NYSW F45
Active Member
Give him the heads up that people are looking for him, if you haven't already. He should try and get in touch with these guys so they dont have to worry.
Anybody custom paint?
- Thread starter CbarM
- Start date
Give him the heads up that people are looking for him, if you haven't already. He should try and get in touch with these guys so they dont have to worry.
dispatcher812
Member
I did receive an email from Josh after I went through his new site. He gave me an update on my loco and stated that he was overwhelmed with work, school and a move.
I can completely understand and hope he continues to accept work. I was VERY impressed and have other units in mind.
I can completely understand and hope he continues to accept work. I was VERY impressed and have other units in mind.
diburning
AlcoHaulic
Has anyone else been in contact with him? He said he'd send my loco back. I sent him my address, and after no response, I sent him another email. He responded to that one and said that he'd be sending it back. Since then, he hasn't responded to any of my emails, and hasn't sent back the engine.
diburning
AlcoHaulic
It's been eight months since I last posted here. Josh has been responding to my emails off and on, but seems to be MIA again. Patrick (AmtrakTitan), do you have any other method of contacting him where you'll be able to get through to him?
At this point, I don't feel very confident that I'll ever be getting my locomotive back from him. I sent him the locomotive back in 2010. I'm losing my patience with him.
At this point, I don't feel very confident that I'll ever be getting my locomotive back from him. I sent him the locomotive back in 2010. I'm losing my patience with him.
AmtrakTitan455
Member
I will talk to him about the loco, and I still talk to Josh. I dunno how he can't reply to your emails. There's a guy I know named, Kevin Marshall, and he paints really well too. I can give you his email if you want.
Cjcrescent
Master Mechanic
I'm not gonna defend or bash Josh, but let me tell you what happened to me. First, I DNK if he over rated his ability to get jobs done, taking in more than he could even reasonably expect to complete, or if life just got in the way. This is what happened to me.
I had been a custom painter for more than 15 years at that point, 1989,and while I was careful in what I took in, (I tried to be careful as to numbers as well), sometimes it got out of hand. Some was in my control, and some wasn't. When I retired as a custom painter I had on hand over 200 locomotives to be done! Now before you say that was too much too have on hand, waiting, let me tell you how I got over half in. I was very popular, as all I did was generally SE roads, and sometimes other roads. I would get letters and phone calls from all over the country from folks asking me to paint their stuff. I guess that there were 10 brass to every plastic engine I did.
I had been painting a series of 3 Tenshodo AC-9's, (IIRC, those AC classes always did and still confuse me
), SP Cabforwards, for a gentleman out of California. After the return of the last one, he decided that I would become his exclusive painter, without telling me, and sent me 2 boxes of Scalecoat 1 Paint, 2 boxes of Floquil weathering paints, and 25 sets of SP decals, both Microscale and Champ, all SP. Also there were 110 various SP brass locos, including locos of every class of loco that SP had, that was available in brass. There very sometimes 2-3 copies of the same loco. Plus I had also received 10 locos from a man that I didn't know from Adam, as I'd never received any communication from him, to see if I could even cover them. To top it off, there were no boxes for the engines, and he stated in the directions in the box that he expected me to get them into proper boxes for return shipping!
I took a month and finished painting all of my friend locos, and then went about sending every single one of the locos & paints back to the rest of the owners COD. To the guy that sent me all of the SP engines I told him that if he still wanted to have me paint his locos, I would be happy to but wouldn't be able to unless he sent only 3 at a time. We were close to having to move up to Birmingham, and I'd have no place to work for at least 2-3 years. We still had to sell our house in Mobile and would be in an apartment for that time, and while there, I'd have no place to paint.
I also told the guy who sent me locos "uninvited", that what he did, and demanded was something you never did. One, they were sent unregistered mail, which meant that I could have kept them, denying that I'd ever received them. Plus his demand that they be properly boxed was also wrong, as without a discussion of the subject matter in an introductory letter and response, answering with prices etc, was just pure out of line.
That all occurred during the spring and early summer of 1989. While I still paint, its only for friends and occasionally a real client. I don't charge for my friends, but they have to understand that this stuff takes time, and due to my health problems, there will be months sometimes where I can't touch them. I'm a lot slower than I used to be!
I had been a custom painter for more than 15 years at that point, 1989,and while I was careful in what I took in, (I tried to be careful as to numbers as well), sometimes it got out of hand. Some was in my control, and some wasn't. When I retired as a custom painter I had on hand over 200 locomotives to be done! Now before you say that was too much too have on hand, waiting, let me tell you how I got over half in. I was very popular, as all I did was generally SE roads, and sometimes other roads. I would get letters and phone calls from all over the country from folks asking me to paint their stuff. I guess that there were 10 brass to every plastic engine I did.
I had been painting a series of 3 Tenshodo AC-9's, (IIRC, those AC classes always did and still confuse me
), SP Cabforwards, for a gentleman out of California. After the return of the last one, he decided that I would become his exclusive painter, without telling me, and sent me 2 boxes of Scalecoat 1 Paint, 2 boxes of Floquil weathering paints, and 25 sets of SP decals, both Microscale and Champ, all SP. Also there were 110 various SP brass locos, including locos of every class of loco that SP had, that was available in brass. There very sometimes 2-3 copies of the same loco. Plus I had also received 10 locos from a man that I didn't know from Adam, as I'd never received any communication from him, to see if I could even cover them. To top it off, there were no boxes for the engines, and he stated in the directions in the box that he expected me to get them into proper boxes for return shipping!I took a month and finished painting all of my friend locos, and then went about sending every single one of the locos & paints back to the rest of the owners COD. To the guy that sent me all of the SP engines I told him that if he still wanted to have me paint his locos, I would be happy to but wouldn't be able to unless he sent only 3 at a time. We were close to having to move up to Birmingham, and I'd have no place to work for at least 2-3 years. We still had to sell our house in Mobile and would be in an apartment for that time, and while there, I'd have no place to paint.
I also told the guy who sent me locos "uninvited", that what he did, and demanded was something you never did. One, they were sent unregistered mail, which meant that I could have kept them, denying that I'd ever received them. Plus his demand that they be properly boxed was also wrong, as without a discussion of the subject matter in an introductory letter and response, answering with prices etc, was just pure out of line.
That all occurred during the spring and early summer of 1989. While I still paint, its only for friends and occasionally a real client. I don't charge for my friends, but they have to understand that this stuff takes time, and due to my health problems, there will be months sometimes where I can't touch them. I'm a lot slower than I used to be!
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dispatcher812
Member
I also have a loco with Josh and last contacted him last October. Any update would be appreciated. Thanks Kevin.
railBuilderDhd
Active Member
Whats it cost to get a custom pain job done? Just an idea as I'm interested.
Dave
Dave
Cjcrescent
Master Mechanic
Prices will vary from painter to painter, and even by his or her's popularity. I would have to say a mean price would be from $100-200, as some charge by color, some by the engine. Some give discounts for multiple engines, etc. I used to charge by the color, and difficulty of the job. Weathering can increase the price even more. A paint job by me could cost as much as $500. I was, and still am, very good. But I'm not asking for work. I have enough.
I do brass only, 90% steam. I have a 6-9 month turnaround, and a paintjob by me starts at $300.00 and can get as high as $600.00 or more depending on the model and job complexity. Articulateds add cost. Paint jobs such as Daylight or green boilered steamers also add cost. All models are completely disassembled, blast and ultrasonically cleaned prior to painting. Running problems are repaired unless major mechanical upgrades are necessary. I do give estimates, but they are subject to plus or minus 20%. I also reserve the right to call the owner and discuss pricing if things are not what they seem, for example an early Korean model that falls apart during handling. This is for information on market prices only. Like Carey I am not soliciting work. I don't do that on any forum where I post. I have all the work I can do at the moment. Good custom painters are like good handymen. We don't advertise. We don't have to.
Cjcrescent
Master Mechanic
... Good custom painters are like good handymen. We don't advertise. We don't have to.
Alan, so true, so true.
I had been painting a series of 3 Tenshodo AC-9's, (IIRC, those AC classes always did and still confuse me
Carey, they are the only ones where the loco faces forward. Forward by your reckoning that is...backwards for us SP freaks!
montanan
Whiskey Merchant
I do brass only, 90% steam. I have a 6-9 month turnaround, and a paintjob by me starts at $300.00 and can get as high as $600.00 or more depending on the model and job complexity. Articulateds add cost. Paint jobs such as Daylight or green boilered steamers also add cost. All models are completely disassembled, blast and ultrasonically cleaned prior to painting. Running problems are repaired unless major mechanical upgrades are necessary. I do give estimates, but they are subject to plus or minus 20%. I also reserve the right to call the owner and discuss pricing if things are not what they seem, for example an early Korean model that falls apart during handling. This is for information on market prices only. Like Carey I am not soliciting work. I don't do that on any forum where I post. I have all the work I can do at the moment. Good custom painters are like good handymen. We don't advertise. We don't have to.
I used to do a lot of custom painting for other people, and I agree with the turn around point to a degree. I never advertised, but always had project on hand. The majority of what I did was also brass, but I did some plastic (besides my own) where custom detailed, and then painted.
There is a lot of work involved. Like espeefan noted, everything has to be taken apart (brass or plastic) and cleaned thoroughly. Preperation is probably the most important part of the job. I never rushed anything. I would usually double the normal drying time just to let the paint cure a little longer. Decaling and lettering is next which also takes time. Again, never rush. Then comes reassembly. This also has to be done very carefully so s not to possibly damage the paint job. After assembly you always want to test run everything to be sure that everything is operating properly.
I had a few people get a little anxious, but when they got their freshly painted equipment back, I never got a single complaint.
When I was custom painting my own equipment, plastic Atlas Alcos, I more or less had sort of an assembly line set up. It is a bit easier because the colors, details, lettering are all the same. It took over a month to complete a fleet of about a dozen or more locomotives, and these were for me. I did this totally as a side line, and worked the jobs in on my spare time, which there really wasn't much of.
To get it really right, don't expect it yesterday.
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Cjcrescent
Master Mechanic
Carey, they are the only ones where the loco faces forward. Forward by your reckoning that is...backwards for us SP freaks!
Alan, maybe they were AC-10's or so? IRDK! They were definitely Cab-forwards, supposedly the last ones built, and this was many years ago. Maybe my half-heimers is acting up. All I can remeber now is that they were CF's, and were at least AC-8's. Did SP have any classeshigher than AC-8's?
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They went all the way to AC-12, which were the last new steamers the railroad bought I think. AC-6 were the last with vandy tenders and flat face cabs. From AC-7 on it gets hard to tell them apart because you're looking for things like appliance placement, pipe routing, and internal differences. I had to take a quick look at my copy of "Those Amazing Cab Forwards" to verify. You may not remember but you pointed out that book to me at a train show in a mall. It may have been Gadsden, but I'm not sure. It's out of print and very hard to find!
Cjcrescent
Master Mechanic
I do remember that! It was at the mall there! I think that I showed you another one on SP there, but you got the one on the CF's!
dispatcher812
Member
Any updates on Josh?
