Some people prefer to see a gleaming brass locomotive in its native unpainted state. Some like them painted. And some people like them painted and weathered to within an inch of its life. I think there’s a place for all those approaches and can provide any finish you wish. If you would like your 30 year old brass piece to look new again I can clean the model and then apply a brass satin coat so it looks like new. Incidentally, many unpainted brass locomotives are not truly unpainted. The various grades of brass used to construct them all have different color qualities. Many of these raw brass models actually have a layer of brass paint applied after they are constructed so the model has uniform finish.

If you want a shiny black engine that looks like the prototype the day it rolled out the builder’s door, we can do that. Some railroads had meticulous maintenance practices and tried to keep their equipment looking new a long as possible. They used frequent painting and regular trips through the wash rack to keep the equipment looking spic and span for years after they purchased it.

If you want your model to look like it’s been driven around the world in a cloud of smoke and dust, that’s achievable too. You specify the level of weathering you want and I will do everything I can to meet your expectations. Its very helpful if you can provide a picture of a weathered paint job that you like. Weathering is very subjective.

Additional detail can be added at the appropriate point in the process. I like to add glass in the cab windows and proper reflectors in the headlights and classification lights. I also like to paint the insides of the cabs when I can and then pick out all the little valve handles in red as my favorite prototype was want to do. Some people like white stripes on the running boards and driver tires. Some people like the roof of the cab to be tuscan red or green. It’s all a matter of preference or prototype practice.