This past months issue of Railroad Model Craftsman (June) had an article on using craft paint to paint our models. The writer specifically lamented the loss of Poly Scale Acrylic Paints Railroad Colors. However, he also felt that all these types of model paints are much to high priced and I agree.
He got into how he has used other painting products to get the acrylic craft paints to cover and flow out like Poly Scale did. He explained what he does to get them to work in his air brush and explained the process of experimenting by mixing to get close to matching some of Poly Scale’s railroad colors.
A great article on getting by after Testors decided to discontinue Poly Scale. This article alone made the issue well worth purchasing. This is the type of information I love to get my hands on!
I have been using the inexpensive acrylic craft paints from Walmart and Hobby Lobby for years. I just thin them out a little with water although I read somewhere that Windex glass cleaner works even better (just haven’t tried it yet???). I preferred the Floquil paints (solvent based) but those are gone too.
I too, have been using Craft Paints for 20 plus years for painting scenery with washes and painting buildings. I have always felt that craft paints go on too thick, cover up my details and shows brush strokes in it’s natural state.
The author of the article, Gregory LaRocca, found the same problems, he tried distilled water and many other thinning agents with less than optimal results, he also tried Future Floor Wax and did not get the results he had in mind.
Finally he found Liquitex “Flo Aid” and found this to give the results he was after. The RMC article is very in depth, self expainitory and well written. He goes into far more detail about how he experimented and came up with the process he uses and what the problems he had with the various thinning agents he used.
I do not have an air brush and am not about to buy one, I brush paint all my finishes, so this article was an important reason that I bought this issue of RMC! However, the article does pertain to using an air brush, just as well.
I have been using craft paints for the last ten years and it has been my experince that the better quality brush you use for brush painting the better the finished product will be.
I have found that thinning with Pledge gives me a semi gloss finish which works out well for my vehicles (to glossy they look like kids toys)
I have also airbrushed craft paints usually using 50% paint /50% clearr water.
My wife put me onto Crafters Acrylic paints about 15 years ago. It was purely accidental, my LHS had run out of Floquil Flat Black and she offered me one of her Crafters Acrylic Black as a substitute. For what I was painting it worked out very good.
A couple of years later I tried a yellow Acrylic for repainting my passenger station again because the LHS was out of the exact color. I took my station down to Michael’s to compare the colors under their store lighting for proper color match. That worked out so much better than Floquil for structures I have used Crafters paints ever since.
Seven years ago I needed some Southern Pacific Daylight Red and I tried several brands of Model Railroad paints, none were a match to the Athearn SP Daylight colors. I took a shell with me to Michael’s to get a close match. The closest match was Ceramcoat Napthol Red #2409, it was a bit too red so I added 8 drops from an eye dropper of Acrylic Black shook it for ten minutes and it came out a perfect match. I had tried using Acrylics in my airbrush over the years without much success so I tried a Google Search for help. The answer seemed to be thin it with either Ceramcoat’s acrylic thinner or Li
It seems that when “craft” paints first came out they had very rough ground pigments and the results on models were poor so many of shied away. I still tend to prefer “model” paints such as Vallejo Acrylics. There is no comparison when brushing on a coat of Vallejo to using any of the craft paints. HOWEVER, for scenery, some structures, etc the craft paints are much more inexpensive and most dry with a dead flat finish. So I think there is room for both kinds of paint depending on what effect or surface you are trying to create.
So far, I’ve had success using distilled water as a thinner for the craft type paints as well as Pollyscale acrylics.
Here is a jar of Duncan craft acrhylic paint for ceramics that I’ve used for weathering passenger cars. The paint inside is over 17 years old and still usable. I just make certain to keep it away from sunlight and the lid firmly sealed. It hardened up slightly about 5 years ago. I added some distilled water, microwaved it on high for 20 seconds and then stirred it thorougly:
LION only uses craft paints. Never (well almost never) tried a model paint. LION finds no problems, but him likes the idea bout thining them with pledge or something. Him will try that.
As for color matching: You are off of your tree. Colors begin to fade as soon as the equipment leaves the shops. Ergo: Anything will do!
I have always used craft paints for structures. I’ve never used them for rolling stock and motive power; never had to match paints, so I’ve used rattle cans, except for a caboose, which I used a rattle can paint that was the right color to match the prototype. Other rolling equipment has not had to have the paint match (blacks and yellows, freelance equipment), so I could just go with generic rattle can colors. But, as for the craft paints, they’re really great for scenery and structures, and, as had been said here before, they dry a dead flat, which makes them ideal for that use. I also do not have an airbrush, so I see brused on paints for rolling equipment a bit risky, given my skill level.
I use acylrics craft paints to some extent, but I wish to expand my usage.
Straight-from-the-shaker-bottle craft paints work fairly well for brush-painting figures, and other small details. Oddly, tan and light brown work well to paint those semi-rubberised tractor/crawler treads found on Motorart and Herpa construction equipment, and they seem to hold up (somewhat to my surprise).
I have been able to brush paint tires and seats on vehicle models using, I guess, a 30-70 Future to Paint mix, seems to smooth out the finish rather nicely. Unfortunately airbrushing said mixture wasn’t as smooth, so I should try and buy a copy of the June RMC to see how his techniques differ from, say Dr. Cranky.
if the plastic has a glossy finish the paint may not stick ewith out a primer,as for weathering it works really well as a wash.In fact I use my dirty brush water for weathering.
I will admit to using craft paints for some of my structures as well. I do not use them on my engines and cars either. Nor do I use an airbrush. (No proper place to put a hood, even with water-based paints. I even have a pencil holder with almost nothing but paintbrushes in it. [Found it when I helped to clean out the house of a neighbor of my late grandmother when she was moved into a care home. Had it for many years.] There is one unsharpened pencil which is used for cleaning up decal grunge when removing decals.) I find that using the craft paints works a lot easier on buildings than the Polly S/Polly Scale ever did as the slightly thicker paint tends to stay put, doesn’t run and is a little easier to clean up if it accidently gets brushed into the wrong place or I change my mind on a color. I have even used house paint sample containers on a couple of structures which worked very well.
I feel at this point in the 21st century we are long past the “admit” stage, and instead need to continue to explore how to expand such paint’s usage with the “what else can I use craft paints on, and how do I get even better results”.
You have to admit, going into a craft store (Michaels around these parts) and seeing row after row of 2 oz bottles at prices around a dollar is quite tempting, although none of the budget craft brands I’ve seen so far have true railroad specific (or military specific) colors, more like Fawn or Terra Cotta or Brick or Denim (all quite usable colors in their own way). Also the selection gets a bit skimpy on Gloss and Satin colors.
Hmm, on a whim I searched for craft color floquil equivalents, and found an interesting older thread on a different Message board which could be of use.
Please don’t think that there is a lack of interest.
I know quite a number of modelers that perform their own painting, including some members of this forum. It’s just that they’re not “checking in” regularly, likely due to it being summer and other priorities (honey-do-lists, home spruce ups, vacations, etc.,.) kick in.
I admit that in the past I didn’t think that craft-type acrylic paints were good enough in quality for scale model uses, but I’m glad that I was wrong in making that assumption.
Although I’ve used craft paint primarily for weathering, I did use it to paint the interiors of passenger cars and was impressed with the results.
I received bottles of poster paint from a teacher that no longer wanted them. In looking at them, I realize that I can actually mix them and create colors that would work well for structures and weathering.
This isn’t my photo but here’s what they look like:
I did not answer the thread simply because I don’t use craft paint on any of the models I build, trucks, trains, buildings and ships. I air brush almost everything, only brush paint details. I use the little color cup that goes on the side of the airbrush, with my own color mixed paint…sometimes, one only color is custom mixed…if I want more, I’ll mix a 1oz bottle and mark down on a stick on lable, what kind of paint/thinner used and ratio/colors used. I have been doing it a long time, so it is second nature to me. I also don’t use water or distilled water on the Acrylic paints I use. Denatured Alcohol only and has always gave Me great results. None of the people I have built and painted models and real time cars/trucks have complained about a bad paint job yet. Have no need for craft paints. Scenery…I mix my own with Artist pigments.
You know, various combinations of red, yellow, blue, black, and white can make any color you want.
With any job that requires a small artist brush, I use whatever is available, Polly, Testors, Walmart tubes (whatever the brand), old house paint. So if one company goes out of business…yawn.
