I finally ran out of Polly scale grimy black last month (had cleaned the shelf of the LHS, but that did not last). So I bought a bottle of the testor’s “substitute”, which I was told is the Model Master acrylic grimy black. Here are my impressions:
-It comes airbrush ready, which is very convenient. The finish is excellent, even better than Polly scale I would say.
-Contrary to what I expected, it also works well with a brush to do touch ups. Two coats might be necessary, but a thicker paint would leave marks.
-My main problem is the colour: compared to Polly scale, the grimy black colour is very light (too gray). Did I hit a bad batch? Now I did hit some Polly scale bottles that were a little off, but I blamed it on the water I used to dillute the paint (ordinary distilled water). But I can’t use that argument because it came straight from the bottle, and it was mixed well. FYI, I use a single-action, internal mix badger airbrush.
Have others experienced this? How does it compare with Valleyo and Micro-Mark paints? Please compare with other acrylics, I prefer to avoid solvents in the house.
I’m with you on the solvents, although since I have an asthmatic reaction to them, it’s really a non-starter in my case.
Now, I admit to a certain bias here – about 10 years ago, when Testors first acquired Polly Scale /Floquil, I started looking around. A friend of mine told me about Vallejo, and when Testors first began to phase out some of the Polly Scale colors (several military colors that they claimed were duplicates of Model Master shades), I started buying Vallejos, and fell in love. Mind you, this from someone who has been painting HO scale and 25mm figures for about 40 years.
Now I will buy nothing but (although, ironically, I still have the odd bottle of Testors / Polly Scale). They have several lines. Most of the ones I use are in the Model Color line, because I mostly brush paint. However, their Model Air line is specifically formatted for airbrushing without dilution, and they are terrific for that – just squirt from the bottle to the cup and off you go. Color matching can be hit or miss with other brands, but their quality control is dead on. I’ve never had a variance between two bottles of the same shade. They have about 200 shades, so it’s easy to come close.
If it’s an exact shade you want, look at the Microlux line sold by Micromark. They are made by Vallejo (the bottles have the Acrylicos Vallejo trademark, even though the label is Microlux). They are the equivalent of the Model Air paints, and they have Grimy Black in a 2 oz bottle. I can’t tell the difference (although I’ve never compared side by side) and supposedly the colors were custom matched to Polly Scale paint chips.
I’m with you on the asthma issues. I have used Badger’s Modelflex line, compares well with the bottle I had of Pollyscale. I have yet to try the newer ModelMaster line, but the “wood” color I have from them is about the same consistancy as the Badger paints. I do thin it a bit more for airbrushing, but plain old distilled water for that works well. I refuse to use tap water, but that’s another story… [D)]
I don’t have a problem with asthma so I’m not sure how Tru Color solvent based paints react to that. I tried Tru Color Paints and after using them I’m hooked. I’ve been using an airbrush for over 30 years in the garage and because she didn’t complain about odors when she came into the garage I moved my painting into the hobby room. If they have an odor I’m unaware of it, my wife is pretty touchy about odors and when I moved airbrush painting into the house she hasn’t complain of any odor when I’m airbrushing.
I think Tru Color Paint uses Acetone as it’s base and to me it’s odorless using my airbrush. It’s ready to go from the bottle either airbrush or brushing and it’s great paint. I use Scotch Delicate Painters Tape for masking and it doesn’t pull the Tru Color Paint off after just two hours of drying time.
Tru-Color is indeed acetone based, which is what you use to thin and clean up.
I’m guessing Scotch Delicate Painters Tape is one level finer than Scoth Blue Painters tape, as I have found the regular Blue painter’s tape will pull away the Tru Color paint when used for masking (which was followed by much cursing, repainting, and then using Tamiya masking tape)
Thanks guys for your opinions on the paints. I used the floquil paint and poly scale and now it seems like we will have a worth while replacement, or two. Micro mark will be the venue of choice for anyone not near a store. I am now wondering if amazon might be selling the complete line of velajo (sp) I think I will need to check that out.
I just remembered this Microscale Floquil Conversion chart, which is over a year old, but might still be useful.
You’ll note that Vallejo is treated almost as a Wargaming company (note Grimy Black is matched to Vallejo’s WW2 Russian Uniform), when now it has clear model railroading lines. Also, Tru-Color is absent from that list.
Still, perhaps it may be of use (I was most interested in ‘Weathered Black’ - my go to color for undercarriages and black surfaces which have oxidized - but I’m not sure if Tamiya Metallic Grey is really that close a match).
BTW, according to a post on the Fine Scale Modeler forum, “keep in mind that Floquil “grimy black” is in essence a mix of black (70%) White 10% Buff 15% plus matt brown 5%”, so maybe that will help if you try to mix some from Craft Acrylic paints…
While Amazon does sell some Vallejo acrylics, it’s hit or miss on availability, and tends to be more focused on sets rather than individual colors. I buy mine at an LHS (Time Machine Hobbies in Manchester), or online at Scale Hobbyist or Megahobby.
I remember seeing that chart… and not being very impressed with some of their selections (Green gold for rail brown?), and some of their names didn’t match the current Vallejo catalog (the color corresponding to 994 is “Dark Gray”, not WWII Russian Uniform Gray.
Vallejo does, very much so, position itself as a military modelers company.
The frame on this Mack truck, was air brushed with Tamiya Metallic Grey. In my opinion…its not close at all to any of the Black’s mentioned. The truck cab color is Floquil SP Daylight Orange.
If there are charts or colour charts around which equate one manufacturer’s colours to that of another, you may find the colours you seek. However, don’t make the mistake of only reading the colour’s name instead of looking at the colour itself.
Think about it: grimy black suggests a black which is dirty. Is it dirty with oil? Or dust? Or rust? Pigeon droppings?
Floquil’s original Grimy Black (in the tall square bottles) had a definite greenish cast to it (a lot like old grease) - easy to use if that colour suited your purpose, but if it didn’t, or didn’t suit all of the time, it was better to buy Engine Black, and tint it with other colours to get the shade of grime needed. And you needn’t tint the entire bottle to that shade either…you could make as many versions as needed.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with using paint right out of the bottle, but if you can’t find what you want, why not mix it yourself?
Come to think of it, Floquil and Polly S had a fair number of different blacks:
Black
Engine Black
Grimy Black
Steam Power Black
Weathered Black
Oily Black
Not to mention they offered railroad specific color blacks too (e.g. CSX Black). I guess there was a reason the Floquil/Polly S retail racks were usually rather large…
Yes, I can always mix my own. But it is so much more convenient to have something straight from the bottle to do touch-ups. Since Polly scale and Model Master were both under Testors, I assumed the colours would be consistent. Oh well, it’s all part of the fun…
I’m not sure that my remark applies to Model Masters acrylics but I wonder why paint manufacturers are pushing airbrush-ready paint and why no one is complaining about it. After all, most manufacturers recommend the use of distilled water for thinning their paints, a commodity which is cheap and widely available. Instead of getting a bottle of paint suitable for brush painting and readily thinned if you need to airbrush it, you’re getting less paint and more thinner (water) and have a paint which is next to useless for brush work. In other words, we’re paying the same or more for less. This is from the same people who pretty-much cast aside many hobbyists when they decided to discontinue the products which had served us so well for so long.
While I have a fairly decent supply of the older-type paints, my future purchases will not be from these pirates. [soapbox]
I choose not to complain about the less paint issue, even though, yes, I am aware that it is true, but choose to accept it. Everything is getting that way now, look at your 20oz bottles of soda - they were, just a few short years ago, around $1.00 each, at least in my area. Now? $1.79+. They do now have SMALLER (16oz approx.) bottles, they are still $1.00 each… Pay the same for less, or more for the same? With Modelflex (Badger), I can still find the same size bottles as a few years ago, still acrylic, still labeled as “airbrush ready”, yet I still need to thin slightly, just like before. Price difference? An invoice from 4 years ago, (saved for the locomotive I bought at the same time) shows a price of $3.29 each paint bottle. Price now at the same shop? $3.89 each (as of Sept. 2014). So, span of 4 years, (Aug. 2010) went up in price by 60 cents. That bottle of soda, roughly same time frame? Increased by 79+ cents. So, about the same increase as everything else, and, appears to be the same as the 4 year old bottle it replaces.
My complaint is less about the price and more to do with the product: who airbrushes everything? You could start a DPM building with an airbrush, but not many would bother to mask it for a complete paint job, and I doubt that there are many who paint figures, other than with a primer coat, using an airbrush. I’d wager that there are more brush painters and spray can users out there than there are airbrush users, and I’m pretty certain that anybody who uses an airbrush not only knows how to thin paint but also how to thin it based on the result they want.
I know more modellers who have airbrushes and can’t use them than ones who are competent with one.
Complaining may not get results, but if nobody complains nobody even has a chance of getting results.
