True Color Paint experiences?

[ATSF_Ron]

Bob, great write for all of us! Thank you. I have a GP7 to paint soon with my TCPs. Following along and taking notes. My airbrush is a Badger 200. It’s been fine for me and my ability level, lol! I’ve only used it to fully paint ONE loco all these years. It’s a UP GP30. I mostly use the airbrush for weathering.

[muktown128]

I'm not sure about the TCP primer, but the industrial primers that I am familiar with typically are formulated with filler or extender pigments to help increase % weight solids, lower cost, fill surface imperfections, and improve sandability among other things.  Industrial primer colors include light, medium, and dark  gray colors, along with buff, black, red oxide, and yellow oxide colors.  Opacity of these primers will probably be better than bright red, yellow, or orange colors.

[ATSF_Ron]

Reviving this old topic.  Hard to believe it's been over a year since I originally posted this!  Embarrassing, actually.  I'm a bit slow with progress at times.  Anyway, here's a recent progress shot of my Atlas SP&S GP9TT.  I used TruColor for both the yellow and green and a Badger 200 airbrush I've had for over 30 years.  It's been reliable and has done its part, as long as I've done mine.  I'm still struggling with paint drying out too quickly, even with several drops of their "retarder" in the bottle.  I'm thinking of just adding the retarder to whatever I put in the bottle attached to the airbrush.  If I can figure out the retarder/paint ratio, then the painting process will be much more enjoyable.  I've spent 80% of my time tearing apart the brush and cleaning/resuming painting, rather than the reverse.  The pic is from an older iPhone, so the color separation line on the long hood may not be evident.  There are a few places where it's fuzzy, but with the weathering I'm planning on applying, I don't think it will be obvious.  I'm very pleased with the cab color separation.  Could be my masking technique.  I used blue painter's tape and a fingernail to push it into the cracks on the long hood.




The second pic is a screen shot.  I love the weathering on this loco, especially the grime on the trucks and the long hood near the walkway.  I plan to simulate that sort of thing on my final paint/decal/weathering job.  More pics to follow.  I'm mostly a SoCal modeling guy, but I love the Pacific Northwest and the railroads of that area.  How can I resist some SP&S??

[Kentuckian]

Looks good. The next time, you may want to consider sealing the tape with the same color that you are masking over. When that dries, spray the other color.

[ATSF_Ron]

Kentuckian, good point.  I've done that with painting drywall at home.  Should've thought to transfer that bit of knowledge to modeling...

[peteski]

Ron, your write-up seems to imply that you only add retarder to your paint for airbrushing.  Yes, TruColor paint is supposedly airbrush-ready, but I always thin it out a bit more using their thinner. I don't really have specific ratio - I just add thinner until the paint seems to be the right consistency.

If it goes on too dry, add more thinner, or increase paint flow (open up the needle more) and/or decrease the air pressure.  You shouldn't really have to add the retarder. Make sure to use the TruColor thinner, not acetone or lacquer thinner.  I believe that their own thinner already has some retarder in it.

I would suggest to practice your airbrush settings and paint viscosity using some disposable item like plastic spoons.  That way you can get the mixture just right without having to practice on a model.

[ATSF_Ron]

Thanks Peteski. I was actually using 100% acetone with a few drops of retarder. Perhaps I should try the TruColor thinner instead.

[peteski]

Thanks Peteski. I was actually using 100% acetone with a few drops of retarder. Perhaps I should try the TruColor thinner instead.

Acetone evaporates way too quickly!  If you use the TruColor's thinner you should see a noticeable difference in the drying time.

[robert3985]

Thanks Peteski. I was actually using 100% acetone with a few drops of retarder. Perhaps I should try the TruColor thinner instead.

I use TC thinner exclusively for thinning paint for airbrushing.  It will also restore a bottle of dried-up paint.  I use acetone for clean-up.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[nickelplate759]

I use TC thinner exclusively for thinning paint for airbrushing.  It will also restore a bottle of dried-up paint.  I use acetone for clean-up.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

This precisely!

[u18b]

You never cease to amaze me.

[u18b]

Thanks Peteski. I was actually using 100% acetone with a few drops of retarder. Perhaps I should try the TruColor thinner instead.

I had a very bad experience doing this.

plain old lacquer thinner is better than acetone.

[peteski]

You never cease to amaze me.

Gee, thanks Ron, you're making me blush!   

I had a very bad experience doing this.

plain old lacquer thinner is better than acetone.

I have used AccuPaints for many years (and still have sizable stash of them), but when the company (SMP Industries - actually a 1-man operation) shut down I was glad to see TruColor paints coming to the market.  They are very similar products.

I have never used just acetone to thin AccuPaints or TruColor paints, or for that matter any other paints I use in hobbies or for household tasks.  It is always best idea to use thinners developed for the specific line of paints, but yes, generic lacquer thinner also works well.  But there are many different brands of lacquer thinners available and they all seem to have slightly different composition (and most don't even contain any acetone).  Some brands of lacquer thinner work better than others with conjunction with hobby paints, but  why take chances when painting some model you worked hard on building.  Yes the thinners sold by the company which makes the paint line are usually much more expensive than generic lacquer thinner, but the compatibility is assured.  I do however use generic lacquer thinner for cleaning the airbrush after the painting and for other general paint cleanups.  I often even add some acetone to the lacquer thinner I use for cleaning, just to give it a bit more "kick".

I also seem  to recall in one of your build  threads that you documented your paint woes when using pure acetone.  Like I mentioned, sticking with the specific branded thinner designed for a specific paint line is the best practice.  Yes, it costs more money, but not much is needed just for thinning the paint, so to me the little extra expense is well worth it.

[u18b]

Yes.  It was the EP-2 thread. 

Acetone dries to fast and does not generally apply TruScale paint well.   Paint looks very rough. Not smooth.

[ATSF_Ron]

Bought a large (pint) container of TruColor thinner & did some touch ups where masking was a bit off.  Definitely a much easier/better experience. Cleanup is acetone though. At $40+ for the thinner, I’m going the economical route, and cleanup is just as good.

Decals this weekend, hopefully. Weathering & pics to follow. Probably not til next weekend though.