Testors reaction to grumbling MRR's

[SkipGear]

The airbrush itself is still expensive, at 10¢ above minimum wage, and fluctuating hours, a paycheck only goes so far. Especially when setting aside most of it to cover the cost of my operating experience at the Talyllyn Railway.
That is not to say one is not in the cards in the future, but I could spend a lifetime planning for the future... So I try to keep focused on today. 


-Cody F.

A basic single action airbrush can be had for $20 or less. It's more than enough for basic weathering and reapainting of equipment. For one color, no color transition paint jobs, a single action will do all you need.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LX8167&P=7

If you want the same with a can of air, about $30.

[SkipGear]

In keeping with the original topic, Testors continues to circle the drain. They announced today that they are no longer producing model kits. I know most of them were repops of others tooling but just the same, it sounds like they are on a downward spiral.

[VonRyan]

A basic single action airbrush can be had for $20 or less. It's more than enough for basic weathering and reapainting of equipment. For one color, no color transition paint jobs, a single action will do all you need.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LX8167&P=7

If you want the same with a can of air, about $30.

I had one of those, and a brand new can of air. I test ran some 91% Alcohol through it, worked fine, ran some thinned PRR Maroon paint through it, it have me like 6 good sprays, a sputter, and then wouldn't spray, needless to say after soaking it in 91% alcohol and replacing the rubber gaskets and adding a second can nozzle that I got as an extra with the airbrush, nothing.
I've been told that they are generally worthless.

-Cody F.

[Philip H]

In keeping with the original topic, Testors continues to circle the drain. They announced today that they are no longer producing model kits. I know most of them were repops of others tooling but just the same, it sounds like they are on a downward spiral.

Ugh.  Seems some parts of the hobby business are indeed on the ropes.  Anyone know if any of these guys went to Horizon?

[Kisatchie]

I had one of those, and a brand new can of air. I test ran some 91% Alcohol through it, worked fine, ran some thinned PRR Maroon paint through it, it have me like 6 good sprays, a sputter, and then wouldn't spray, needless to say after soaking it in 91% alcohol and replacing the rubber gaskets and adding a second can nozzle that I got as an extra with the airbrush, nothing....

That sounds like the paint wasn't stirred enough to break up any clumps. I'm guessing a clump made it into the air passage and clogged everything up. Just running some alcohol through the brush isn't enough to clear a clump of paint.


Hmm... listen to Kiz. He's
an expert on clumps...

[VonRyan]

That sounds like the paint wasn't stirred enough to break up any clumps. I'm guessing a clump made it into the air passage and clogged everything up. Just running some alcohol through the brush isn't enough to clear a clump of paint.


Hmm... listen to Kiz. He's
an expert on clumps...

I let the thing soak in the alcohol for at least 23 hours. No dice. The air feeds fine, and the paint line is clear since I could touch a paper towl to the hole where the paint comes out and it would soak into the paper towl.
Couldn't find any leaks not could I find a cause for it to stop working so suddenly.
I probably should have said "sputter" as it was more of a dribble as the paint stopped misting and some just dribbled out of the paint nozzle-thing. No amount of adjusting in either direction caused anything to change.

[randgust]

There is nothing to suspect. The announcement I've seen clearly stated that the new line of those custom mixed model RR colors are produced by Vallejo.

Glad to confirm that as I muse over my plate of crow cutlets, if you go into the individual colors "•Blended by expert acrylic paint formulators Acrylicos Vallejo to Micro-Mark specifications", so that's a very good thing.    I kind of hoped somebody would do this, like others, solvent-base stuff in a small train room is a very bad idea when other alternatives are available. 

But, I just can't help myself to post this.   I was one of the people that blasted Floquil for horrible online color charts, mostly on the reefer yellow that looked buff but actually was the right color when you got it.  Well, here we go again... this is possibly the worst online color chart I've ever seen.  I pray it's dead wrong on some of them (rail brown looks greenish to me), and will assume so, but holy smokes...!

 http://www.micromark.com/html_pages/misc/micromark-acrylics-8-13.jpg

I live on grimy black, but I can also show you that Floquil grimy black and Pollyscale grimy black aren't the same color, and like Dave, I have bottles of Pollyscale grimy black that isn't like other bottles of the same stuff.   I'm willing to bet that M-M and Vallejo are a little more focused on quality at this point.

 

[Kisatchie]

I live on grimy black, but I can also show you that Floquil grimy black and Pollyscale grimy black aren't the same color, and like Dave, I have bottles of Pollyscale grimy black that isn't like other bottles of the same stuff.   I'm willing to bet that M-M and Vallejo are a little more focused on quality at this point.

In real life, "grimy black" varies. There is no platonic ideal for grimy black. Manufacturers are left on their own for such a subjective "color".


Hmm... I could go for a
platonic banana right
about now...

[peteski]

I let the thing soak in the alcohol for at least 23 hours. No dice. The air feeds fine, and the paint line is clear since I could touch a paper towl to the hole where the paint comes out and it would soak into the paper towl.
Couldn't find any leaks not could I find a cause for it to stop working so suddenly.
I probably should have said "sputter" as it was more of a dribble as the paint stopped misting and some just dribbled out of the paint nozzle-thing. No amount of adjusting in either direction caused anything to change.

Cody,
alcohol is not potent enough (even after soaking) to really dissolve dried-up paint. Lacquer thinner would be a better choice.  But even lacquer thinner will not be able to liquify hardened up enamel paint.  I said hardened, because enables harden through a chemical reaction, rather than solvent evaporation which occurs in lacquers.  Solvents will soften dried up enamel film, but it will not turn back into liquid (like it would happen to lacquers) which can then be blown out of the airbrush. 

Sounds like your airbrush juse needs a full disassembly and a thorough cleaning.

You have to develop certain cleaning habits while using the airbrush and rigidly adhere to them. This is especially important when spraying water-based acrylic enamels.  That is one of the reasons I don't usually spray those paints through the airbrush.  I prefer spraying organic solvent based paints.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I liked PolyScale primarily because it was thick enough to brush-paint for jobs which didn't require airbrushing.

Yep, that's why I liked it, and will miss it, too.

I guess the Micromark stuff may be better, but with this I could at least eyeball the rack and pick something close to the color I wanted (instead of just guessing at chips in a catalog or on a website).

[kalbert]

In keeping with the original topic, Testors continues to circle the drain. They announced today that they are no longer producing model kits. I know most of them were repops of others tooling but just the same, it sounds like they are on a downward spiral.

Makes sense I guess, model kits are even further from RPM's interest in getting market share from the arts and crafts aisle.

[nkalanaga]

Ed:  That's what I'll do as well.  The only colors from it that I "needed" were the GN Glacier Green and Big Sky Blue.  Neither were perfect, but they worked fine for cars a few years old, and I model 1974.  My main use for them was touchup, not whole-car paint jobs, so I'll keep looking for something close.  The couple bottles of each that I have will last a long time, if they don't dry out first.

Incidentally, I keep opened Polly-Scale bottles sealed with a piece of heavy plastic wrap, usually from a magazine bag, rubber-banded over the lid.  Haven't lost a bottle yet since I stopped depending on the lid seal.

[pnolan48]

. . . I was one of the people that blasted Floquil for horrible online color charts, mostly on the reefer yellow that looked buff but actually was the right color when you got it.  Well, here we go again... this is possibly the worst online color chart I've ever seen.  I pray it's dead wrong on some of them (rail brown looks greenish to me), and will assume so, but holy smokes...!

 http://www.micromark.com/html_pages/misc/micromark-acrylics-8-13.jpg

. . .

I've given up on online color charts except for rough guesses. There's just too much variation in R-G-B values, even between two excellent, professionally calibrated monitors. Who knows what degree of care a small paint company, or a small division of a large paint company, spends on getting online colors correct? I'm presuming some smaller companies spend a great deal of effort getting colors right, but monitors change quickly, perhaps every few months.

I've also given up on most printed paint chips. How many commercial printers these days can match colors? The printing industry is changing rapidly, with the small precision printers disappearing in favor of vast quantity plants, which are also struggling as print volumes continually decline.

Of course, the whole RGB to CMYK conversion often muddies the . . . paint.

I found an auto paint dealer in Albuquerque who could produce spot on paint from RGB values. For ships I can find official US government RGB values for most colors; not sure about railroad colors.

[C855B]

Pantone Matching System.

One of life's great mysteries is that in a pastime that seems to live and die by color precision, this color matching standard rarely sees the light of day (...so to speak). Yes, not every conceivable proto paint sample is covered under Pantone, but it goes a long way towards a foundation for discussion.

[wcfn100]

Pantone Matching System.

One of life's great mysteries is that in a pastime that seems to live and die by color precision, this color matching standard rarely sees the light of day (...so to speak). Yes, not every conceivable proto paint sample is covered under Pantone, but it goes a long way towards a foundation for discussion.

Not nearly enough colors.  And how do you adjust between say Caboose Red and Signal Red, those would most likely be the same 'close' match in Pantone.  I don't think you can ask for just a little more of some other color added in.

What we need is 8-12 base colors; blue, red etc...  And a chart that tells us how to mix what we want.   It would solve all problems.


Jason