# Floquil Railroad Colors Questions



## starmanmm (Mar 19, 2000)

When I first used an AB... many, many years ago... the paint of choice was the Floquil Railroad Colors. I like the colors and they seemed true to color to me.

Back then, you had to use barrier thinner on the plastic kit first to protect the kit and then spray the paint thinned with Dio-Sol.

Now I want to re-due a kit from my college days, which was done in Floquil Railroad Colors with the same color. Now, I'm being told that you no longer need to use barrier thinner to spray the kit for the Floquil Railroad Color _formula is now different_. But that you still need to use the Dio-Sol to thin it for AB.

Is this true that you no longer need to use barrier thinner?

The people at my LHS that sells the paint doesn't seem to know the answer. They carry the barrier thinner, but they think that I no longer need it... so I'm a bit confused here. :freak:

Thanks for the help.


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## toyroy (Jul 17, 2005)

Floquil is now owned by Testors. Might try their website.


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## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

Here's a link, not sure how old it is:

http://www.hosam.com/paint/testors.html


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## PhilipMarlowe (Jan 23, 2004)

I bought a big bag of Floquil Railroad colors at a garage sale a while back, I've used them thru the airbrush several times over auto lacquer primer with no problems. I just thinned them with Windex.


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## Lee Staton (May 13, 2000)

Careful! Some Floquil paints are enamels, and some of the modern line are available in the same colors as acrylics. I wouldn't use Windex to thin the enamels.

Back when the environmental and consumer protection laws started coming down on toxic paints, I think Testor's (who bought Floquil) reformulated all of their paints. I don't think Dio-Sol is the recommended thinner for their enamels anymore; there's a thinner sold for that purpose. I just can't remember its name.

Dio-Sol is a great airbrush cleaner, as it dissolves almost anything clogging your brush.

Lee


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## MartinHatfield (Apr 11, 2004)

Floquil the company no longer exists. They have changed their name to *Poly-scale*. I found all of their railroad colors today at my local hs. The names of the colors are still the same, but some are no longer available as both acrylic and enamel. I doscovered this while scouting for my *Fine Molds Millenium Falcon* base color. The best color for the _Falcon_ is a 50/50 mix of Reefer White and Grime. Unfortunately the grime is not available in acrylic any more, only as an enamel.


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## starmanmm (Mar 19, 2000)

From the site that SteveR has pointed out...

TYPES of PAINTS

There seems to be a bit of confusion concerning various model paints.

I will attempt to shed some light on this matter.

1. Floquil Railroad Colors is a Xylol and Petroleum based paint, produced
by Floquil-Polly S Corp in Amsterdam, NY., an RPM Co. Can be thinned with
Dio-Sol or mineral spirits. This paint is flammable and requires a barrier
coat to be safe on plastic models. Breathing protection with a chemical
cartridge mask is a must when using this paint. Airbrush cleanup is best
done with lacquer thinner run thru several times. Best cleanup is to
disassemble airbrush and clean manually.


So... I guess in answer to my question... Dio Sol on the enamel based RR colors is needed but they do not mentioned the need for barrier thinner... so I guess I can skip that then.


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## toyroy (Jul 17, 2005)

From farther down the same page: 

"hosam

Floquil has been plastic compatible for quite some years now... don't
remember exactly when, but I'd say 7-8 years ago ALL Floquil became plastic
compatible, and this was about 5 years after they introduced the
short-lived "Rev 1" formula which was their first attempt. Floquil is
plastic compatible straight from the bottle, or thinned with their new
formula airbrush thinner, or Rev 1 thinner which still works if you have a
can of it laying around. *Diosol is of course *NOT* plastic compatible, and
the paint will not be if you thin with it.*

Andy Harman


Thanks, guess I went back too far to the original Floquil. There is a
Floquil Railroad paint which has the Xylol removed but is still petroleum
based. The Xylol was the culprit as far as damage to plastics. The newer
formula is "safe on most plastics" to quote from the label. Still
flammable and is a vapor hazard requiring a chemical cartridge to protect
the person doing the airbrushing. This also requires a drying time of
overnight between coating. This is the type currently on the market.
I shouldn't have missed this paint, but since the advent of water based
acrylics , I no longer use this type paint."
(Emphasis mine.)

If you check the Testors site(www.testors.com), they now make a Floquil Enamel Thinner and Brush Cleaner. I don't know if this is suitable for airbrushing. Also, I don't know what current barrier coat products are available.


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## Lee Staton (May 13, 2000)

I should have mentioned in my first post that I never used the barrier product to airbrush Floquil enamels onto plastic, even though I was aware of it. However, I always airbrush light coats that are not thick, drippy or "wet." If you soaked the plastic with an initial heavy coat I imagine you could do some damage. The good news is that initial light coats act as a barrier anyway for later coats. I mean, why airbrush in the first place if you're gonna glop it up? The moment of revelation I had when I first airbrushed onto a model base was to say out loud, "It looks like the plastic was made in that color!" Which never, ever happened with brush or spray paints.

So...I've never had this problem of the paint hurting styrene. You probably won't either, even if you luck out and find some of the original "hot" paints. I actually like them a lot better than the newer, safer ones.

Lee


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## xr4sam (Dec 9, 1999)

If you have old Floquil, for god's sake, open the door, and turn on the ventilators! JBGroby and I killed the hell out of some braincells with it a few years ago. NEVER AGAIN!


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## starmanmm (Mar 19, 2000)

Ok... It's been since the late 70's (damn... dated myself) when I first used RR colors.

So... if I understand what Toyroy has posted... I can skip the barrier thinner due to the change in make up of the Floquil paints. :woohoo:

And do not use the Dio Sol with the new version of this paint.

I guess the reason why I still see it on the shelves is because it is just a left over stock? 

As I am writing this my brother has brought me a bottle of Floquil paint. There is a date of 2002... so I guess that is about as new as one would get. It also states on the bottle... "To apply by airbrush: Thin 75% paint 25% thinner. Use Floquil Thinner for best results."

Ok... now my search is for there thinner.

Thanks for all the info and advice! :wave:


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## toyroy (Jul 17, 2005)

starmanmm said:


> ... if I understand what Toyroy has posted... I can skip the barrier thinner due to the change in make up of the Floquil paints...And do not use the Dio Sol with the new version of this paint...


You refer to a barrier "thinner". What I recall is a primer-like barrier coat which was applied to bare plastic before the paint proper(I think Floquil was originally formulated for metal models.) 

My concern about using Diosol on a previously painted item is that if it can craze bare plastic, it may wrinkle underlying paint, too.


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## starmanmm (Mar 19, 2000)

Yes, that was what I had recalled. You needed to spray the barrier thinner prior to painting the kit with the Floquil RR color at that time frame.


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