Hi, I’ve read about a dozen or so forum threads but still cant decide on which brand I should invest in.
I plan on buying an assortment of paints to finally start painting my brass engines and Ive heard good and bad things about each brand. It seems like more people use scalecoat but those who have tried trucolor swear by it. I also heard trucolor tends to be more inky/watery, would that be bad for painting brass? I plan to prime with tamiya white primer regardless.
Which one should I get?
Also, is there a better place to buy these paints without buying directly from their website?
Charles, I have a strong bias on this subject, and 50 years of experiance.
I would never paint a metal locomotive with acrylic paint.
So if the the Tamiya is acrylic, I think that is a really bad move as well.
Most of my modeling life, I have used first Floquil and now Scalecoat.
I wish I had found Scalecoat sooner.
I sometimes use acrylics for structures or scenery but never for rolling stock.
What is wrong with buying the paint right from Minuteman? Don’t expect any big discounts no matter where you buy it.
The other advantage to Scalecoat is that it is gloss, better for decals and saves a step.
Then you can clear coat it with THEIR clear flat, which can be mixed with their clear gloss for a satin finish if you want the model to look freshly painted.
Solvent based paints are much more durable for things like brass locomotives, or even die cast or plastic ones.
I used Polly Scale for some early brass projects with good results but obviously had to look for an alternative.
I began using Scalecoat for all my rolling stock paint projects (except stainless steel-look which I use AlcladII on) and have never had a bad experience with either.
Some modelers look for substitute thinners but I buy the correct ones from Scalecoat (Minuteman). Why risk incompatibility. For all brass models I do bake for about an hour at 150° to 180°. If your brass is properly prepped the paint will adhere beautifully and provide an excellent, glossy surface for decal work.
I especially like Scalecoat for brass rolling stock:
Hi thanks for the replies, all the photos look great!
I think I’ll stick with getting scalecoat ii then. I talked to my LHS and he said the trucolor stuff loves to dry up in the bottle, and the scalecoat stuff is better.
The gloss finish is a good point, saves me a step indeed.
Ended up dropping $65 for 4 colors and some thinner…they wanted $15 for shipping alone…dang that paint is pricy.
I’ve never had Tru Color Paint dry up in the bottle in over six years, for that matter I’ve never had any model paint dry up in the bottle. I still have a number of Floquil bottles that are getting up there in age and still usable.
Early on all TCP products were gloss finish, they started making flat paint recently.
Most of the time I don’t do small air brush jobs, I usually let it go until I have quite a few items to paint then get after it.
Actually I’ve had pretty good luck with my painting for the last ten years or so. I think the main reason is a very good compressor and good air brushes. Keeping everything clean really helps too.
Mel
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
I think you need clarification from the above posters re: if they are using Scalecoat 1 or Scalecoat 2 for brass items. I suspect that for brass they use Scalecote 1, but it would be wise to ask before you paint.
I understand that, but unfortunantly I cannot afford to invest in so many un-mixable* paint brands. I need to paint both brass and plastic models, I currently already have model master and vallejo paints, I cant also invest in both scalecoat for brass and scalecoat ii for others. I understand scalecoat ii is worse for brass whereas scalecoat is practically designed for brass, but I can only get one, and in that case I’ll just stick with scalecoat ii.
Charles
*in the sense that each paint brand is mutually exclusive and for every brand I’ll have to buy seperate thinner, and mixers to adjust colors.
I find that if the model to be painted, regardless of its composition (brass, zinc casting, or plastic) is well-cleaned, then primed using a decent primer, the finish paint could be almost anything.
For ages, I used either Floquil’s or Canadian Tire Grey Primer on everything, and have used, over the years, Floquil, Tamiya, Polly S, Polly Scale, SMP Accupaint, and Scalecoat I for the finished colours.
I currently use either Tamiya Grey Primer (spray can) or Alclad II Grey Primer (airbrush). Both work very well, but I prefer the latter, simply because I’m more familiar with airbrushing rather than spray cans.
If I could chose any of those paints listed for the finishing work, it would definitely be Polly Scale. SMP Accupaint would be my second choice.
The formulae for Scalecoat I and Scalecoat II seem to be very similar, with only the proportions of the components varying. I’ve not had any problems using Scalecoat I on plastic
For painting brass (or any other metal like Zamac) it is the surface prep and primer that determines the quality of the paint job. Once you have a good prime coat on, any reasonable paint, acrylic or lacquer, will give excellent results. Surface prep starts with degreasing (fingerprints are grease) and getting off any soldering flux. Flux is tough, use the strongest solvent you have on it. Then etch the metal in a mild acid like supermarket vineger. Rinse after etching. Then use auto primer from Krylon or Rustoleum. They are made for car mechanics who are in a hurry and may not have cleaned grease and crud off the old auto part as well as they might. The auto primers contain the best stick-to-metal chemistry known to man. Better than anything the likes of Testors can do. I don’t have an airbrush and I have had excellent results with rattle cans. Auto primer comes in three colors, dark gray to go under dark colors, light gray to go under light colors and red to go under red. Once you have a good coat of primer on, any of the popular model paints will work just fine.
The problem with TruColor drying in the bottle is that they are using plastic bottles, and the solvents some how vaporize out of it (like the old Accupaints). Best to decant the TC into a glass bottle for long term storage.
Yeah, evapouration of the thinner was an issue with Accupaint, and I regularly topped them up with lacquer thinner. I still have a few bottles of Accupaint left, but will use it up shortly.
It is more likely that this is at the seal between the plastic rim and the gasket in the lid, not actual diffusion through the plastic bottle wall.
I never took a systematic interest in best ways to fix this, but improving the ‘smoothness’ of the rim and the material inside the top are obvious places to start. I have seen various kinds of soft metal or metalized-plastic seal gasket material advised. A good ‘poly-seal’ cap might also work.
You could put soft wax on the cap threads if they don’t pull the cap down to a full seal, or run a thin line of some sealing material around the outside seam where the cap meets the bottle, ‘in between uses’
I suspect you could also store a bottle inside a larger glass bottle, or a few bottles inside a Mason jar with a little solvent poured in the bottom before the lid is tightened down – that ensures the ‘gradient’ is into the bottles and not out of the contents…
One solution might be Wheaton bottles, although you might have to look carefully to find a cheap enough source.
I’ve never had issues using Scalecoat I (or Floquil, for that matter) on styrene, but that’s because the application is by airbrush…using successive light coats. If you’re brush-painting these solvent-based paints on plastic, there’s a very good chance that you’ll experience “crazing” of the plastic.
