Josey - great point about priming. Craig and Philo - what do you prime with? I stopped at an Ace, but they only had 17027 and 17028, no 17029.
I don't believe the die-cast Gilbert steamers were primed originally (not 100% sure about that, but I see no evidence). I've not found a need for priming as long as the part is really clean and dry. Using too much paint tends to obscure detail, so the thinner the finish, the better. I have never had any sort of paint failure or chipping after a repaint. It's not as though these trains are going to be exposed to harsh weather. Of course, I don't beat mine up like I might have when I was a kid, but I'm not sure I'd go to the effort of doing a restoration for something that was going to be abused by a child anyway, so ...
Also, use of the lacquer I mentioned doesn't require or benefit from "baking", as it actually "dries" unlike most enamels. I've seen restoration articles in Classic Toy Trains magazine and they do sometimes use primer. Their results (to me, anyway) come out looking like "repainted trains". Your mileage may vary.
the proublems with lacguers paint is.. They crack in time like an allagartors back and they can chip easyer and not as durable as emamels..Not primming your metal trains? I bet in time the paint will flake off..I seen that happend before too,alot. If lacquer was so great why arnt they using it to paint real cars and trains anymore?? Heres the reasons. 1 theres alot of work using it..dries to fast,will blush/turns to milky white when the humity is high when spraying it. It time it will crack and not durable.. you have to spray alot of coats for wet sanding and buffing..fades out and have to re buff it alot. Most of the real trains are painted with uerathanes,IMORNs and Epoxys paints. On our model trains on the metal bodys some to most companys bake there paint finishes on. That proubley why you dont see any primer on some of them..On another thought.they couldve used Clear paint adheasion protion on it first before they paint there trains too. Baking also make the paint stronger too. Lacquuers is old and outdated paint system.
