I use the Denatured Marine stove fuel Alcohol. I use a lot of Tamiya Acrylic paint and it contains Isopropanol + glycol ethers and the dna works the best on it…so I started using it on all the Acrylic paints I use and havn’t had any problem’s yet. You don’t even smell it when airbrushing or paint brush. Also cures quicker, I’ve noticed.
I’m putting details on two trucks that I airbrushed last evening and it is totally cured. The ones that I used Model Master on need at least two more days to completely cure, before handling.
Not that I can get anyone to follow a particular line of thought; however, the point of this thread was an article written in the June issue of RMC tells how to make craft paints so they can be used to paint freight and passenger equipment. That we’ve been using it for other purposes for many years is without doubt.
I just thought some might be interested in knowing how to replace Testor’s Poly Scale paints with a cheaper product. Some of us may already know how to do this and that’s great!
NP, I’ll add that it is possible. Many craft paints can be airbrushed, which imho, makes them even more versatile and usable for painting rolling stock as well as structures. As for durability, it shouldn’t be an issue once the painted surface is sealed with a clear coat. Waterbased clears from Pollyscale, Testors Acryl, and Alclad will work over a number of craft acrylic paint products.
On a personal note, although I have most of the railroad colors that I need, when mixing custom colors for structures and road vehicles (cars, trucks, buses) I’ll use craft paints in my stock if they happen to be in the tint family that that I’m targeting. You can create a wide variety of color mixes with solid reds, yellows, whites, blacks, blues, greens.
Getting back to the article (which I finally had the chance to read, and yes it’s pretty good), as mentioned before the key the author found was adding a drop (.5-1ml in 30ml) of Liquitex Flow-Aid so far, so good - that Flow-Aid will last a long time. But the flip side is the author also uses a 50/50 mixture of Liquitex Airbrush Medium/Craft paint; both Flow-Aid and Airbrush Medium are somewhat pricey.
Yes, the combo of 15 ml of craft paint & 15ml of Airbrush Medium (& a drop of of Flow-Aid) works out to be cheaper than good old Polly-S, but have people done the comparison of airbrushing “Model-Quality” craft paint mixture using some of the old (even cheap) favorites of Windex/Windshield Washer Fluid/Distilled Water/Alcohol - and Flow-Aid?
Thanks for the DNA info; I will give it a try. I keep at least 30-40 bottles of the craft paint on hand; everytime I am in Walmart I pick up another 1 or 2 (at $.50 you can’t go wrong). I may also try it to strip my next model rather than the 90% iso (which works great for me; just leave it overnight and all the paint is gone!).
I have used the cheap paints from JoAnns for weathering. Does a good job and if to heavy or wrong color you can usually wash most of it off. Hit it with some dull coat to seal.
I use several different things. Craft paints sharpie markers and other pens. One time I was in a bad mood and spray painted an Athearn F7a shell Ferrari rossa red. After I calmed down I took and dullcoated it and went hhmmm… So I took a black Sharpie and colored in the roof. Wow accidental Katy red F7! Just add decals. If something looks like it may be usable at the hardware store or places like that I many times pick it up.
Random diversion:
Speaking of Sharpies, I tend to find them better very small touch ups than paint + microbrushes, except the color range of the most common Sharpies can be limited.
Black Sharpies: Always useful, from pallet band strapping to tool handles to a briefcase on a commuter figure to a vehicle mirror strut to…well, whatever.
Silver Sharpies: Reasonably good for chrome; when covered with a gloss coat good for mirrors
Gold Sharpies: I’ve used them for mimicking “brass” door knows, and maybe a few sign details. Lot less gold details colors outdoors in the real world than you’d think, and coloring a architectural dome or a statue with a sharpie might yield less than impressive results - a church cross, however.
White Sharpies: Ooops, no such thing at this time
All the white “Sharpie” equivalents I’ve found are paint pens or funky gel pens, normally with meh results.
I do have a Sharpie set with light yellow and tan colors…alas, they do have rather poor opacity and coverage.
This thead has convinced me, I’ll buy a bottle of flow-aid next weekend, see if using distilled water + craft-paint + flow-aid for airbrushing works as well as the airbrush medium + craft-paint + flow-aid the RMC author recommended does.
In another thread herre in the General Discussions topic it has been stated that Weaver Models will cease to exist. So, now it is uncertain whether Scale Coat will continue to be produced.
Update: Scalecoat has been purchased by Minuteman Scale Models and the paint will continue to be available to modelers. The new owner is apparently thinking of expanding the line. This info comes to me from the YV Yahoo group via another posting on the scale freight car list.
I said in my previous post that I do paint motive power and rollong stock, except I use rattle cans to do so, not an airbrush. I’ve painted freelanced equipment, so paint matching was not required. The caboose required a certain shade of red on an Erie paint job; that color was found in a rattle can.
I think there is quite a bit of interest in this topic. I like to know what others are doing and the kind of results they are getting. Maybe someday I will brush paint some rolling equipment with craft paint.
While I have never used Scale Coat paints, I feel knowing a high quality solvent based paint was still available is a good thing. I’m glad that this product will continue to be available. Somehow making it to 65 years of age considering all the noxious fumes I have inhaled over my lifetime makes me unworried about continuing to use solvent paints.
By craft paint are we talking about those little bottles of Apple Barrel paint one gets in Walmart? If so guilty I use them for weathering and structures.
Correct, also includes brands like Americana, Craftsmart, and Cermacoat among others.
And those “squeeze” bottles* are usually 2 fl. oz, significantly more than the 1/2 oz or 1 oz model paints, so the pricing makes craft paint usage really tempting.
*(well, maybe they are not true squeeze bottles, but they are flexible, and do have a pop-cap where the paint come out, so they are kinda squeeze bottles).
First off. I had absolutely no problem with Testors discontinuing their Poly Scale and Floquil lines. There was much better quality paint out there.
I created a clinic called Life After Floquil. It was very popular at the time.
I switched to Vallejo about a year before Testors quit. Never looked back. there was no Santa Fe Blue or Daylight Orange, but a quick trip to the hobby shop that sells military and RC models solved the problem. I brought a bottle of what I wanted to match and held it up to the display until I found the match.
I have used craft paints sparingly. I bought some to weather an On30 flat car deck. this was inspired by an article by Russ Watson in the On30 Annual.
I brushed it on. It worked great. I thinned it with some home brew acrylic thinner. worked really well.
I may try some on a hydrocal building next.
I have been using Pan Pastels very successfully, so am really not looking for another finishing method unless it offered superior performance.
I use most of these brands but find Ceramacote to be a little better consistancy (maybe a finer grind of pigment?). BTW I tried some denatured alcohol as a thinner and it works very well.
