SBB Ae 3/6

Break down

In preparation to the painting process I separated the body and the chassis. I carefully scrubbed the paint's damaged spots with a glass fibre pencil to roughen up the surface.

	Then I started mixing the colour. I could not find an exact match with any Humbrol standard colour so I decided to have a go at concocting the paint myself. As a basis I chose a semi-gloss brown enamel slightly lighter than the loco.
	I made a trial piece and sprayed it with a grey base coat. A first strip was painted with the original paint (bottom of the photo). I also removed 3 ml from a fresh 14 ml can which serves two purposes: when I mix paint I need the extra space in the tin; and if I overdo darkening the paint I can lighten it up with the original colour. I darkened the paint with semi-gloss black. The colour of the loco is a bit reddish so I also added semi-gloss red.
	After three extra strips I had touched on the colour of the Ae 3/6. I noted the mixing formula which is: Base colour Revell SM381 Remove 3 ml (which leaves 11 ml) Add 60 drops Revell SM302 Add 40 drops Revell SM330 I marked the tin with an M (mixed) and wrote the loco type on it. DON'T USE THIS FORMULA. Turn to the painting page to see what happened
The avoid much of the tedious masking I decided to "undress the old lady".
	While handling the loco body I noticed weak spots over and over again. I slowly came to the realisation that partial repainting would not fit the bill. After a deep breath I took the plunge and completely disassembled all parts from the loco body.
	Even the roof conduits had to go. As some isolators were glued that was not easy but with some persuasion with a screw driver I got them out.
	A flat magnetic tool served as a pusher from inside out. Once the isolator had moved a little it was easy to push the isolator through with a small screw driver.

Then I thoroughly scrubbed the entire loco body with a glass fibre pencil to roughen up the paint surface and also to detect any spots where the paint was loose or cracked. I deliberately provoked chipping and then sanded the edges to smooth them out.