. Remember that your top coat can only be as good as the surface underneath it, so rub down undercoats where possible. If you are putting on the final coat by brush, it's not a bad idea to read a book for an hour beforehand. This may sound crazy, but think about it. A lot of paintwork is spoilt by dust adhering to the drying paint, so if you can gather all your materials together, take them into a little used room and sit down to read for a while, it gives the dust a chance to settle. Do your painting, place a cardboard box over your finished but still tacky handywork, and the chances are that you will have a very good finish when all is dried.
 
The ruling pen, when used for lining, can be the curse of mankind if it's not running well. It has certain inherent limitations due to the way in which it is constructed. As most of us know, it has two blades and the paint is retained by capillary action. If too much paint is put in, the weight of the paint will make it blob, whilst if it is too thick it won't run at all. I generally find that I can use Humbrol direct from the tin providing that it is a new tin and well stirred. Using the ruling pen is a bit of an art which will only come with experience. One of the faults which often occurs is that the line thickens up at each end. This is due to the pen being allowed to dwell too long on the work. If you can start drawing the line a little way in front of where you want it to begin and 'float' the pen onto the surface and then 'float' it off at the other end without stopping, the line will remain at a constant thickness. Always hold the pen vertically as the paint will only flow if both blades are touching the surface. To sharpen a ruling pen, always remove metal from the outside. Close the blades together and try to make them even in shape by honing with an oilstone. Don't make them too pointed or you may cut through the skin of the final coat of paint underneath. It is a good idea to use a different based paint for lining, so if your engine is painted in cellulose use an enamel. If you have used enamel for the main coat, try oil paint or cryla for the lining. The reason for this is to enable you to wash it off with a suitable solvent if you make a mistake without damaging what is underneath. Lining which runs parallel with an edge can best be put on with a bow compass, with the point extended so as to form a pair of oddlegs. Quite complex shapes can be lined out using this method as I found when I tackled a friend's 5" gauge Stirling Single. Drafting instruments such as Rapidograph Pens can be very useful when doing black lining, although they are not much use for colours as the inks don't have much body to them. Circle and oval guides for doing rounded corners are very useful, but remember that they have to be raised up from the surface or the paint will creep underneath. Special shaped guides can be cut from acetate sheet by scratching the surface and cracking the shape out.

Picture
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  • Home
    • Introduction
  • About Us
    • In the beginning
    • Copyright notice
    • Contact
  • Mercury Reprints & Articles
    • Copyright Notice
    • Acts of Parliament >
      • Original Act
      • Extension Acts
    • Mercury Reprints 1 - 6 >
      • MM No. 1. October 1974
      • MM No. 2. May 1975
      • MM No. 3. December 1975
      • MM No. 4. Spring 1976
      • MM No. 5. June 1976
      • MM No. 6 Autumn 1976
    • Mercury Articles 7 - 10 >
      • Mercury Issue 7 >
        • Festiniog & Blaenau Railway locomotives.
        • The weekend at Hassocks 7 - 9 January, 1977.
        • Quarry Workers Coach.
      • Mercury Issue 8 >
        • ELECTRONICS AND 16mm
        • THE WATERMOOR LIGHT CLOSES
        • Redlake Revisited
        • Rubbish
        • PHOTOPAGE `NO. 2
      • Mercury Issue 9 >
        • A Double Fairlie in 16mm scale
      • Mercury Issue 10 >
        • Copyright & Credits Page
        • Les Tortillards
        • The Presidents Carriage
        • Coffeepots I
        • Cerrobend Casting
        • A Double Fairlie in 16mm scale
    • Mercury Articles 11- 20 >
      • Mercury Issue 11 >
        • Skip Wagons
        • Fiji
        • Port Class Pictorial
        • Hohenzollern
        • Coffeepots II
        • Victoria Amused Me
      • Mercury Issue 12 >
        • Cerrobond Casting Part II
        • Coffee Pots III
        • Excelsior
        • Side Tip Wagons
        • The Binnie File
        • Westcock Tramway
        • Drawings from Mercury 12
      • Mercury Issue 13 >
        • Trains by Emett
      • Mercury Issue 14 >
        • Ashbury Contractors Van
        • Corris
        • Flocking
        • Lady M
        • Lister Auto Truck
        • Ruston 16hp
        • Sauterelles
      • Mercury Issue 15 >
        • The Gentle Annie
        • Portable & Permanent Trackwork
        • The Boat
        • Trevellas Quarry
        • The Cherry Tree Brisk & Tile
        • A Chest of Drawers
        • The Planet 60HP Diesel
        • Excelsior The Facts
        • Railplane
        • The Finishing Touch
        • Open Day Pictures
      • Mercury Issue 16 >
        • Portable Trackwork
        • Permanent Trackwork
        • Bryant Switch
        • A Chest of Drawers
        • General Electric
        • The Ten Laws for Narrow Gauge Modellers
      • Mercury Issue 17 >
        • A Chest of Drawers
        • An Article for Cranks
        • Ffestiniog Gunpowder Vans
        • Ramblings on a Sunny Morning
      • Mercury Issue 18
      • Mercury Issue 19 >
        • Hookers & Shunters.
        • 10hp Planet & Penrhyn carriage.
  • Gallery
    • Drawings Register
    • Archive
    • Outings >
      • Mad Hatter's Tea Party - 2014
      • Statfold Barn - 2014
      • Apedale Gala Day - 2014
      • FR and WHR (Dave P) - Aug 2014
      • Statfold Barn - 2015
    • Models >
      • 7mm Narrow Gauge (Chris Holmes)
      • Clockwork Models
    • Members Open Days >
      • The Startops And Tringford Railway - 2014
      • Dave's July 2015
      • Dave's May 2016
      • Dave's December 2016
      • Dave's January 2017
      • Dave's July 2017
      • Graham's August 2017
      • Dave's July 2018
  • Technical
    • Scales and Gauges
    • Wheel & rail standards
    • Data sheet
    • Binnie Conversion chart
    • Pontifications
    • Muddling through with Desperate Dan
    • Mercury Drawings Index
    • Links
  • Modelling News
    • EPITAPH FOR A TRAIN SPOTTER
    • Dave P's Mogul
    • Geoff's articulated steam Sentinel "Updated"
    • Geoff's Kerr Stuart
    • Geoff's O-16.5 Layout