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grimy black substitute?

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Posted by maxman on Tuesday, November 26, 2019 5:17 PM

Howard Zane
I'd prefer a laquer or enamel base

Scale Coat makes a grimy black.  This is Scale Coat II #2130.  You don't have to bake that.  It is a solvent based enamel paint.

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Posted by Graham Line on Tuesday, November 26, 2019 4:51 PM

Spray a puddle of the Krylon paint you like into a 6 oz. jelly jar or something similar, thin it if necessary, and put it through your airbrush. Easy Peasy.

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Posted by BigDaddy on Tuesday, November 26, 2019 4:00 PM

Vallejo has a variety of "Weathering effects" various muds, European, Russian and Industrial and "Stains"  oil, fuel, diesel, soot, petrol and engine grime.

Unfortunately for Howard, they are acrylics

https://tinyurl.com/yx5meq6c

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Tuesday, November 26, 2019 12:23 PM

I use a mixture of four parts black, one part red, and one part white in Testors Enamel, and it works fine. You can use either flat or gloss, both produce a good color.

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As Eric White mentioned, Tamiya offers some colors that are spot-on, but water soluable.

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I will add Vallejo number 862 "Black Gray" to the list of water soluable alternatives. I prefer Vallejo to Tamiya, but I only use water soluable paints for brush painting, not with an airbrush.

.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

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Posted by jjdamnit on Tuesday, November 26, 2019 12:06 PM

Hello All,

PM me your email address and I will send you links from another web source, that I cannot divulge on these forums (posting the links would violate forum policy).

Hope this helps.

"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"

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Posted by dknelson on Tuesday, November 26, 2019 12:02 PM

doctorwayne
Grimy Black, which was, I believe, a Floquil name, always struck me as having a green tinge to it, so I'd start with a black of your brand choice, then add some green and perhaps a little grey or even a little less white.

Yes back in the 1960s when I was a Pennsy modeler, guys were using Floquil grimy back as the closest thing to Pennsy steam locomotive "green."  Some even insisted it was "too green!"  And for some Pennsy locomotives (joke alert, joke alert) it was even too glossy (Wink

Krylon (I think) makes or made a drab olive green spray paint that to my eyes is close to the old Floquil grimy black.

But nothing smells like Floquil .....

Dave Nelson

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Posted by Eric White on Tuesday, November 26, 2019 11:27 AM

Model Master has a Grimy Black in its acrylic line, not sure if it's available in the enamal line.

Another alternative is Tamiya German Gray. I thin that a little thicker than 50/50 with alcohol and it sprays well. Tamiya thinner works even better, but alcohol is cheaper.

Tamiya also has a new lacquer line out that may include German Gray.

Eric

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Posted by doctorwayne on Tuesday, November 26, 2019 11:25 AM

Howard Zane
....I'd prefer a laquer or enamel base vs. acrylic as I have too many air brushes gummed up with acrylic based paints...

Ordinary lacquer thinner works great for cleaning pretty-well any type of paint from an airbrush, but it's best to use it immediately after you finishing painting or when you wish to change colours.  My Paasche VL has been in service for almost 40 years, using only lacquer thinner and a pipe cleaner after a painting session.

I have a pretty good supply of Pollyscale paint still on-hand, in my opinion, the best model paint ever, even better than Floquil, the brand with which I started in the '50s.

For Grimy Black, choose your brand of black paint, then simply add some other colours to it - depending on the amounts used, red will shift the black to brown, white to grey, green to DLGE....which is pretty close to Grimy Black.
I recently built this BowserA-5 for a friend, then painted it using Pollyscale "Brunswick Green", although with a coat of Glosscote, it does look like it's pretty-much just black...

...a little weathering does shift it from straight black, though...

Grimy Black, which was, I believe, a Floquil name, always struck me as having a green tinge to it, so I'd start with a black of your brand choice, then add some green and perhaps a little grey or even a little less white.

I've had pretty-good luck mixing colours to match pre-painted items by using a "brushload method".  For Grimy Black, place 4 or 5 brushloads of black on a non-porous disposable surface, then add a brushload of green - mix it in, then, if it looks like it needs more green, add a brushload.  Keep track of the colours used and number of brushloads of each.  You may not get it right the first time, but you'll begin to understand what each added colour does to the base colour, and you'll gradually come to the colour you seek. 
When adding the brushloads, I simply wipe the brush with a tissue or paper towel between colours, not wasting time to clean the brush, as it's a quick dip into each bottle, with little chance of noticeably contaminating most colours - you might want to clean the brush properly before dipping into white or yellow, though.

Once you achieve the colour you want, the brushload count can be converted to a recipe of "parts", for example:  5 parts black, 3 parts green (specific colour of green), 2 parts red (again, the specific colour), 3 parts white.  Write down the formula, and keep it where you store your paints/painting equipment.

Rather than hunting for a colour or brand of paint to match the paint on something you already own, you'll be able to mix it yourself.

Wayne

 

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Posted by RR_Mel on Tuesday, November 26, 2019 10:53 AM

I never used Floquil Grimy Black so I can’t compare it with TCP-804 Flat Grimy Black but you could give it a try.
 
 
I’ve used it on several of my SP articulateds and to me it looks pretty good.
 
EDIT:
 
I use Acetone to thin the TruColor Paints and cleanup.
 
 
Mel
 
 
My Model Railroad   
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
 
 
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grimy black substitute?
Posted by Howard Zane on Tuesday, November 26, 2019 10:37 AM

Well it finally happened....ran out of Floquil grimy black both in spray can and bottle. Krylon has a rattle can substitute which is right on.... Anvil gray, but only for large surfaces such as structure roofs and car underbodies. Any simple air brush paints anyone know of that'll work? I've tried Scalecoat and I'm not a fan of baking finishes and at age 81 want to see paint dry prior to rubber bag time. I'd prefer a laquer or enamel base vs. acrylic as I have too many air brushes gummed up with acrylic based paints.....yeah I know I did not use proper proceedures which is a fine idea for future discussions.

Or does anyone have any Floquil grimy black for sale at a reasonable price? If so. I'd purchase a mess of it.

Many thanks,

HZ

Howard Zane

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