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I have a few bottles of Floquil railroad colors which are quite a few years old.  I was wondering if they would still be useful.  The last time I painted anything was about 5 years ago.  Was wondering if I should try to use these or just grab some new bottles of a different brand (it seems Floquil has been discontinued).

 

Here is the Reefer White bottle I have.  I am sure the separation is normal after sitting for a while but just don't want to mess this up.  I am going to try to mix this back up and try it out later tonight when I get the time.  Any thought?

 

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Do a very thorough mix & don't shake it. If you have one of those little battery powered stirrers, use it. The Floquil you have is an enamel., so use a good solvent thinner. If you want to spray it, run it thru some filters to get any lumps out.  I store  my solvent paints upside down. Floquil was bought by Testors some years back and has been folded into the Testors line. Probably affected model railroaders the most, but with the changeover to acrylic paints, it's not too bad. One of their online magazines (Model Railroad Hobbyist) published a booklet to cross reference the old Floquil/Polyscale paints with Vallejo and Modelflex acrylics. You have to sign up to get to that booklet, but it's free.

Ken

Started: MS Bounty Longboat,

On Hold:  Heinkel USS Choctaw paper

Down the road: Shipyard HMC Alert 1/96 paper, Mamoli Constitution Cross, MS USN Picket Boat #1

Scratchbuild: Echo Cross Section

 

Member Nautical Research Guild

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The original Floquil formula was based on Xylene base - can be nasty with prolonged exposure - so make sure you have good ventilation when using it. But otherwise I would go ahead and use it. I still have several bottles of the original formula and as long as it as not dried out I can (and do) still use it. Still have some cans of their original solvent.  Ken that buyout was several decades ago. I think Testors retired the entire brand line due to issues with Federal VOC laws. 

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Jack, you're probably right on the original buyout date. I remember Floquil in the square bottles, from Imre/Risley or some such. Testors still makes solvent paints in their ModelMaster line. I'm trying to wean myself off the organic solvent paints.

Ken

Started: MS Bounty Longboat,

On Hold:  Heinkel USS Choctaw paper

Down the road: Shipyard HMC Alert 1/96 paper, Mamoli Constitution Cross, MS USN Picket Boat #1

Scratchbuild: Echo Cross Section

 

Member Nautical Research Guild

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Had received several bottles when buying a collection on craigslist. They were pretty old, before chucking them shook up pretty good stirred with a dremel very slow speed.  Looked good I painted each color on raw wood checked a couple of days later, No separation or bubbling, or peeling so I kept all. Paints are expensive so I saved a couple of bucks.

John Allen

 

Current builds HMS Victory-Mamoli

On deck

USS Tecumseh, CSS Hunley scratch build, Double hull Polynesian canoe (Holakea) scratch build

 

Finished

Waka Taua Maori War Canoe, Armed Launch-Panart, Diligence English Revenue Cutter-Marine  Model Co. 


 

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I am going to give them a try today.  I like the idea of a (slow) dremel mixer.  With these paints I am going to be using them on the resin stuff.  There are a few scrap pieces to practice on first.

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MicroMark makes/sells a small battery powered paint mixer - I've used it to stir all my paint jars - has just the right speed .  Worth the price .

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What Jack said. Most definitely worth it.

 

Floquil is/was good paint, with good coverage. Since bean counters run most corporations nowadays, they have to cut costs anywhere they can. Testors dropped the line because it was probably smaller than the aircraft/armor colors market.  I went to acrylics.

Ken

Started: MS Bounty Longboat,

On Hold:  Heinkel USS Choctaw paper

Down the road: Shipyard HMC Alert 1/96 paper, Mamoli Constitution Cross, MS USN Picket Boat #1

Scratchbuild: Echo Cross Section

 

Member Nautical Research Guild

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I used a lot of Floquil paints years ago. I had probably 300 bottles of paint from years ago in storage containers not long ago, Rather than hose up some good models and clog up my air brushes, just gave them away and disposed of the rest. It was maybe wasteful of me, but mine had been subjected to some hot temps in a non-climate controlled garage and I just didn't feel like experimenting.

 

With these new acrylics, I've gotten spoiled on how easy they are to use, not stinky, and how quickly they dry. Some of my old Floquil paints took a long time to thoroughly dry.

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22 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

MicroMark makes/sells a small battery powered paint mixer - I've used it to stir all my paint jars - has just the right speed .  Worth the price .

That's pretty cool its a cut down version of a kitchen tool to make salad dressings etc. price is right have you tried it on paints that have totally dried sans liquid??

John Allen

 

Current builds HMS Victory-Mamoli

On deck

USS Tecumseh, CSS Hunley scratch build, Double hull Polynesian canoe (Holakea) scratch build

 

Finished

Waka Taua Maori War Canoe, Armed Launch-Panart, Diligence English Revenue Cutter-Marine  Model Co. 


 

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2 hours ago, John Allen said:

That's pretty cool its a cut down version of a kitchen tool to make salad dressings etc. price is right have you tried it on paints that have totally dried sans liquid??

Hi John

 

No I have not tried it on a fully dried out caked paint sans liquid.  Most of those I just toss out.

 

I have tried on paint that is almost dried out but still has some liquid and it works pretty good at re-mixing it.  The paddle has a very smooth surface with no sharp edges, but lots of dimples for mixing, so you won't cut yourself if you grab it while it's spinning.  The motor is not a high torque motor, just enough to mix small batches of paint like we find in model paint jars and it mixes the paint very quickly - cleans up easily also. I have not encountered a paint batch that would "stall" the motor yet, I can "stall" it with my fingers tho if I grab it while it's spinning.

 

I have found it to be a worthwhile investment and use it a lot.

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Hi All,

 

For what it's worth, old floquil paints which haven't been used go for very high prices on eBay.  

 

John

Member:

Connecticut Marine Model Society

Nautical Research Guild

Model Ship World

"So we beat on, boats against the current, bourne back ceaselessly into the past" F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby

"If at first you don’t succeed.......skydiving is probably not for you”

 

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I kinda like the names... Reefer white, Southern green, Grimy black, Engine black, Roof brown... Too bad I missed those other cool colorsB)

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All of my Tamiya plastic armor models were painted with Floquil - had every color on the (US) FS-55 (or FS-54 ??) paint chart.  Airbrushed on great.

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After a few more days to thoroughly dry I am pleased with the muted colors.  For some reason when I used to green 4-5 years ago it came out much brighter.  Probably has something to do with the light basswood I was painting over versus the brown resin here.  

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Interesting topic. As a kid I used Floquil but mostly Testors, From everything I have read Floquil paints were superior. Stricter VOC regulations effecting both what solvents you can use and stricter postal regs as well as ever improving quality of Water borne paints like acrylics have reduced demand and commercial viability. I really like Vallejos and they make a water borne line sold through Micro-Mark that have the same colors as the old Floquil railroad colors. Give them a try. I have to chuckle about people buying old Floquil metallic paints. Solvent borne metallics would be the least stable of the old solvent borne paints

Best

Jaxboat

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Here is a cross reference chart I ran across attempting to provide modelers alternatives in terms of manufactures of paint as replacement to Floquil. I would just add a caution as I do not know when this chart was generated and was cautioned by a model shop owner that the Floquil paints went through an evolution within themselves. Lastly this may be the same reference as published in the model railroad magazine. I do not subscribe so hopefully this does not add noise in the system.

https://www.microscale.com/Floquil Color Chart.pdf

 

Joe

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Model Railroad Hobbyist (http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/) published a booklet comparing the Floquil paints with Vallejo Model Air, Testor's Model Master and Badger's Modelflex acrylic paints. You have to subscribe, but it's free. Search for  mrh-acrylic-painting-guide-post-floquil-landscape.pdf    The file is a zipped pdf, in a 22 page booklet but besides the charts, gives a lot of good tips for acrylic painting.

Ken

Started: MS Bounty Longboat,

On Hold:  Heinkel USS Choctaw paper

Down the road: Shipyard HMC Alert 1/96 paper, Mamoli Constitution Cross, MS USN Picket Boat #1

Scratchbuild: Echo Cross Section

 

Member Nautical Research Guild

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2 hours ago, Thistle17 said:

Ken can you give a specific "pointer" on the mentioned web site regarding the mentioned booklet. I signed up and scanned forums and blogs and didn'tfind it. Thanks

Joe

Joe, search for this mrh-acrylic-painting-guide-post-floquil-landscape.pdf 

 

You might have to drop off the .PDF from the search argument.  I was able to find it.

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