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If you wish to add decals, it's best to do so on a gloss surface. This lessens the chance of minute air bubbles getting trapped on the rough surface of the matte paint.
If you have an airbrush, use Testors' Clear Gloss Finish to cover at least the areas which need to be decaled, although most real steam locomotives started life with gloss paint on almost everything.
If you intend to put decals on the cab, f'rinstance, put the clear gloss on the entire sides of the cab, not just the places where the lettering will go.
To thin Testor's Glosscote (or Dullcote) use ordinary lacquer thinner in a ratio of 40% or 50% thinner and the balance being the clear finish of choice.
If you don't have an airbrush, there are other clear finishes, gloss and matte, in rattle cans.
Here's an excerpt from one of my older posts regarding the application of decals...
When a #11 blade is new, I use it mainly to cut-out decals, although the initial cutting is done with an older, re-sharpened blade, staying well-away from the desired images. Each cut-out piece is then trimmed, using a new blade and working on a piece of glass or other hard surface, using a downward chopping motion rather than simply slicing. This is done as close as possible to the image itself. Chopping pushes the cut edge downward, whereas slicing raises it, which makes settling the edges more difficult during decal application. I also trim the corners where the image does not come right to the edge as on an "O" or ""8", for example. All of this rigmarole is to aid in making the applied decal film less obvious. To carry that topic a little further, the decal is applied on a gloss surface, and once fully set and dried (overnight at least), another gloss coat should be applied over the entire area. This equalises the finish of decaled and undecaled areas, making them more similar in appearance. After that, the clear finish of choice (flat or semi-gloss) can be applied.
...and here's some more info on painting steam locomotives (another blather from yours truly)...
I do disassemble the boiler from the running gear, especially when painting brass locos, although it's not always necessary to do further disassembly of the chassis. I do remove the motor and gearbox, then the chassis goes into the sink, with hot water and dish detergent. After letting it soak for a while, I rinse it under hot water and set it aside to air-dry.
Even if your locomotive doesn't need actual painting, it's a good practice to remove the cab and boiler assembly, and put it in the sink with some not-too-hot water and some dish detergent, as it will remove any dirt and finger oils that accumulate with handling. Rinse it thoroughly, then let it air dry before adding any weathering. This will allow better adhesion of whatever paint or weathering you wish to apply
Since I usually modify my locomotives to varying degrees, most require a full-repaint (as do all unpainted brass locomotives (many of which I also modify). Depending on my preferences or those of the person for whom I'm painting, I usually begin by painting it as a new(-ish) locomotive.
The cab and the tender sides get an application of black, while the boiler and tender deck, along with the smokebox front, get a slightly lightened black (a little white or light grey added to the original black).
The smoke box and firebox are painted using black, modified into a dark-ish grey using white, then with some red added to turn it into a greyish brown.
For the running gear, I use the same colour as was used on the boiler, but add a little more grey or sometimes a little silver.
All of these colours, so far, have been done using an airbrush, and usually, without need of masking, other than holding a piece of cardstock at points where different colours abut one another.
When the paint has fully cured (the time needed will depend on the type of paint used), then it's time to paint the details.
These may include window sash, tire rims (many roads used white or silver paint on some of their locos), and especially piping which runs over surfaces like the smokebox and firebox - in most cases, the piping is not directly in contact with those hot surfaces, so it would be much the same colour as the pipe on, f'rinstance, the boiler.
Once the colours are in place, it's time for clear finishes. I use Testors Glosscote and Dullcote, again applied with an airbrush, as it's easy to mix the two in order to get finishes varying from high gloss to dead flat, using an appropriate mix of the finishes with an equal amount of lacquer thinner.
The cab and the sides of the tender get a high gloss, while the boiler, smokebox front, pilot, cylinders, etc., get a less glossy finish, and the running gear an even less-glossy finish, along with the tender-deck. The smokebox and firebox do not get any clearcoat.
Once that's been done, it's time to get out the brush, and apply the appropriate clear finish to those pipes and handrails that pass over the smokebox and/or firebox. If there are number boards on your loco, use the brush to put gloss on the "glass" where you'll be adding decal numbers, and likewise if the headlight/back-up light has numberboards, too.
When you finally get all the painting done, then it's time to begin the weathering process. Tastes vary, and I've done locos for which the owner wanted no weathering, and others just a little, some where it was heavier, and a couple where the loco represented one in its last weeks (or days) of service.
Photos of real locomotives can be a great help in weathering, especially if they're in-colour. Look for white/grey "spffts" or streaks where there's a steam or water leak, soot along the top of the boiler and cab roof, and, of course, accumulations of dirt and dust on the running gear, similar to what collects of the lower extremities of freight and passenger cars.
To weather the running gear, I usually put the chassis (often with the tender's chassis attached) on a piece of powered track in the paint booth, then, while preventing the loco from moving under its own power, push it back and forth with the wheels and drivers turning while I spray well-thinned paint in a back-and-forth motion.
You can, of course, paint a steam locomotive pretty-well any colour you wish. I usually try to do mine to match the colours (or glossiness/dullness of b&w builders' photos), then weather it to some degree, depending on what I want or what the owner wants if I'm doing it for someone else. In many, if not most builders' photos, a new locomotive is as shiny as a new car.
I hope that some of this info will be of use.
Wayne
