Paint your wag(g)ons

Progress from Cheltenham:

Some of the cans and tins of paint I dropped off for Dad a few weeks ago. Two kinds of primer - grey for most carriages and red oxide for SAR types. Ford ivory is our chosen spray colour for the cream part of the FR and WHR liveries. Also included is a humbrol green for carriage 23, precision blackberry black for the obs 2100 and a few bottles of railmatch: BR crimson and Oullman colours (brown and cream).

Ajax scouring powder for neutralising flux deposits and a hairdryer to speed up drying and also to make the brass warm, helping paint to adhere to the surface.

and the results : 4 B wagons and the SAR brake in primer (which is also their base livery).

Dad explains:

As the weather is ideal today, I decided to make a start on spraying some primer. Procedure was as follows:-

1. Scrub thoroughly with 'Ajax' Scouring Powder to clean the brass and neutralise any traces of acid flux from soldering. Rinse in clean water.

2. The above action also tends to reveal anything not fixed on firmly enough (!) and 2 door bangers came off two separate B's. These were soldered back on and action No.1 done again!

3. To speed up the drying process I used kitchen roll tissue to remove any obvious water globules, then gave the wagons a good blast on the mini hair dryer, until they were completely dry and warm.

4. I then went to the top of the garden, well away from the house (to keep the fumes away) then, holding the wagons with a long hook made of copper wire, I sprayed each wagon with a coat of the Halford's Red Oxide Primer. I used a good face mask to avoid breathing any of the paint fumes, and held the wire with a domestic rubber glove. It is a good idea to take off your watch when doing this as well!

5. After spraying I placed each wagon in a Plant Propagator (from a garden centre) as this is perfect for keeping the dust etc out during drying. It is best to leave them to dry out overnight before doing any further painting.

So we are up and running in the Paint Shop and you almost have a complete SAR freight train!

cool!