From Mainline Hobby Supply email received today:
Scalecoat Paint
Yes, we have been in contact with the new owners of Scalecoat Paint and once they get set up in their new location we will start carrying their line of paint once again.
So hopefully in the near future we will have it back in stock.
Forgive me for venturing off-topic but Peterâs response caught my attention!
I had never considered using very hot water to rinse out an airbrush after the application of an acrylic. Sounds like a step worth trying.
Due to the very warm temperatures I paint in, my airbrush must be flushed out within minutes of applying an acrylic.
For my caboose project Iâll boil some water in a cup, via a microwave oven, just before airbrushining the acrylic on to the shell. Upon finishing, Iâll run the hot water through it. If successful this would be a money-saver since I could then save my lacquer thinner for just the solvent-based mixes.
[Y][:D]
I second the hot water suggestion for acrylics. Iâve been doing that for years, for both my airbrush and my brushes. I used to wash with windex, but I donât like the ammonia smell. Hot water with a cleaning brush works just fine.
Simon
I am a relative newbie to airbrushing, having only started with acrylics last November and December. I primed and painted a dozen Walthers Mainline passenger cars, using various colors of Tamiya acrylics.
I got a lot of advice beforehand, and one piece of advice was to thoroughly clean the airbrush immediately after each and every spraying. I did that religiously by completely disassembling the airbrush each time and cleaning the parts with distilled water and airbrush cleaner. As a result, I never had a single problem.
The notion of using hot water to clean the airbrush is an interesting one.
Rich
I should have mentioned that acrylics are not all the same. Some do require a soak in Windex after use.
Simon
Hey guys, getting back on topic due to an email. A modeler on an online forum, who is an airbrush beginner, asked me about thinning Scale Coat II (old new-stock in good condition) stating that the 2/3 paint to 1/3 thinner yielded varying results. Enthusiastic but a bit frustrated.
After some back & forth messaging, with photos, it turns out that he was spraying his mixes at too far a distance and too quickly yielding a rough finish. Apparently he was spraying & stroking the airbrush like a rattlecan (I did the same when starting out).
My suggestions: Decrease the distance from the surface, slow the stroke speed, and TAKE THE TIME to practice on discarded plastic materials or shells before spraying his models. Practice until you reach the comfortable âSweet-spot zoneâ; whether it takes 1 ounce or a full 2oz bottle. It does pay off especially with Scale Coat finishes.
To provide ideas I shared the photos below, which have been posted on previous threads on this forum. Discarded plastic nut, tea, and coffee can lids are excellent paint practice pieces as are old CDâs. All can likely be obtained for free from relatives, friends, or coworkers.[;)]
So far, I have only airbrushed with acrylics, but I could not agree with you more. Practice, practice, practice, and spray close and slow. I recently sprayed 12 Walthers Mainline passenger cars. In removing the roofs, I damaged one car, so I re-ordered one more new one and then practiced on the damaged car.
Rich
I have used various amounts of thinner when using Scalecoat II Paint, some require no thinner to 50/50 Thinner to paint. Seems best when the paint has the consistency of milk.
Rick Jesionowski
Are you using that HET 1501 stuff in lieu of lacquer thinner?
Hello Maxman,
Yes. The gallon-can doesnât have much left in it as Iâve been using it for several years. H.E.T is real automotive lacquer thinner, not a âCalifornia-styleâ substitute formula. However, I plan on buying Scale Coatâs thinner once I run out.
I switched to this thinner only because the hobby stores in my area were out of SCII thinner, at the time. I experimented with the H.E.T and it worked. But I respectrfully suggest to modelers that itâs best to use the paint manufacturerâs recommended additives.
Agreed
Rich
Rich,
it would be cool to see your Mainline cars. Could you consider posting a thread with photos?
Why did Scalecoat and Floquil dissapear in the first place?
I always thought they were banned because of the solvents. Something like the tree huggers were worried that if everyone opened a bottle at the same time it could spell the end of life on the planet. [swg]
Like many things in life, they got bought out and then the new company thought they were a bother and stopped production, goverment never seems to do anti-trust stuff on nich areas. Also sometimes markets die like original Floquil. Liked the stains but lets face it, that stuff was poison.
Scalecoat was originally made by Weaver Models who made O gauge trains. The owners retired, Bachmann bought the train line but did not want to be in the paint business.
Minuteman Scale Models bought Scalecoat, but health issues and retirement forced that owner to stop production.
At first he seemed reluctant to sell as if he thought he would made a comeback, but now it is in the hands of new ownership.
So in the case of Scalecoat it had nothing to do with the corperate indifference that eliminated Floquil, Polly Scale and others.
AND, there is no total ban on slovent based paints. There are restrictions on container size, some ingredents, etc for consumer products. There are retailing/marketing restrictions making it harder for retail customers to buy industrial grade solvent based paints.
But the products are still being made for applications where they are still necessary.
Sheldon
Once again I learn something from this forum. I had the same impression (of a ban) for Tenax-7 and Ambroid Pro Weld, even though Micro Mark sells their âSame Stuffâ. I suspect there is a similar story?
Yea, hated when Ambroid Pro-weld went off market but Weld-on 3 is almost the same.
That bothered me for a while but it turned out well for me. I wound up buying a gallon of MEK and filling the Ambroid bottles that I had saved. Many years later I still have a lot of that gallon so I actually have saved some money.
Update [8D]
The business that now owns Scale Coat is called:
Iron Horse Model Works.
If you visit Facebook, just type that name in the search bar. Their last post was on June 9th, so things seem to be looking up.
Are the paints available yet?