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Hi there from hot, dry northern Phoenix, AZ.

 

Tru-Color Paint here. We are pleased to announce to the military modeler that our new line of military colors for armor, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy ships will be start shipping on Oct. 1, 2017. In the initial release there will be 14 colors: 6 for U.S. Navy ships, 4 each for U.S. Armor and U.S. Air Force. Then each month thereafter our intent is to release 4-10 new colors until the end of 2019. By the time we are through with this we will have added over 200 military colors to our vast product line.

 

The entire Tru-Color Paint product line is manufactured in Phoenix, AZ. It is a solvent based paint, similar to an enamel, but it does not cure. All of the colors are stocked in 1 oz.

( $ 5.69 list) and 2 oz. ( $10.25) bottles. We pride ourselves on producing the most accurate modeling paints on the market (over 400 railroad colors and 100 automobile colors attest to this).

 

We are grateful to many of the IPMS members who have helped us develop many of the colors not governed by Federal Standard color chips. All colors are matched to color chips from various sources (Snyder & Short for U.S. Navy 1939-46) or matched by experts in their field: Kevin Wenker for Bi-planes, Ethan Dunsford for U.S. Armor and others.

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reply to this forum.

 

Martin Cohen PhD

Tru-Color Paint

P.O. Box 74524

Phoenix, AZ 85087-4524

 

714-488-9779

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Thanks for the announcement here on the IPMSUSA forum! I saw your ad in the Journal today and it piqued my curiosity, as does your statement above.....

 

What do you mean "similar to enamel, but doesn't cure"? In our laymen model building terms, a paint that doesn't "cure" never dries! It's hard to believe that's what you mean!

 

Perhaps you could tell us some more of the characteristics of your new paint line....

1) What's the average time before it can be masked over when it's airbrushed properly?

2) What thinner is appropriate for your paint, besides the thinner you'll offer under your brand?

3) Does it come airbrush ready (pre-thinned) or brush paint ready; or will you offer a choice?

4) Will you be selling "like" sets together (such as 'Nam USAF camo colors) like other companies have been doing (and if so, will the set be discounted by comparison), or strictly sell individual bottles?

5) Does it NEED a primer (as Alclad famously does), or can it be brushed/airbrushed directly over plastic (how "hot" is it)?

6) While it seems you'll be concentrating on military colors, will you have a line of metallics too?

 

Looking forward to chatting with you at the Phoenix Nats next summer, but in the meantime, inquiring minds need to know! Cheers!

 

GIL HODGES :smiley16:

Edited by ghodges
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Gil & Rusty:

 

Thanks for your replies. To answer your questions:

 

1) Tru-Color Paint comes ready to spray directly from the bottle in the military paint line, without thinning. We suggest a pressure of 28-35 PSI for best results. If thinning is desired we recommend our TCP-015, Thinner, as it is the same blend of solvents used in the manufacture of the paint so it will not effect the drying time or desired finish. Shelf life for Tru-Color Paint is infinite. Even if some solvents evaporate after opening, adding some TCP-015 will reconstitute the paint.

 

2) Depending on ambient temp. and humidity Tru-Color Paint takes from 30-60 minutes to dry. You can then mask your model for the next application or decal. We also have Gloss (TCP-018), Satin (TCP-014) and Flat (TCP-017) finishes in the product line. We also make our own masking paper (TCP-900 & 910), which is 8" x 10" - the largest commercially available masking on the market.

 

3) It is NOT necessary to prime your model when using Tru-Color Paint when using on plastic. We do recommend priming when painting on brass or similar metals. We have a Dark Primer (TCP-007) and a Light Primer (TCP-256) which should be applied and then baked onto the metal part under a heat lamp.

 

4) All colors will be sold individually. Modelers do not seem to care for sets (we heard that from Life-Color and Testor's customers and hobby shops) because if they run out of a color, they have to buy another set if that is all that is available to them, which wastes some colors they do not need.

 

5) We already have a line of metallic colors - Galvanized Steel, Titanium, Graphite, Aluminum, Dark and Semi-Matte Aluminum, Brass, Gunmetal, Copper, Metallic Iron (Rust), Burnt Iron and over 50 metallic colors for automobile (in the TCP-700 series) modelers. We can send out our complete product list - just give us your address or you can view the entire line - 600+ colors on our website: trucolorpaint.com

 

6) Clean up is easy. Acetone (unscented nail polish remover) will remove all Tru-Color Paint from air brush equipment or a paint brush and it dries quickly so you can spray again in less than 1 minute. DO NOT USE ACETONE for thinning Tru-Color Paint - it dries too fast and the paint may blush or give a very rough finish.

 

7) We use an acrylic polymer to bind the pigments in the paint to your model. There is no catalyst, so it does not cure like an enamel. It dries hard to the touch.

 

8) In the TCP-800 series Tru-Color Paint is designed to be applied with a paint brush. All of these paints will dry flat (except for Brass and Copper which are still glossy). Due to the high solids content of the paint , this series is $ 6.29 for a 1 oz. bottle and $ 11.25 for a 2 oz. bottle. These are ancillary products used for figures, applying rusts, muds, rifles, dusts, etc. There are 82 colors in this series.

 

9) We have NEVER discontinued a color in our product line and do not intend to start now. Once we issue a color, it is permanently in our line, even if it becomes a slow mover. All manufacturing is done in our plant in Phoenix, AZ and we have the capability of running many batch sizes.

 

Trust this answers all of the questions and then some. If I have missed anything, let me know and I'll try to help. We will be the the National convention next year, but we will also be at Model Zona in November if anyone is attending. I am building 3 F-4's in various paint schemes (hopefully they will look half way deceit - I haven't modeled in 45 years!) and we commissioned some tanks and ships to be built by modelers at the Craig Hewitt chapter.

 

Martin Cohen, PhD

Tru-Color Paint

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Thanks for the very complete and informative answers! #4 is a great point I hadn't even considered.

 

One more question: DO you have a distributor for local hobby shops, or should we ask them to contact you directly?

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Gil:

 

Hobby shops may buy direct from us or from any of the 7 U.S. distributors we have: Horizon Hobby Wholesale, Walthers Trains, Hobbytyme Distributors, Emery Distributors, Heartland Hobby Wholesale, NF Enterprises and Yankee Dabbler. Walthers, Emery, and Heartland carry every color we produce - railroad, automotive, flat, military and matte (100% across the board). Horizon carries most of the railroad (about 85%), Hobbytyme the entire railroad, matte, flat and military (100 %) - no automotive, and the other 2 about 50% of the railroad line.

 

If the local hobby shop contacts directly, we can send him flyers of whatever product lines may be of interest to him for his customers. We can then talk to them about becoming a dealer (if they aren't one already).

 

Martin Cohen

Tru-Color Paint

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Here's a couple or three questions that have yet to be addressed. Is it a must that we use the Tru-Color masking paper or can we continue to use the masking tape of our choice, such as blue painters tape? Also, does Tru-Color paint have sufficient bite so that the paint will not lift from various surfaces? And finally, I normally use Dupli-Color Sandable Filler & Primer (an acrylic lacquer) from the nearest auto parts store. I use it as a base surface before applying finish coats. Also, I use it as a barrier on vinyl so that I can then apply any type of paint I wish without worrying about the paint lifting from the vinyl. Will I be able to continue that practice?

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Richard:

 

1) Many of our customers use other masking tape. Whatever paper/tape is used, pull the material off at a 180 degree angle to the model and you should be OK. A lot of custom painters like our masking paper because it will cover a large area and can be printed on, if you want to make multiple masks with curves, etc.

 

2) As mentioned above, Tru-Color Paint is preferred by many custom painters - Calumet Models, John's Trains, North Valley Trains, NH Custom, etc. We also supply paint to 4 OEM model train manufacturers: Bowser, Exact Rail, Scale Trains.com and shortly to USA Trains. It adheres quite well to plastic models, Lexan (used for R/C cars), pewter and even wood models. Brass and some other metals need to be etched and primed to get good adhesion.

 

3) As long as the filler is cured, I see no reason why Tru-Color Paint would not adhere. But why the primer ? Unless the filler bleeds residual uncured polymer, you should not need a primer. If that is the case use ours, TCP-007 or 256.

 

4) We have about 10 hobby shops in TX that carry our paint - check them out and see what they say about the quality and use of our paint.

 

Martin Cohen

Tru-Color Paint

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Mr. Cohen, If I have missed this point, I apologize. Do you have to prime under your metallic colours or can they also go directly on the plastic? Thank you. Nick Filippone

Nick;

 

Thank you for your message. No, you do not have to prime plastic models with any of our metallic paints. We have an extensive line - Galvanized Steel, Tin, Copper, Gunmetal, Titanium, Silver, Brass to name just a few plus about 70 colors in the metallic/pearlescent automobile line. We even have a few metallic kandy colors. A kandy color is transparent and best seen when sprayed over silver so that it has a "wet" look. If you send us your address, I'll send you the flyers we have which will show all the colors, including the metallics.

 

Trust this helps.

 

Martin Cohen

Tru-Color Paint

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Hi, interesting line of paint, and I've browsed your website.

 

Here's the odd-ball question. Given the extensive number of rail colors, have you given any thought to British rail colors, particularly from the mid-to late 20th Century ?

 

Thanks.

John:

 

Thanks for your message. We have thought about adding a line of British RR paints, but have not been able to get anyone get us accurate color chips to match (we will NOT match colors from pictures) nor a hobby shop in the UK to carry our line of paints. Although it would be interesting to have some colors for the UK, we don't see much a much of a market for them in the U.S. and cannot justify a production run without adequate sales potential.

 

If you want a custom run of any British RR colors, that we can do. All we require for a minimum production run is 128 oz. of paint, set up in 1, 2 or 16 oz. bottles of your choice. AND an accurate color chip or painted sample for us to match.

 

Let us know your thoughts on this message,

 

Martin Cohen

Tru-Color Paint

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Martin,

 

Thanks for your reply. I understand fully, the recent ban on air travel of paint has hurt. I'm a small time Brit rail modeler here in the US and the UK stockiest just aren't mailing overseas -- not cost effective for anyone.

 

It's OK, I'll just continue to fake it -- close counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and color matching -- I'm happy and few other people would know anyway.

 

Thank you again for a full reply.

 

John

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This sounds like a great line of paint. As a modeler of very limited means, I am a little concerned at the cost but I am an exception to the rule so don't worry about me. Still, I do wish to know: do I need to use acetone to clean my airbrush or will lacquer thinner work just as well? I already use that to clean the enamel paints from my airbrush and would prefer to continue if possible.

 

Also, I think you should reconsider your position on sets; it would be easier on me to get a set at a discount per bottle for the set. As for the issue of having to buy a whole set for just one color, simply offer everything in the sets as individual bottles as well. This way, I can stock up on the color sets I need with ease (and reduced cost) and I can refill missing colors on an individual basis as I need them. Something to think about. Why nobody thought of this before is puzzling to me.

 

 

I plan on being at Phoenix next year; I'll be sure to stop by.

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Mark:

 

Thank you for your message. Yes, you can use lacquer thinner to clean the airbrush. Most brands should remove Tru-Color Paint OK. But usually acetone is much less expensive and it dries much faster than lacquer thinner so you can air brush again within seconds after the equipment is clean.

 

As for sets, we produced 3 different automobile sets for the modeling community at a discounted price (along with individual bottles) and they were poorly received. We still have 100's of sets in stock so we will not repeat that error again. Savings of $ 2.00-3.00 for sets over single bottles don't appear to be important for the modeler. In fact, we have been sending these sets to IPMS shows throughout the U.S. as door prizes. Sets are more costly for hobby shops in the long run as they do not sell as well as single bottles - they worry about inventory turns like every retail shop. The other problem with sets that no 2 people will pick the same colors that should be in the sets. Cannot please everyone all the time.

 

We will be at the National IPMS Convention next year. EVERYONE is invited to stop by our booth to buy paint or discuss modeling.

 

Martin Cohen, PhD

Tru-Color Paint

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Martin,

 

Here's a less oddball question -- how about the USAAC/USN/USMC 'tween wars (Yellow Wings) colors ?

 

They've been a bit of a problem since the Polly Scale line discontinued -- I'm on my last bottle or three.

 

The two Monogram books would appear to have most all the chip and color info you might want.

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John:

 

We need accurate color chips or some standard to manufacture those colors. We would love to add any U.S. aircraft colors that we have not scheduled, For U.S. Bi-planes we have enlisted the help of WWI Bi-plane expert Kevin Wenker to help us. He has already helped us match several British colors and is now working on French Doped colors.

 

As stated in prior emails, we will NOT match any colors to pictures. They are just not accurate enough in our opinion. We need an expert in the field or other means to guarantee we are making product that is correct. We pride ourselves on being as accurate as possible for every color we produce. If you can send us definitive info, or know of someone who has this type of info available, we would be glad to hear from them.

 

Did ANA numbers exist for this era ? If so, we might be able to find those colors from a source we have.

 

Martin Cohen, PhD

Tru-Color Paint

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Martin,

 

Here are two references. The Navy/USMC one has a table of colors, ANA, Munsell, etc. The USAAC is a bit harder to dig out. There are also discussions of variations due to lacquer, enamel, dope, etc. They both have extensive discussions and reference to primary sources. Best to let you folks decide when you have time.

 

The Official Monogram USAAS/AC Aircraft Camo & Mkgs V1 1908-41, ISBN: 0914144464

The Official Monogram USN & USMC Aircraft Color Guide V1 1911-39, ISBN: 0914144316

 

John

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