CNR steam locomotive etched-brass number plates

by John Morris

This advise was provided for painting a complete sheet but may still be helpful if you are painting and installing single plates.

The objective is to pre-paint each sheet of 720 plates before using any individual plate(s). Prepping them this way will save time and aggravation later.

1. Cut each sheet of 720 plates into 12 sets of 60. DO NOT separate the individual plates.
2. Clamp each set of 60 with a hemostat along one fret edge to hold the set for painting.
3. Mix 50% thinner / 50% paint using Scalecoat No. 73 Bright Caboose Red (which is reasonably close to CNR Red No. 10) and airbrush it on. Do not make the coverage overly heavy as you do not want to fill the etched-in surfaces.
4. Place all 12 painted sets from one original product on a cookie sheet and bake them in an oven at 175 degrees F (approx. 80 degrees C) for two hours. Cool before starting the next steps.
5. Acquire a fine/medium flexible sanding stick (usually available in hobby shops which deal in model aircraft).
6. Use the fine grit side of the stick to rub the paint off the raised surfaces of the numerals, letters and edges. Inspect your work carefully under magnification as you go along.
7. Carefully clean all the plates with a fine soft cotton cloth to remove all paint dust created in Step 5.
8. To protect against future tarnishing of the raised brass surfaces, get out your hemostat and airbrush, etc., once again. Apply a protective clear coat of Scalecoat No. 52 Clear Gloss (this time a mix of 60% thinner / 40% gloss).
9. Do not bake the plates at this time. Some brands of clear glazes will turn yellow from the heat.
10. Repeat with the other three sheets.
11. Now your lifetime supply of CNR steam locomotive number plates is ready to be applied on locomotives.
12. Five-minute epoxy provides some working time to get number plates straight and level.

2009/09/09