The Rhos Helyg Locomotive Works specialises in painting and repainting of Garden Railway locomotives and rolling stock. Everything is possible, and almost nothing is impossible!

If you consider one of your locomotives to have too glossy a finish this can be rectified by spraying the loco with a thin coat of satin clear coat.

Perhaps your loco is just looking a little battered and worn, in which case the best solution may be a full repaint, including a strip down to bare metal if necessary, bodywork repairs as required, followed by a re-spray in etch primer followed by the colour of your choice. And for those of you who are repairing or building a locomotive, I am happy to prime, paint and line loose components, as shown below.


The Rhos Helyg Locomotive Works ethos is to produce a finished model that looks like a credible workaday representation of a locomotive that could exist in the full-size world.

NOTE: Resprays and clear coats can only be applied over existing "factory finish" paintwork of the type used by Accucraft and Roundhouse Engineering. Name, number and works plates and any other bodywork additions must be removed before new paint is applied. While some existing paint damage can be repaired before repainting, that caused by removal of name, number and works plates held in place with glue (usually epoxy or cyanoacrylate) is usually impossible to repair and would probably require complete stripping of the existing paint. Also, due to the possibility of adverse paint reactions (see here) due to incompatible paint types, any other coatings would have to be removed back to bare metal before application of etch primer, paint and clear coat as required. There is a significant charge for paint stripping, and this may be something that you could tackle yourself.

All primers, paints and clear coats used are professional automotive products obtained from specialist suppliers and applied using our own paint spraying equipment. The etch primer used is specifically chosen for its excellent adherence to brass and other metals that do not take paint well, while the paint and clear coat used is virtually immune to damage by heat, oil and day-to-day wear and tear.

Lining can be applied in any colour (except "metallic" colours such as gold and silver) in any of the common styles, and with square, rounded or scalloped corners.

A satin clear coat is applied after lining, and this protects the lining from accidental removal and damage caused by cleaning and normal usage.

Included in the price for any painting and/or lining job: Real coal pieces will be stuck in to any coal bunkers, the cab interior will be brush painted in cream (upper) and black (lower), wheels will be painted black and axle cranks will be painted black or red. Full-size locomotives do not have highly polished chrome-plated wheels and cranks...!

Name, works and number plates can be applied as part of this service. All plates are fixed in place using an adhesive that holds them firmly in place but also allows for removal without damaging the paintwork should the need arise. RHLW is an agent for the fine range of etched-brass MDC name plates, number plates and works plates: Please see here for more information.

Rub-down transfers can also be applied. They must be supplied by the customer and include sufficient duplicates to allow for problems during application. Unfortunately waterslide transfers require a gloss finish for good adherence and are not compatible with the satin finish paintwork RHLW provides. RHLW does not provide a gloss finish and without it waterslide transfers do not give an acceptable finished result and so they cannot be used.

The following body colours are in stock, although any other BS or RAL colour can be obtained if required. You may click on each picture to show a locomotive painted in the selected colour. Please note that the colours shown below and in the pictures are for guidance only and cannot be relied upon to be totally accurate due to the variances of digital photography, lighting conditions and display characteristics.



Black (RAL9005)



Blue



Sapphire Blue (RAL5003)



Darjeeling Blue (RAL5019)



Dark Blue



Oxford Blue (BS105)



Rail Blue (BS114)



British Racing Green



Land Rover Green



Tartan Green



Traffic Green (RAL6024)



Turquoise Green (RAL6016)



Bredon Green (BS5064)



Deep Bronze Green (BS224)



Light Brunswick Green (BS225)



Mid Brunswick Green (BS226)



Deep Brunswick Green (BS227)



Bright Green (RAL6018)



Ravenglass & Eskdale
Railway Muscat Green



Maroon (RAL3004)



Crimson Lake (BS473)



Victorian Maroon (BS541)



Darjeeling/Damask Red



Indian Red



County Donegal
Railway Red



Signal Red (RAL3001)



Agate Grey (RAL7038)



Cream (RAL1014)



Tan (RAL8001)



Ochre Yellow (RAL1024)



Golden Yellow (BS356)

This is a model of the Talyllyn Railway's Edward Thomas seen in the condition in which it was received:

And here is the same loco after its repaint was completed, with lining in yellow with black edging and scalloped corners. The satin finish clear coat applied after lining is shown to good effect:

Please take a look at the Gallery page to see further examples of locomotives and rolling stock that I have painted, lined and weathered.

This page was last updated on 5th June 2023