While chatting with some chaps at the local ME club at the weekend the opinion was expressed that making the metalwork on loco's out of brass was a bad idea as it was so hard to paint. It was suggested that making it out of steel woudl be a better idea, and for water tanks lining them with some sort of epoxy coating (or the petrol tank sealent that you can get). This was due to the relative ease of painting steel compared to brass. The only plus I can see for brass is that it won't go rusty during construction -when bits get part made & left on the bench for a couple of months for whatever reason.
Is brass that hard to get paint to stick to?, any opinion of whether steel or brass would be the better material to use.
Regards
Kevin