Multiple unit green

I don’t normally prime plastic before painting but since the railcar had received quite a lot of attention from knives and abrasives, a thin coat seemed like a good idea just to show if there were any horrible scars. Primer comes from Mr Halfords excellent aerosol cans whereas paint needs to be laid on using an airbrush with all the resultant cleaning and faffing around that that entails. The results looked promising, not perfect but near enough for what is supposed to be a quick fun project. Where the raised lining lines have been removed the replacement transfer versions will distract the eye and a reasonably thick coat of paint should do the rest, or so I hope. Even the joins between bodyside and end aren’t too obvious.

Happy with the grey base I gave the bottle of Precision “Early Multiple Unit Green” a good shake. Opening it up, the paint seemed thicker than usual but I prefer it this way. You can always add thinners (white spirit in this instance) to taste but going the other way is much harder. Perhaps someone needs to invent the paint equivalent of cornflower !

A paint cup of green later and I have a nice, slightly shiny, railcar body. The colour seems a bit bright to me, and if anyone thinks I’m wrong, please let me know. Contemporary photos aren’t much help as those few that are in colour seem to have been taken on some very dodgy old film stocks and the rendering can’t be described as accurate. I don’t have a great history with this colour either, my 07 diesel is finished in Brunswick green rather than the correct Malachite. The finish is good and the weathering went well so my enthusiasm for sorting this out is tiny. People are normally too polite to mention it at shows anyway.