Now that Testors has exited the railroad paint market what are the alternatives?
Did you mean the end of the Polly-S & Floquil lines, which happened a few years back? There’s been numerous articles and threads concerning replacements since, with people using various alternates such as Model Master (when you don’t need ‘perfect’ matches), Vallejo, Tru-Color and the like - even Scalecoat, which we almost lost last year when Weaver Models closed down.
One irritating thing about this dispora is that articles can no longer use statements along the lines of “Use Floquil Grimy Black” as a standard color guide.
If you mean Testors is closing down all paint lines, that I didn’t hear about, and would be a utter disaster for the scale modeling community (not just model railroad). Big-box rattle cans and craft paint techniques for modeling (as opposed to full-size lawn furniture or pottery) aren’t quite there yet…
Technically, they never exited the market. They consolidated their branding. There were too many brands in the catalog when pretty much everything could have been folded into Model Master anyhow.
Testors has about 10-12 of their original railroad colors in their Model Master acrylic line of paints. I have used them and they are a good match for colors like Locomotive Black and Box Car Red. Micro Mark has some Vallejo matched railroad colors(acrylic). Scalecoat is still around(solvent), and Tru-Color(sort of an acrylic-solvent) has a wide selection of paints. Badger also has a wide selection of acrylic based paints. Both True-Color and Badger paints are ‘air brush’ ready…
I do miss Floquil Polly Scale acrylics as the fumes from the solvent based paints can get pretty bad(even with an exhaust hood vented to the outside).
Jim
I guess it is a mater of imterpration; all the solvent paints from Testors have exited the market. In my thinking as a former evironmantal engineer, more due to cost, environmental and workplace safety concerns. Disposal of off spec sovent paints has to be processed as hazardous waste which is very expensive, includes time consuming paperwork and has long term liability concerns. Workers processing solvent paints must have periodic safety and Workplace Right to Know training. They have to be supplied with personal protective equipment, which also requires training and periodic refersher training. Shipping wholesale lots of paints also requires additional paperwork beyond normal manifesting. IN other words, solvent paints are very costly to manufacture and ship.
Big cost savinge result from eliminating solvents and the duplication of paint colors across a number of product lines
I get a lot of things painted with Krylon or Rustoleum auto primer in rattle cans. Red auto primer is a fine boxcar red, also a brick red, and rust. The dark gray auto primer makes a good steam engine color, a car under body color, also makes good tar and canvas roofs such as on cabeese and passenger cars. The light gray auto primer is just the right color for covered hoppers.
The acrylic craft paints, Ceram coat and company, come in all sorts of colors, non of them very railroady by name. I dare say if you took some color chips or finish models to the craft store you could find a match of a lotta cars. I find the acrylic paints want some thinning with water before they brush nicely.
And then I still have my stash of real Floquil paint.
I was going to add True Line paints from the same company that does detailed rolling stock. However, when I visited their web site, I discovered that they have lost their supplier. Limited quantities are still available. They are looking for another supplier.
Too bad since their stuff went on nicely both sprayed and brushed.
Since it is a Canadian product I’m not sure what the regulations are regarding shipping it south of the border, so the whole point may be moot for most of you.
http://www.truelinetrains.ca/paint-accessories/paints
Dave
ummm, no. Testors makes Model Master which is an enamel and uses a lacquer thinner.
If you mean model railroad specific color, that might be a different story.
No problems shipping water based paints across the border - however, you will note the last statement in your link … They will not ship paint from November through March due to the potential of the paint freezing.
Mark.
The only one I really miss is Grimy Black! Sorry, dark gray primer is just NOT the same color.
Regarding “auto primers” or metal primers, that you can buy at the local hardware store, the color selection for these products has increased dramatically in the last number of years. There is the basic red that works well for brick, and the gray that works well for concrete and a base color for rock, but there are many additional colors now. They typically adher well to plastic, and have a natural flat finish.
The photo at the link below shows a Walthers passenger platform that I painted in B&M colors using rattle can Rustoleum primer. Not exact, but it seems close enough.
Why do you miss a color that is available?
Model masters grimy black is the same as it’s always been…
Well, since we are hijacking the thread a bit to discuss Floquil colors, I have a question on Floquil Primer, specifically the light grey color (I always figured the other Floquil primers like zinc chromate reproduced the color of industrial primer paints but were just regular Floquil colors - some sites agree, some don’t).
But Floquil light grey primer seems to work as a real primer would, with great coverage on bare metal, especially for brush painting. This may be self-delusion on my part, and the “primer” is really just grey paint, but is that true?
Also, what about Model Master grey primer - some sites say it’s just grey paint, some say it’s real primer (with all the barrier and adhesion and filler properties that implies)?
Interestingly someone asked this very question on the “MR” forum with the extra H, and got only one answer which mentioned primer has fillers (OK), and then went off on some tangent about rivet detail. Surely this MR forum can do better…
I agree! I have found many uses for the Rustoleum Camoflage line of tan, earth brown, black, khaki and deep forest green especially handy.
http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/specialty/camouflage-spray/
They go on nicely and dry to a dead flat finish. As always with rattle-cans, light misting coats seem to work the best.
There’s a sandable auto primer that is pretty heavy on the solids but it is a dark gray color that is very close to the grimy black.
http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/auto/primers/primer-sealer/
Of course these will not substitute for my airbrush, but when I want quick & dirty nothing beats a rattle can for non-critical work.
Have Fun! Ed
I agree with Jetrock on that one, Model Masters grimy black is not the same as the old Polly scale grimy black. Model masters is a much lighter gray, to the point where I can’t use it to do touch-ups on my steam locos without adding a bit of black. The problem is that it does not really reflect the color the steamers had, at least in Eastern Canada, even the ones that were due for a wash. Looking at the pics we have from the 50s, Canadian steamers were either black, or more or less covered with soot and rust. Certainly not a uniform (no pun intended) grey color. What I’m doing now is paint it with Model Masters grimy black, then cover the loco with a thinned dark wash to darken the color, in several coats - something I hardly had to do with the old Polly scale. But that makes it more complicated for touch-ups later, including after decaling.
On the other hand, I must say that the Model Masters acrylics are great paints - they stick to pretty much anything and have a great consistency for airbrushing. I can also use it with the paintbrush… Vallejo paints are certainly good but I’ve had problems getting it to stick to my models without a primer. The Vallejo acrylic primer is pretty good, I must say.
Simon
I was at the train show today and came upon Minuteman Scale Models.
They are the new producer and seller of Scalecoat paints. I was able to get Scalecoat II, the version for plastics, in a spray can in Milwaukee Orange. I’d given up on ever finding this color with the demise of Weaver, but now it’s back in production and was available for sale at the show.
Just got my Rapido News Letter and they are getting into the paint biz! I have complete faith that the boys at Rapido will be providing us with a superior product as usual. Soon there will be billions and billions of colours to choose from.[(-D]
http://rapidotrains.com/rapido-proto-paint/
I will also have their RR coffee mugs on my next years Christmas toy list.[swg]
Jason is going to need a LOT of those tiny bottles to paint his Edmonston sleeper and his RDC 6133!
But, seriously—That’s good news! Rapido is quickly becoming one of my favorite hobby suppliers.
Ed
The one grumble that I still have when Testors decided to consonidate their paint lines is that it left the paint market without a brushable MEC Pine Green (at least that I can find). (I use that color as one of the main colors of my freelance railroad. The green in my avatar is based on that color.) All the other lines that have the MEC Green are airbrush only paints. I don’t own an airbush and for about half the year I can’t use an airbrush in my neck of the woods anyway. I managed to find a bottle at one point and bought the lot that had that bottle in it. (Not to mention that lot had another bottle that has ended up being used in another project.)
I see that paint is airbrush ready… Great! That means it will be easier to brush paint. [:D]