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Tru-Color Paints Getting started
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Active Member 61 posts nsc409w Active Member 61 posts
nsc409w
Tru-Color Paints I am working on four more locomotives for my freelance railroad. I had painted the previous completed models in Polly S CSX dark future paint. I have found an equivalent shade of CSX dark future with True Color paints. My question is, since I have only used Polly S, Floquil, and Tamiya, how is the finish and does it air brush well and what paint does it compare best to. I have used up most of my Polly S and Floquil stock so now I must find another option. Thanks. Shane
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Greg Baker Mountaingoatgreg Prolific poster 1,316 posts
Greg Baker Mountaingoatgreg

My favorite paint

I have exclusively change to Tru-color a few years ago as it airbrushed extremely easily and cleans up quickly with acetone. They sell their own thinner which I have purchased but many people just use acetone also to thin it. If using the proper air pressure and distance from the model the paint goes on very glossy and can be de allied directly without having to add a clear coat. I also like the variety of colors they offer and the paints also mix well together. I 

"Mountain Goat" Greg Baker

https://www.facebook.com/mountaingoatmodels/
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blindog10 Prolific poster 3,315 posts
blindog10

it's different

Tru-Color is actually a silk-screening ink being used as a paint. So it's quite different from the hobby paints most of us are used to. For one thing, the carrier/thinner contains a mix of hydroscopic alcohols and acetone, which will suck water right out of the air. In a humid environment this can cause fogging of the paint and adhesion issues. But as long you refrain from painting on overly humid days, you will be rewarded with a fast-drying, decal-ready finish that does not hide details. Doesn't hide flaws either. I too love Polly Scale, partly because I live near Atlanta and humidity is often an issue. Some of my friends that like Tru-Color use tanks of CO2 or nitrogen instead of an air compressor, so the "air" they are shooting with is very dry. I use acetone to clean my airbrush after using Tru-Color. I use their thinner to actually thin the paint. I find most colors need a bit of thinning to shoot out of my Badger double-action brush. About 20-25% thinner. Acetone is even "hotter" ( more volatile) than the thinner, so it makes a very fast-drying paint dry too fast in my opinion. It might work on some colors. Speaking of which, since it is so thin, the light colors will not cover darker colors. For instance, yellow and orange need very light-colored primer coats underneath, like white, light grey, or silver. I think you will like the stuff. Scott Chatfield
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JackM Regular poster 267 posts
JackM

Tru Color PSI Recommendations

My air compressor shot craps a while back and I bit the bullet and bought a new one, arrived this week.  Tomorrow I plan to fire it up and paint using Tru Color tuscan.  Can you recommend what PSI to spray.  I have bottle of their thinner and will thin about 20% thinner.  Thanks.

Jack 
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joef MRH Founder 17,403 posts
joef

Solvent-based paints vs water-based paints

Tru-color and Scalecoat paints are solvent-based paints. Personally, after some scarey episodes from inhaling solvent paint fumes, I have moved away from solvent-based paints. Notice, the housing industry, the airlines, the auto industry, the railroads, and the ocean shipping business have all moved away from solvent-based paint to water-based paint. It's just a matter of time before solvent based paints become a more costly specialty item as all the major industries move away from them and governments restrict the use of less friendly products. MRH did our book on more environmentally friendly water-based acrylic paints because we wanted to find a good, more friendly replacement for the Floquil / Pollyscale paints. After working with these paints and using the high-performance thinner formula (in the book), these paints work a lot more like the good old solvent-based paints but without the health concerns. So I also recommend you get the MRH Acrylic paint guide and try out some of the new crop of water-based acrylics. You will be pleasantly surprised at how nice working with these paints has become. If you're an MRH subscriber, the MRH Acrylic painting guide (44 pages) is free as an eBook: http://mrhmag.com/subscribers-only/painting/acrylics

Joe Fugate​
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine

[siskiyouBtn]

Read my blog
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dehanley Frequent poster 548 posts
dehanley

Tru Color Paints

I have used Tru Color paints and love them. I have spoken to several professional painters who have used them regarding techniques. They will mask and spray a second color after about 45 minutes of dry time, or begin descaling. The primary one I use is to spray directly from the paint bottle, at 35 - 40psi.   

Joe is right; with any solvent based paint can be hazardous to your health. If you use them make sure you use a respirator also. I purchased mine at the local Home Depot in the paint department. Don't assume that one of the dusts masks will do the job. They won't. The respirators are relative inexpensive so don't sacrifice your health to save a few dollars. 

While acrylic paints don't have the same effects as solvent based paints,no one knows what the long terms effects of inhaling acrylic air born particles. I think its a good idea to use a respirator when spraying any types of paint

Don Hanley

Proto-lancing a fictitious Erie branch line.

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PAPat Regular poster 283 posts
PAPat

I use TCP as well.  Don't be

I use TCP as well.  Don't be afraid to thin the paint, I have found it tends to be a bit thick, but echo the comments of others above.  It gives an awesome, glossy finish that you can decal without having to topcoat.  This is a UP repaint I finished last week, as an example...

IMG_7661.jpg 
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laming Super User 3,957 posts
laming

I was looking to Tru-Color to

I was looking to Tru-Color to be my future as my stash of Floquil dwindles. Well, the "humidity" statement above has me very concerned now. I live in a high-humidity environ. I have a moisture trap that I use with my compressor, but the humidity warning above reads as if that will not be sufficient as it recommends avoiding painting during humid conditions.

Hm.

FWIW: I paint inside in an HVAC environ using a double exhaust fan equipped paint booth to extract the air born over spray particles and a moisture trap inline between the compressor and airbrush.

Andre
Kansas City & Gulf: Ozark Subdivision, Autumn of 1964
 
The "Mainline To The Gulf!"
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Nick Santo amsnick MRH Advertiser and MRH Author 2,806 posts
Nick Santo amsnick

Isn’t HVAC a dehumidifier also?

I might be wrong but if HVAC dropped the temperature below the dew point in your house it would rain (or more likely it would condense on metal then walls) and cause a mold problem.  That not being the case the HVAC reduces the dew point of the air and the DRY air is made for your interior environment.

Having said the above, I’d think it worth a try on some scrap plastic.  Chances are you’ll be pleased.  I use and like Tru-Color paints.

Nick

Nick

https://nixtrainz.com/ Home of the Decoder Buddy

Full disclosure: I am the inventor of the Decoder Buddy and I sell it via the link above.
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laming Super User 3,957 posts
laming

Hi Nick:Thanks for the

Hi Nick:

Thanks for the reply.

I worded that awkwardly. I should have said that I live in a region noted for its high humidity instead of giving the indication my painting situation was laden with humidity as my wording suggested.

I think you are correct: My unit is both an AC and heat pump w/emergency heat coils. I think that most AC's also dehumidify as they operate. In fact, now that I think about it, waaay back when I was a teenager and building/flying control line combat model airplanes, I would use butyrate "dope" to tauten and fuel proof the silk they were covered with. When doing so in a humid atmosphere condition, it would "blush" (white splotches) because it would dry so fast it trapped moisture under it. Taking the model into an AC environ to apply the next coat, then the next coat would remove the blush on account of the dehumidified air the AC had filled the room/house with.

Reconsidering, I'll bet I was starting to wring my hands for naught. I think I'll be alright.

Andre
Kansas City & Gulf: Ozark Subdivision, Autumn of 1964
 
The "Mainline To The Gulf!"
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vincep Regular poster 298 posts
vincep

Tru-Color

Use to be a scalecoat/floquil painter for a long time. Another modeler turned me onto T.C. paints and that's almost all I use anymore. They go on nice and smooth easy to work with I just like T.C. all the way around.
Vince P
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Graham Line Prolific poster 1,165 posts
Graham Line

Tru-Color

How long do they last on the shelf once opened?
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packnrat Frequent poster 758 posts
packnrat

most big company's moved to

most big company's moved to water based paint due to epa reg's, (some of which jacked up the price) not due to any other reason. and why 1300 sp personal lost there jobs some decades back, as the sp grey oil based paint was banned in ca so they had to move to a water based, and it pealed off. so sp moved there paint shop out of ca,

as to home use. get a paint booth, no problem. or paint outside. paint booths are a easy build.

i will start doing some painting next year (go things to do first), then i get to have fun learning how to paint. what kind is best "for me". etc. and plan on doing such in a very well ventilated area (bad lungs).

 

oops thought i was posting a reply to another post in this thread.

but as for me right now i am learning about all this paint stuff.
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cr9617 Regular poster 117 posts
cr9617

It's really easy to work with

It's really easy to work with and as previously mentioned dries super glossy, ready for decals.  I found it to be a little thick out of the bottle, I thin it with a little acetone.    You can see the gloss here pretty well:  
 
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