Hi Bruce, Andy, and List Members,
Thanks Bruce for the additional info and pointers,
and thanks Andy for the very useful info.
I think I found the 'blog' that Bruce refered to in
his post, it is actually the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page. I have to
say, with respect to web site organization, I would never have thought to look
for the FAQ page under the "About Us" tab! Maybe
I should lower my letter grade for the web site from a "C" to a
"C-"
So I will go the LHS and buy a bottle of their
recommend thinner, that won't happen for a while since the LHS is a 45
minute drive one way but I can wait. I would have happily bought it when I was
there last time had I known, but the fact that I was going to brush it on
and the gleeful reassurance on the label that the paint was
paint-brush ready gave me no reason to think I should buy thinner -
sigh...
Claus Schlund
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2020 4:55 PM
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] Tru Color was ]
Vallejo box car red from micro-Mark
Actually,
the "partial" bottle problem was a part I already knew about. As Andy Carlson
pointed out, the bottles don't do a perfect job of sealing and can evaporate
volatiles. That was one of the cautions I did find on line when searching for
information about these paints.
Claus,
your 1/2 bottle has the correct amount of "paint", just not the correct amount
of thinner. That's why it paints like mud!
As
for the flat finish, it may also reflect a loss of volatiles.
My
bottle was full to the shoulders, so I did not add any thinner to bring it up.
There was some chatter on line about the air-brush ready paints (not the 800
series, like Claus' but 019, like mine) might not be air-brush ready and that
certainly seems to be true, at least for some. I'm thinking I may need to thin
it 1:2 paint to thinner or more to really get any "action".
And
yeah, the whole "I have to have another chemical on hand to clean up",
acetone, even if it is available in my wife's and daughter's bathroom cabinets
(nail polish remover) isn't thrilling me either. I get it if this is your
go-to paint, but I have at least 3 different types of paint on hand.
There
is a blog on the Tru-Color web site that covers some of these issues, but it
isn't that helpful for others.
Regards,
Bruce
From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
<main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> on behalf of mel perry
<clipper841@...>
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2020 3:35
PM
To: main@realstmfc.groups.io
<main@realstmfc.groups.io>
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] Tru Color
was ] Vallejo box car red from micro-Mark
claus:
ever give a thought of discussing
this problem with the manufacture?
as an aside, why buy a half bottle of
paint, better yet why didn't the lhs
spot this?
just asking?
;-)
mel perry
On Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 1:25 PM Claus Schlund
\(HGM\) < claus@...>
wrote:
Hi Bruce and List Members.
I also had my first experience using Tru-Color
Paint in recent days. I purchased one bottle each of TCP-822 FLAT RAILROAD
TIE BROWN and TCP-830 FLAT RAIL BROWN.
I was quite unhappy with what I
got.
Here is what I found...
(1) The instructions say that each of these is
supposed to be ready to brush right out of the bottle (instructions indicate
this is true for all the 800-series Tru-Color paint). When opened, I found
that the FLAT RAIL BROWN bottle was reasonable full, and the paint within
had a reasonable viscosity. The bottle of FLAT RAILROAD TIE BROWN was only
about 1/2 full, and the paint was noticably much thicker in terms of
viscosity. There was no visible indication that the bottle had been
previously used or opened before I bought it. But I have to wonder - why the
huge difference in thickness? And why was it only half full? Did one of them
evaporate due to an incomplete seal of the bottle at the factory? I was
somewhat surprised by this, but I do wonder if maybe the plastic bottles and
caps provided don't seal as tightly as they need to.
(2) I went ahead and used them anyway as-is.
The FLAT RAILROAD TIE BROWN was brushed onto the metal rails of some clean
new track. The FLAT RAIL BROWN was painted onto the ties. While the colors
looked good as they went on, the thickness of the FLAT RAILROAD TIE BROWN
was a bit of an issue. I went back and looked at things once the paint had
fully dried, and I saw that both dried to a mildly glossy finish. By no
stretch of my imagination was this a FLAT finish, yet both colors
specifrically say they are a FLAT finish paint - sez so right in the name of
the color!
(3) Once fully cured, I found that the FLAT
RAIL BROWN paint did not stick very well to the metal rails - if you breathe
on it the wrong way the paint falls right off - argh! I will say that the
(incredibly unbelievably tiny, almost microscopically small) directions for
use printed on the bottle say "Primers can be used on metals and plastics,
if desired", but I read this as telling me that primers are OPTIONAL, not
required for these surfaces
I looked over their web site at https://trucolorpaint.com/products/paint/ and did not find
any obvious place that contained directions for use, or hints for a good
finish, no recommendations for primers nor what surfaces might need priming,
I did not even find a recommeded thinner!
As I mentioned, I bought these from my LHS,
they cost $6.19 per bottle there, so for this price I kinda expected the
paint to work as advertized
So far, I am entirely disappointed - I give the
paint a letter grade of D- and I give the web site a letter grade of
C
If I'm doing something wrong, would someone
kindly PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THAT IS!
Thanks in advance - Claus
Schlund
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2020 2:35
PM
Subject: [RealSTMFC] Tru Color was ]
Vallejo box car red from micro-Mark
Don,
Folks,
I
used Tru-Color for the 1st time last night and today. There is definitely
a learning curve with every new paint, but so far I'm mystified. I bought
TCP-019, Santa Fe Brown, to paint a Bx-31 boxcar. This is supposedly a
paint that needs no thinner. Using my Badger 200/210, I could not get it
to airbrush at all. I added Tru-color thinner 1:1 and sort of got it to
work but it was still really reluctant to flow. I tried at my normal 23
psi and at 30 psi. I did get the car painted and I like the finish, but I
feel like it happened more by forcing it than by getting decent airbrush
action.
Is
it the airbrush? I can try my old badger 150 dual action, but I am
reluctant because paint drying in the airbrush is clearly and issue.
Is
it the PSI? I did see one post where the poster went to 35-40 psi.
Do
I need to thin even more than 1:1?
Regards,
Bruce
Bruce
Smith
Auburn,
AL
Frankly I am so pleased to have Tru-Color paint available in even more
colors
than
my late friend George Bishop provided for us in his line of Accu-Paint
that is
the
exact same paint from the same supplier that George used after Floquil
tried to
give
him a hard time. I know that story all to well and never bought Floquil
after
that.
Tru-Color has expanded the line and offers the same great paint I’ve used
since
George
first offered it as the new form of Accu-Paint. Even Gordon Cannon used
the
same
Accu-Paint in Erie-Lackawanna Gray to paint all samples of his products
before
photographing
them for advertising purposes, suggesting that I do the same with the
NERS
“Pullman Parts” line, many of which he cut the molds for and did the
molding
before
his untimely loss. So why put up with the hassle of trying to figure out
what color
you
are really getting when some supplier sells the same paint to several
other sellers
each
of whom put a different label on it? This is nonsense. I’ve never had such
trouble
Tru-color
and have been very pleased with the way it handles and helps me keep the
freight
cars of my choice rolling our of the car shop properly painted. I’ve know
very
few
modelers who have learned how to use Tru-Color properly who have ever been
satisfied
with any other model paint they have tried on resin or styrene models. Try
it.
Learn
how to use it properly and you’ll swear by it.
No, I have no financial involvement with Tru-Color but would be lost
without it.
Cordially,
Don Valentine
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