I'm an inexperienced airbrusher in search of advice about Floquil. Is it correct that Floquil will damage plastic unless it is first given a barrier or "primer" coat of non-Floquil paint? If so, is it possible to use Floquil to weather unpainted plastic trucks and couplers without first applying an undercoat? Thanks for the help. All advice - no matter how basic - would be welcome.
The solvent in floquil paint will attack model plastics! I have heard, but not tried, that Floquil primer can be applied sraight to plastic parts if it is applied very thinly and allowed to dry thouroly. several of these very thin coatsare applied until part is primed with sufficent primer to seal the part. Then ooone or more color coats, just enough to achieve a gloss and wanted color can be applied. I, however would experiment on an old truck or car or spare parts out of my spare parts box before attempting to paint valued rolling stock or other models! Applying very thin coats and building them up slowly in the weathering process may be safe but try it on an old part first! Happy Painting!:tb-biggrin:
I have sprayed with Floquil paints for over 20 years and have never had a problem with plastic bodies from any manufacturer that I can remember. I dilute approximately 4 paint to 1 solvent, and spray multiple thin coats. This allows the small amount of solvent in each coat to evaporate thoroughly between coats.
Thanks folks. I think I'll just try them out on a car I'm not afraid to lose and see where it goes. I appreciate the tip about proper thinning.
I have a question also, having just discovered floquil weathering pens for rail work. Is floquil primarily a modeling product company or is there some other intended use for the brand? I would be blown away to find a modeling paint incompatible with plastic models.
Did Floquil Change Many years ago Floquil made a product called "barrier" that was to keep the solvent based paint from attacking plastic. I thought that was still the case but I have no personal experience on this at all. Is that still true or are Floquil solvent based paints now safe for plastic? Thanks. Actually I can ask this at the club tomorrow, too.
i've paint all kinds of models from 1/24 to 1/160 with floquil and other then needing a light primer for yellow and red to get them to pop i never had them attack any model... there enamel paints after all
From the Testor's website...Floquil dispensed with the use of "Barrier" about 7-8 years ago. Diosol is no longer recommended for thinning, either. I could not find the terms "barrier" or "diosol" on the Testor website. They must use something else so the paint has probably been reformulated from the "barrier" days.
Given how hard it is to get glue or paint to stick to them at all I don't think there's anything sold to the public that will attack the plastic those are made of
Floquil Weathering Question. I used Barrier (have some lying around here somewhere, I think). I was incredibly thick, and I was not sure I could thin it with anything and have it work as anticipated. LHS told me that direct application of Floquil would make some plastics form "alligator skin" after a while, and suggested just spraying Testor's silver as a primer.
