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Just received a LIONEL PW Texas Special 2245 F3A shell and B unit yesterday.  I bought these to use for a repaint project.  However, the B unit is in such nice condition, and since I already have a complete, silver A unit frame, motor, e-unit, trucks, etc., I'm considering just a simple respray of the shell.

 

Is there an accurate red paint I can buy to use to repaint the A unit shell?  It really needs to be a close OEM match since the A unit will be paired to the B unit.  Alternatively, if someone has a formula for mixing the color I need, please let me know.

 

If I can get a good color match, I'll repaint the A unit and then add O scale details to it and the B unit. 

Last edited by Pingman
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I got the paint that Olsens Toy Trains sells and it was an exact match. Comes in a tin/metal container and I thinned it with paint thinner. I think it's available in a spray can as well.....or at least it was 7 or 8 years ago when I did these...

 

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IMG_1058

 

I repainted all three sets and the paint came from Olsen's for all of them. Maybe the Train Tender (not 100% on that), but pretty sure it was Olsen's. 

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Last edited by Former Member

LOS, as you were typing your reply, I was finding, via google, an OGR thread from January this year on this topic with your TS repaint reply:

 

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/t...12#25504494639367212

 

Thanks for the reply here; they look great.

 

Did you mask the white star, or is the star available as a decal?

 

Thanks, again.  I'll be in touch with Olsen's pronto; hope they still stock the paint. 

Last edited by Pingman

Called Olsen's about the TS paint and Sharon told me they stopped selling paint about 18 months ago.  She gave me Charlie Wood's phone number as he was their supplier.

 

Spoke to Charlie's wife, Layes, and placed my order for sprayable TS red--I don't do well at all with rattle cans.  Also, asked her for a source on the white star for the nose, preferably a water slide decal, and she or Harry will get back to me.  She was a pleasure to deal with and very humorous--particularly how she got her name.

I have a 2245 set and wanted to paint the aprons the same red color as well as do touch-ups. I spent a lot of time mixing paints to come up with something that was a good match. No luck. I then ordered a can of paint from Charlie Wood and.....it didn't match. I think that this is the problem......these shells are 60 years old and a lot happens to paint in that time. As new looking as my shells were, they didn't match the color. So, I think you either repaint all of it or leave it as is. Or.....find other sources of TS paint and try them.   Piecemeal isn't likely to work with red.

 

Roger

Roger, thank you for your reply.  I'm hoping for a real close color match, but I'm anticipating repainting the B unit as well if it's not.  Not only is there the age issue, but paints do vary from batch to batch; method of application and the shooter; and, other factors influence the "final" color.  For myself, I don't have that good a color eye, and no chance of mixing paints to achieve a good match.

 

LOS, thanks for your reply.  I emailed you for some additional information.

 

Thanks, again, for the replies.

 

Merry Christmas

Pingman,

Well, my shells were in fairly nice condition, so they were just going to need a bit of touch up. What I really wanted to do was reproduce the aprons that come with the Neil Young TS F3s.   Red with yellow stripes. Very cool look. So, I started by mixing various reds and that didn't work, so I began mixing reds with yellows and couldn't quite get it. The yellow stripes on the red background looked awesome and as it was drying, I was very excited about how it would look. Put them on the AAs and it was't a match and my eye was drawn to it. So, I ordered the red from Charly Wood, stripped down the aprons and redid it. Same result....didn't really match. So........I took them off and got new stock silver aprons from Jeff Kane and put them on. Not so prototypical, but I think they look better than the red. Happy with the look now.   But I realized that with any paint I could find, it would have to involve repaints of all the shells. A non-starter.

 

Roger

Two years ago I bought a 2245 A-B set, they were in the bottom of the box with track on top, and looked kind of rough. My friend Marv sanded the A and B units, and sprayed them with Pactra Insignia Red. They look great; to mask off the star he used some gold stars from the stationery department from the local five and ten. Perfect fit. I am going to attach a couple pictures of the finished product, I was just running them last night. The red paint was redone, the white was merely cleaned. Marv masked the white and used an airbrush to blend the red paint with no paint ridge. These run as well as they look, you must like the horizontal motor "growl". 

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Roger, those stripes look great and I am thinking about doing just that.  I don't care for the yellow stripes on the cab front; but the striped pilot looks killer.  The question for me, apart from color, is how to continue the stripes across piece that attaches to the coupler.  I've continued two-tones and stripes on LIONEL 15" aluminum car ends and baggage car doors, so, hopefully this won't be much different. 

 

Train Doctor, your TS AB's look great.  I only hope that mine will turn out as well.

 

As it turns out, my AB is a mongrel:  screen top B unit; and, molded vents on the A.  According to the Greenberg repair manual I looked at today, the 1954 version used the horizontal motor (and presumably the screen tops, etc.); but, the 1955 version used the vertical motor.  I have the horizontal motor so this AB will growl--noisily.

 

Thanks, again, for your replies and the stories you told in them.  The January '14 thread I linked in the original post was helpful, as well.

Originally Posted by ROGER1:

I think that for people who like to work on PW engines, there's nothing more fun than working on those dual horizontal growlers. They are beasts. 

 

Roger

Roger, I was typing and just read your post.  I'm running the Southern 2356 AA's from my childhood on a loop of 042 GG track under the Christmas tree.  Hadn't run them in 10 years and had forgotten how LOUD those horizontal motors are.  A sound card in these engines would be a waste, at least when they are running.

Pingman,

What I REALLY wanted to do (in addition to the striped pilot) was add the yellow to the hood (as in the Neil Young as well). Looks terrific. But that was beyond my skill level to do it so it didn't look amateurish. The pilots came out great (aside from color match), but the hood......you've got to be really good with something like an air brush.

 

I did recently add chip LEDs to the insides of the B unit (another thread). Looks great.

 

Roger

 

Roger

Originally Posted by ROGER1:

Pingman,

What I REALLY wanted to do (in addition to the striped pilot) was add the yellow to the hood (as in the Neil Young as well). Looks terrific. But that was beyond my skill level to do it so it didn't look amateurish. The pilots came out great (aside from color match), but the hood......you've got to be really good with something like an air brush.

 

I did recently add chip LEDs to the insides of the B unit (another thread). Looks great.

 

Roger

 

Roger

Roger, I've been away from the hobby for 10+ years and was surprised when I put an AB on my Christmas display and it was unlit; I had just been running an AB with a lit AB.  Took the shell off the lit B unit and found I had added lights to it in the distant past.  Fortunately, the unlit B unit has pick-up rollers with the wire inside the cab so it will be an easy task to add lights to it.  Perhaps I'd planned on doing just that and didn't because I put the trains away. 

 
Originally Posted by Laidoffsick:
I also converted that 2245 to dual motors...just needed a motor and powered truck. Well worth the money spent for that upgraded.

LOS, please stop; adding a second motor is a great idea; I'm glad you enthusiastically endorse the option; but, now you have me thinking and planning. 

 

The NY Texas Special has "Texas Special" white script on either side of the white star on the nose.  Anyone know of a vendor for them? 

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