Author Topic: GN Big Sky Blue - how to mask F unit nose ?  (Read 1752 times)

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Puddington

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GN Big Sky Blue - how to mask F unit nose ?
« on: January 15, 2013, 09:49:06 PM »
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I'm curious and looking for some advice; how would you custom painter type guys mask the nose of an F unit to paint the uber ugly "Y" on a BSB unit like this...... :facepalm:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/gn/gn0367Cgea.jpg

Any advice is appreciated.... as always !
Model railroading isn't saving my life, but it's providing me moments of joy not normally associated with my current situation..... Train are good!

Gozer the Gozerian

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Re: GN Big Sky Blue - how to mask F unit nose ?
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2013, 09:57:06 PM »
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Spray white and then cut some masking. (Tamiya is the best) the width of the line and then wrap it around the nose.    I did this in Z for a guy several years ago on a F7 shell and it was a lot easier than I thought.  After I got the line laid out I came back with some thin strips and did the inner diameter to clean up the kinking in the tape.  You can get flexable chartpack or lining tape from the auto paint store.  That cuts a sharp radius.  You can also cut the tape half the width of the white strip and line the outer radius and then come back and line up the inner one keying off the lower edge of the tape.

Hope this helps.

Joe

LV LOU

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Re: GN Big Sky Blue - how to mask F unit nose ?
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2013, 10:34:35 PM »
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Spray white and then cut some masking. (Tamiya is the best) the width of the line and then wrap it around the nose.    I did this in Z for a guy several years ago on a F7 shell and it was a lot easier than I thought.  After I got the line laid out I came back with some thin strips and did the inner diameter to clean up the kinking in the tape.  You can get flexable chartpack or lining tape from the auto paint store.  That cuts a sharp radius.  You can also cut the tape half the width of the white strip and line the outer radius and then come back and line up the inner one keying off the lower edge of the tape.

Hope this helps.

Joe
I'd probably go about the same route.Paint it white,then get some thin tape like Tamiya,less than half the width of the stripe,mask the outside and inside of the white seperately,then either fill in the middle with tape,or liquid masker.If you can paint a line pretty well,you could even try starting with white,mask off as much of the blue area as you can,then finish the curves by hand with liquid masker.then shoot the blue,tear it off,and do the same again over the white/blue with tape/masker..I actually like using liquid Latex for masker.It brushes a better line than Micromask,stays wet longer,comes off in one piece.You can't cut it,though..

eja

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Re: GN Big Sky Blue - how to mask F unit nose ?
« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2013, 01:23:36 AM »
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 Pud,

I believe I actually saw a CN (gosh) RDC on your layout in a recent posts, and now GN .....

What has happened to The Canadian Pacific Railway  ?


Whatever,  just keep sharing your great work ...

thanks, your admiring fan

eja
« Last Edit: January 17, 2013, 01:41:14 AM by eja »

nkalanaga

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Re: GN Big Sky Blue - how to mask F unit nose ?
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2013, 01:31:32 AM »
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Eja:  The GN served Vancouver, including a daily passenger train, so an F unit wouldn't be out of place.  The GN F's lasted long enough with BN to be repainted, and many were still in GN colors in 1973.
N Kalanaga
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jmlaboda

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Re: GN Big Sky Blue - how to mask F unit nose ?
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2013, 03:25:33 AM »
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Yah, he's gotta have some BSB power to pull that beautiful BSB observation car...  :P

daniel_leavitt2000

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Re: GN Big Sky Blue - how to mask F unit nose ?
« Reply #6 on: January 16, 2013, 07:53:33 AM »
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I always liked that scheme.

The other's advice is spot on: always paint the lighter colors first, especially white. Always use glossy paints when masking anything. If you are using Fluquil, add 15% Testors Gloss Laquer and about 15-20% Floquil thinner. It works wonders with an airbrush.

If you have a decal set that includes pin stripes (like Santa Fe), you can simply copy the decal sheet on a coppier. Place blue painter's tape or Tamiya yellow masking tape on a sheet of glass, lay the paper with the copied pin strip over it and trace the lines with a surgical #11 blade. They are much sharper than Xacto blades and more accurate for intricate detail.

If you do not have a template, I would suggest using VERY thin strips of Tamiya masking tape to set the boundaies of the mask - I'm talking 1/2mm thin strips here. Thinner strips are easier to keep flat on a curve. After you have set the outline, fill in the rest with strips of blue painters tape.

When the mask is in place and you are satified with the placment, use a pencil eraiser to press the tape into all the details and crevices. Hit the model with a light coat of the base color (white in this case) or semi-gloss clear coat. Paint the blue next, let it dry for about two hours then mask that area off with blue painters tape. You do not need to be neat here as you are just masking off the entire section and you do not need to worry about seperation lines. Finally hit it with black. Unmask and enjoy!


I traced a penny for the masking curve on the yellow. I tried decals but they didn't look right on the black paint, so I painted the whole model yellow, then maked the stripes and hit it with black.


This was probably the hardest masking job I have done. Lots of small curves and no template. I didn't follow my own advice and never sealed the mask with the base color which is why you see a small bit of bleed-through by the forward grab irons.


Properly masked, the paint on this GHQ model is crisp and sharp. This was painted to match Athearn's Edmier cement trucks.
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SkipGear

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Re: GN Big Sky Blue - how to mask F unit nose ?
« Reply #7 on: January 16, 2013, 09:56:39 PM »
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Not exactly the same scheme but the same process as described above. Paint the shell white first, mask off for the stripe, paint either side of it from there.



These were a fantasy job done up for a buddy.
Tony Hines

nkalanaga

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Re: GN Big Sky Blue - how to mask F unit nose ?
« Reply #8 on: January 17, 2013, 01:34:18 AM »
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Or, paint the unit blue and gray, then use white decal for the stripes.  Make a template and you can cut the nose stripes from a white trim sheet, making as many identical sets as you need.  The decal will also cover the blue/gray separation if it isn't perfect.

For one unit, that's probably not worth it, but for a GN/BN modeler it may be easier than masking. 
N Kalanaga
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Nato

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Re: GN Big Sky Blue - how to mask F unit nose ?
« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2013, 01:44:16 AM »
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 :|              I think everyone's is spot on is what I did many years ago on a Rapido (incorrect) FP-9. If I were doing it right now given my shakey senior citizen hands I woild paint the body blue then use white decals cut to shape for stripes. However I solved this problem in a somewhat more costly way by purchasing three IM F Units factory painted in the (UG) Sky Blue scheme. Nate Goodman (Nato).

nkalanaga

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Re: GN Big Sky Blue - how to mask F unit nose ?
« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2013, 01:52:24 AM »
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Yes, that is the easiest way, unless you want to add a lot of details before painting.  In my case, I'd probably have bought the IM, except that I already have first run Kato units that I painted.  They run well enough, and replacing them would be prohibitively expensive with my current job. 

As I model the GN, I used the decal method, and it worked quite nicely.  Much easier (at least for me) than trying to get the masking tape to line up the same every time...
N Kalanaga
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