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Tru-color paint

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Tru-color paint
Posted by anthony61 on Wednesday, October 7, 2015 1:51 PM

I recently used this paint and I liked it although I was not able to spray it directly from the bottle as advertised. I used their brand of thinner to thin with and did not have an issue. When I tried to clean the airbrush and paint brushes with regular testors thinner, it wanted to clump up and not clean well. I used their thinner and everything seemed to be o.k. I know that their thinner has acetone in it. Is anyone else using this and what are you thinning and cleaning with?

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Posted by RR_Mel on Wednesday, October 7, 2015 2:15 PM

Acetone for cleaning and thinning.  Use the Acetone sparingly on your airbrush, it’s tough on the O rings.  I have to replace the O ring in my airbrush after about 30 uses.  Great paint!  The only time I’ve had to thin it is when the bottle is almost empty.
 
Mel
 
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
 
My Model Railroad   
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
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Posted by DigitalGriffin on Wednesday, October 7, 2015 3:31 PM

You can clean with 90% iso alchohol or Simple Green (bio degradable and non toxic).

But be sure to rinse with distilled water when done!  I never had any problems.  But I did leave a model to rinse in a pan of Simple Green and it eventually "ate" the Styrene.

Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions

Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!

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Posted by anthony61 on Wednesday, October 7, 2015 9:39 PM

What psi are you spaying at when you spray out of the bottle?

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Posted by RR_Mel on Thursday, October 8, 2015 7:13 AM

anthony61

What psi are you spaying at when you spray out of the bottle?

 

I set my pressure at 35 pounds for my Badger 350 airbrush and that works very good for me until the bottles get down to about ¾.  By then the bottles have been opened anywhere from 10 to 15 times in period of several weeks and I think the paint gradually thickens.  When it gets slower to get to the nozzle I thin it a bit with Acetone, no science just add a bit and adjust the nozzle for a good mix.
 
I rarely do fine detail work with my airbrush, normally my SP Daylight stuff and an occasional vehicle.  For painting steam locomotives my norm is Testors Flat Black spray can.
 
 
The E7 is done totally with Tru-Color Paints using my 350 airbrush at 35 PSI.  I also switched over to TCP primer.
 
Keeping the nozzle clean can’t be over stated, your airbrush must be cleaned thoroughly after every use!  I have several Badger bottle cap adapters alowing me to switch colors quickly using a bottle of Acetone between colors for cleaning out the nozzle.
 
Mel
 
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
 
My Model Railroad   
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
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Posted by Mark R. on Thursday, October 8, 2015 4:13 PM

Testors thinner is for enamel paints and, as you discovered, is not compatible with TruColor paints. I use regular acetone for thinning - never been able to shoot it straight from the bottle and get a glass smooth finish - always needs thinning. For clean-up, I use the cheap hardware store brand laquer thinners. As for damaging the o-ring seals - I haven't changed mine in over twenty years ! I do a LOT of airbrushing and have always used either acetone or laquer based finishes.

Mark. 

¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ

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Posted by doctorwayne on Thursday, October 8, 2015 5:06 PM

As I understand it, Tru-Color paint is similar to the old SMP Accupaint, one of the nicest paints for airbrushing.  I always used lacquer thinner with it for airbrushing, and about 25psi for my Paasche VL.

Wayne

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Posted by zstripe on Thursday, October 8, 2015 7:24 PM

Anthony61,

If the Tru-color paint ingredients contain isopropanol + glycol ethers...use denatured alcohol as a thinner. Tru-color is one paint I have not used, mainly because I don't purchase any paint that is air-brush ready...waste of money, In my opinion and I do a lot of air-brush work, not only Train model related.

I keep a 1 oz bottle filled with all purpose/temp lacquer thinner that I use to spray out of My  Paasche H/VL when I'm done spraying a color and leave it connected until I'm ready to paint again, usually every couple of days and never had to replace the o-ring, since I had the units and they are 25+ yrs. old. I invested in quite a few caps and nozzle's 60 degree and 45 degree.....the H/VL are at different angles. I also spray a lot of metallic's, so You have to make sure You keep the brush clean, unless You want bits of metallic in Your flat paint.... and lacquer thinner has been doing a great job for Me.

Take Care! Big Smile

Frank

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Posted by Mark R. on Thursday, October 8, 2015 7:31 PM

zstripe

Anthony61,

If the Tru-color paint ingredients contain isopropanol + glycol ethers...use denatured alcohol as a thinner. ,,,,

Frank

 

Alcohol will not work with TruColor paint. Sure you aren't thinking about True Line paint ? TruColor is acetone based (says so right on the label) and acetone doesn't interchange much with anything else, unlike other solvent based paints.

As for TruColor being air-brush ready, I have not found that myself. I usually thin it will acetone in a ratio of about 50:50 in order to lay down a smooth wet finish. The acetone flashes really quick (faster than laquer) and needs to be thinned more than normal for the overlapping passes to meld together.

Mark.

¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ

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Posted by zstripe on Thursday, October 8, 2015 7:53 PM

Mark,

Yeah....I've never used it...so I didn't know what it contained, but if it contains acetone, lacquer thinner can be used...it also contains acetone, but not enough to quicken the drying time like using all acetone will. WOW! especially on metallic's.

Take Care! Big Smile

Frank

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Posted by Mark R. on Thursday, October 8, 2015 8:02 PM

I tried laquer thinners myself and it gummed up the paint. Others have claimed to have used laquer thinners with TruColor, but I didn't have any success with it. There are a lot of different laquer thinners out there, some may work, others not. With acetone costing no more than laquer thinners, I'm not taking any more chances.

Mark.

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Posted by richhotrain on Friday, October 9, 2015 5:14 AM

Thr Tru-Color paint web site has a very thorough FAQ section that covers all of these issues, including info on the type of paint (acrylic solvent based), recommended clean up (acetone), recommended pressure (28-35 PSI) and compatibilty with other brands of paint (it's not).

http://trucolorpaint.com/about-us/faq/

If it were me, I would rely on the web site info for accurate advice.

Rich

Alton Junction

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Posted by Soo Line fan on Friday, October 9, 2015 10:46 AM

Mark,

I have only used floquil for air brushing. How does it compare?

Jim

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Posted by Mark R. on Friday, October 9, 2015 10:50 AM

Soo Line fan

Mark,

I have only used floquil for air brushing. How does it compare?

 

Kinda like comparing finger paint to artist oils ! Smile, Wink & Grin

Can you tell I really like TruColor paint ?

Mark.

¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ

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Posted by RR_Mel on Sunday, October 11, 2015 12:31 PM

Mark R.

 

 As for TruColor being air-brush ready, I have not found that myself. I usually thin it will acetone in a ratio of about 50:50 in order to lay down a smooth wet finish. The acetone flashes really quick (faster than laquer) and needs to be thinned more than normal for the overlapping passes to meld together.

Mark.

 

Thanks for the heads up on thinning TCP for your airbrush.  I thinned some this morning and dropped the pressure to 25 pounds and it worked very good.  I didn’t go 50:50 because spraying that thin worried me, I did about a 75:25 mix and was very pleased with the results.  One thing for sure at 50:50 it will cut the cost of painting and that’s a real plus.  Straight out of the bottle TCP has always worked good for me but I go through paint like breathing air.
 
I haven’t thinned my paint that much before so it’s a slight learning curve for me.  The airbrush handles differently at reduced pressure with the thinner paint but my end result was very good!
 
Thanks again!
 
Mel
 
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
 
My Model Railroad   
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

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