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[Underpressure]

I have a Cheddar Pintail that was never factory painted. Before I put it to work, I think I would like to give it more of a finished look, my problem is that I'm unsure what paints are suitable for steam engines. I seem to recall that the Cheddar factory used enamels, but I'm not certain of that.

Anybody know what paints are good for engines?

Neil

[Bunkerbarge]

Stove enamelling is a pretty hard wearing paint that resists temperatures and oils as well.  You have to cure it somehow and I seem to remember a lengthy difference of opinions here not that long since about how best to do that.

If you have the means of heating up the painted component for 10-15 minutes or so to about 150 degrees C then I would go for it.  I suspect that normal modelling gloss enamel would probably be OK as well but possibly not quite as durable.  If any one here has tried it perhaps you could let us know how it went.

[craftysod]

How about Hammerite,worked okay on my race car engines.

[Underpressure]

How about Hammerite,worked okay on my race car engines.

Never thought of that. I used to use paint designed for engine block use as well. I once did a Formula Ford 2000 engine in bright yellow for a customer (at his request), even the exhaust manifold 

I don't want anything that bright on my Pintail, but I'll have a look in Halfords for some engine block or high temperature paint.

Thanks.

Neil

[craftysod]

For your information BB
Years ago i painted my nephews name on a mug,using airfix paint.
once filled mug with hot water,gave off horrible smell,and odour.
not recommended
Mark

[Wasyl]

Hi Neil,..you can get "Pot Black"its an enamel paint designed for using on 2 stroke motorcycle engine cylinder heads,and as it gets hotter the more it gets baked on,and it dries to a gloss finish,..unlike the VHT spray paints that dry matt,

Wullie

[benjaml1]

Give Stuart Turner a try, they have a paint kit ( black & green) for just under 8 quid. Nice paint to use too...

[Underpressure]

Thanks for the suggestions, I don't fancy a black engine I'm afraid.

Wasyl, I think I have a pot of cylinder head black gathering dust somewhere. Long time since I've messed with two stroke engines / bikes.

Neil

[HS93 (RIP)]

get some paint from   http://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/   good stuff for engines , Cheddar did use enamel paint it works well, the main thing with any paints is that you don't touch the engine on the first or second heat cycle when the paint is new as it just rubs off, let it cool and harden and its great.

peter

[Underpressure]

Thanks for the link Peter. As a 'know nothing' when it comes to steam trains, I now have hours of fun ahead, deciding exactly which colour I like 

Neil

[HS93 (RIP)]

Cheddar used Brunswick Green it may have light in front of it ill check if you are interested, watch if you use humbrol as it is now water based I think.

Peter

[Bunkerbarge]

Peter is right to warn about Humbrol as they now do a range of acrylic paints to keep them up with the likes of Tamiya and Vallejo.  They do however still do the old range of modelling enamels and the gloss is quite a tough coating.

It would be interesting to find out just what the temperature of the cylinder surface is when it's been running for a while.  Does anyone have one of the infra-red thermometer sensors they can point at one while it is running?  I guess if you have a superheater you might get it a bit higher but I suspect that it won't get much above 100 degrees C.

[Circlip]

You may need to apply an etch primer before the top coat.

  The Car engine paints were made by "Sperex"

  Regards  Ian.

[geoff p]

Donkeys' years ago I painted my Stuart 10 with Humbrol enamel, piece by piece, then stoved it all in a small oven (read: insulated box (ordinary fiber-glass loft insulation) open at front, with a gas-torch flame wafting around inside) at a temperature definitely too hot to touch.

The result was a very high gloss that was tough as hades - it had to be for the working conditions my little No. 10 was subjected to.

In a (slightly) similar vein, I made up a cover plate for the bottom of the baseplate, then Araldited it in, using the 'oven' again to rapid-cure the Araldite.  I never did get used to the five-minute epoxies.

Geoff

[Underpressure]

Thanks everyone.

I took a trip to Cheddar Steam Club this morning. Too much ice to allow us to sail, but had a good natter and as luck would have it, one of the guys had a pintail. The cylinders are not painted (I had not intended to paint mine), but the standard and throttle valve body are.

Colour wise I fancy either a nice darkish blue, something like Nick uses on his plants or a dark red / crimson / maroon (whatever you want to call it). My No.1 Puffin is finished in a very bright red and came that way from the factory, my No2 Puffin is a much darker red and the V4 and Gemini are both factory finished in different shades of green, so there is no consistency across my Cheddar engines, which pretty much allows me free reign.

Right, off to look at some colour charts 

Neil