Rear wheel painting.

Hi guys,

I've just got my first rear wheel and was wondering how people paired it?
Is it difficult to get to the inside with a spray gun when it's all built?

Or would it be easier to paint the inside then build it then paint the rest?

You most certainly do not want to apply any paint until you have completely assembled the wheels... "I my humble opinion"!! The paint would be chipped & scratched everywhere by the time you had it assembled!!

I used the Craftmaster paints, which are perfect for hand brushing, which is what I did with my wheels! However, if you really know what your doing with a spray gun, you can get brilliant results by spraying, as some have done here on the forum, but it's difficult not to get runs in the paint or miss areas at "difficult to get to" locations on the wheel!

So, if it were me, build the wheels first, then brush paint!! If you work fast applying the paint, the finish can be exquisite!!

Please note that other parts of the engine do lend themselves better to spray painting, such as horn plates, tender, boiler cleading, etc!!

I have used both techniques on my engine!!

Hope this helps!!

Regards,
Tony

In my case I primed them before putting them together and painted afterwards, when putting them together the primer coat was damaged so had to be rubbed down and touched up. Also I had to remove the primer to the contact faces of the spokes to the rim, thus making sure the epoxy bonded to the metal rather then just the painted surface. Good luck with your build.

Thanks guys,

Mate of mine is a sprayer and is doing it for me, will pass it on to him.

Rob, seen the pics of your build looking good.

And yeah it's been fun so far, Looking forward to getting more parts.

Did you guys have much filling to do where the spokes meet the hub?

Thanks, we are getting there slowly.

Yes, but made sure that I used plenty of epoxy to ensure they were filled, even then though some filling was still required before painting.

Everything except the wood for the roof is spay painted on my engine and wagons and water bowser

For anyone painting wheels with a spray gun the trick is to spray all the difficult bits first. Like the edges of the spokes, the inner hub, the inner rim.  Once that is covered then look at spraying the front of the spokes etc.  you will find that after doing the tricky bits most of the easy bits have paint on them.  Use a strong light to see where there is good paint coverage and where it needs a bit more.  I use an engine stand with a metal spike in it so I can rotate the wheel easily & get to all of it. (It's still not easy though!!)

I brush painted everything I found it easier with the wheels to mount them so they could be spun to allow getting to every part of the wheel.


A couple of axle stands and along masonry chisel worked well.

Ian

Hi

Nice to see progress. Just noticed. You have primed the brake band on the wheel. You need to keep it bare metal.

Yeah they guy who sandblasted it painted it, I'll take it off before I paint it. 
just the rivets to sand off then the other wheel!!

Looking good keep the pictures coming,
Mike