When I painted and decaled my 1895 vintage HO steam locos, back in the ‘70s, I was glad to have Floquil’s “GRAPHITE” lacquer for the smokeboxes. It looked right, as long as you didn’t gloss it with the rest of the gaudy paint and gold decals and dry transfers. For 50-odd years now, I’ve been entranced by a big Paul Detlefsen print of an elegant “Eight-wheeler” rounding the shoulder of a mountain somewhere out west. I patterned the paint job on two of my pretty little HO 4-4-0s off of it and now I want to build an O scale model—and I even have the decals for the gold filigree and fine-lining.
Has anyone found an acrylic paint that looks like the old graphite and plumbago concoctions they used on smokeboxes? (Maybe if I have everything needed, I’ll actually build this beauty!) Remember: Model Railroading is Fun!
I don’t know if it will work with acrylic paints, but you can make a pretty-good rendition of Floquil’s Graphite by combining black (lightened or not to suit your tastes) with silver - I did so with Floquil when painting a locomotive for someone else.
I’d also suggest checking Testors (and possible others) military colours.
Testors does have a graphite but it is really dark. I tried adding a little white to it and it just looked like a grimy black, which is what I tend to use for smoke boxes.
It might have been this one I tried that mix on but I forget and I can’t tell it apart from the grimy black color.
I use Neo-lube for rails. It does have the correct flat finish, but it’s a pretty dark gray. Unless the boiler was painted jet black (i.e., not a darkish gray like ‘engine black’) I don’t think there’d be enough of a contrast. Not sure if you could mix acrylic paint with the Neo-lube to lighten it?
Good question on Neo lube. i would say that mixing paint with it would not work well. I used the same type as docter wayne posted above a few ago. I have also used a grimy black on steam locomotives also. Some where i saw that they used a graphite pencil to do it. Not sure how that would hold up in in use.
Take a look at Acrylic Tamiya X-10 Gun Metal, the X means it is gloss, but more like a semi-gloss. Would be a very close match to Graphite. You can use a Matte spray to flatten the gloss or Vallejo Satin Varnish #70.522 which can be brushed without harming finish, it’s 100% Acrylic Varnish. Do not use Dull-cote with a brush, it will take the paint off. I use it on Military weapons and Navel guns, My other vices.
In the pic’…look at the gun barrel of the tank and the mounted machine laser cannon in front of the tank…the camera makes it look a little lighter than it is.
Good Luck! [:D]
Frank
EDIT: Almost forgot…Also look at Tamiya XF-56, which is a Flat Metallic Grey.
In the last pic’, the frame on the Brown colored tractor is the color, next to the one with the black frame. Also the trailers in the very last pic’ are Metallic Grey with an Aluminum painted roof.
Thanks, Frank, I’ll check into it! The other day I dug out the Micro-Scale Floquil Color Chart - Cross Reference and found they listed Tamiya TS-40 Metallic Black as a match to Floquil’s Graphite lacquer, but the TS line is “artificial lacquer”—whatever that is. I don’t want to mix media, preferring to stick to water-based acrylics rather than get into alcohol or other bases.
Thanks to all who answered. After using Floquil lacquers for fifty years, Testors sort of left me in a lurch, although truth to tell, I don’t think some of Floquil’s specialty colors have been available for a long time (I also missed DH10 Caboose Red). Luckily, we have a HobbyTown U.S.A. in town so I can go on a fact-finding mission, just like a politician!
