What's the best way to touchup chipped paint on mth steamer?

I want you to get the right color for your touch-up.  The engine in question is a very dark green (Pennsylvania DGLE), not black.  I know it looks black, but if you compare it to an engine that is definitely black, you will see the difference.  I'm interested in what paint will match as well as I have an MTH Premier K4s Torpedo painted in DGLE that has two small spots that need to be touched up.

A very wise person once told me (for a black engine) to use a black "Sharpie".  I tried it and it actually worked!

For very small chips only!

Sharpie pens will leave a purplish sheen in larger areas. I wouldn't use it.

Rob

Try  WWW.testors.com    look up their paint markers, they are made for toy trains. They are four of five bucks each. But, if you don't let the tip dry out you can touch up alot of dings and scratches over the years.

I have the RK PS2 6-8-6 S2 Baby Turbine and if it ain't black it sure has me fooled!  Not saying it isn't green, just saying that I have 3 black engines and the color difference, while I never really concentrated to see if there was a difference, never jumped out at me.

Can't wait for train season in October to get things out and hopefully remember the green comment, and check it out.

- walt

Weather it.

"I have the RK PS2 6-8-6 S2 Baby Turbine and if it ain't black it sure has me fooled!  Not saying it isn't green, just saying that I have 3 black engines and the color difference, while I never really concentrated to see if there was a difference, never jumped out at me."

Walt,

You wouldn't be the first person with that reaction.  I have several MTH and Lionel steamers that are painted in DGLE (including the Turbine in question) and they don't see it until I sit it next to a true black engine and point it out.  Then the reaction is, "Oooohhhhh...I see it now.  I would have never noticed had you not sat the two engines side by side."  The difference is there but may not jump out to everybody until pointed out since it is very subtle.  Due to variances in the functioning of the human eye, some people may not be able to see an actual difference.

I'm sorry try this link for crylon pens; http://www.tcpglobal.com/spray...raft-paint-pens.aspx

Testors has a larger color chart for their pens but for some reason the link in my first post dose not work. I can find it when I do a search on Bing.

I found this testors training link for the use of these pens; http://www.ehow.com/video_4767333_testors-paint-markers.html?ref=Track2&utm_source=ask

Have fun and Good luck.

I dug out my RK 6-8-6 and my RK P&LE switcher in black and TRIED (not very successfully) to get at least one clear image to show color comparisons.  I also included in the picture my black camera case and a black flat car.

To my eyes, in person, the engine still looks black but looks like a "less deep" black or a dull black compared to the rich, shiny black on the P&LE engine.  There is definitely a difference, if nothing else at least in the "shade" or deepness of the blackness.

Did I see a green tint??  No.  But I'm not going to dispute Bill's comment.

Now that I inserted the pictures and re-look at the first one, I guess I could say there's a tinge of PRR green, or whatever that shade is called.

- walt

Walt,

You are correct in your assessment that it does not look green.  Unfortunately, some manufacturers make DGLE more green than it actually should be.  The original Pennsy recipe was something like a quart or gallon of green added to a barrel of black (not the exact recipe, but something like it).  It makes it not true black and not true green, though I bet it did vary some from batch to batch.  Despite it not looking too green, the Pennsy did call it Dark Green Locomotive Enamel (DGLE).

My original concern was that using regular black paint would make it stand out on a shell that is not true black.  I have seen people use black markers and black paint to touch up engines that have been painted in DGLE and it tends to show the touch up more than it hides it especially in certain types of light.

On black locomotives I've used the Sharpie for small chips.  A trick to avoid the purple sheen is to rub the touchup with a finger after a few seconds, it knocks down the purple.  It's not perfect, but it works very well for small nicks.