We keep reading about modelers having issues with various manufacturer's enamel and/or acrylic paints in many forums. Either with clogging the air brush, having to dilute the paint substantially, going bad in the bottle, getting a rough finish, having to make several light passes, etc.

Tru-Color Paint is the easiest paint to use for the model market - as shown by the fact that we supply at least 4 model railroad manufacturers with our paint, 50+ custom painters and numerous modelers for locomotives, passenger and freight cars, structures and other applications. Now we are serving the model automobile, ship, plane and armor markets with the same easy to use paint.

Since it is a single component solvent based paint it NEVER cures and will not "go bad" in the bottle. Even after opening, if some of the solvents should evaporate, you can add some thinner and/or retarder and reconstitute the paint without affecting the finish or performance. And to back that up - we GUARANTEE that our paint will perform as intended.

Tru-Color Paint may be thinned using our thinner or retarder, but most of the colors are intended to be sprayed directly from the bottle, without the need for thinning, at 28-35 PSI using a fine or medium tip. You will ALWAYS get a smooth coating and the paint will cover your model in one pass !

We have nearly 200 colors now available in the military paint product lines - nearly every U.S. Naval color from WWII to date, all modern U.S. Air Force colors, nearly all of the U.S. Armor colors from WWII to date and we produce another 75+ colors for detailing your model or diorama. Inter-war years and WWI colors will be added to the product line. All of the 10 most common Imperial Japanese Naval colors will be released over a 3 month period starting in February 2018.

Other countries military colors are being matched in our modern laboratory and we will have them on display at the IMPS National Convention (August 1-4, 2018) in Phoenix, AZ.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reply to this thread, contact us by phone or email.

Martin Cohen, PhD
Tru-Color Paint
P.O. Box 74524
Phoenix, AZ 85087-4524

714-488-9779
email: [email protected]

As I always paint all the markings on my models I'm interested to know if you have the correct colours for national insignia. The RAF WWII dull blue and dull red seem to be particularly illusive to paint manufacturers and the US insignia blue is only now being thought about?

Mal:

We have not scheduled any RAF WWII colors as yet, although we have done research on the colors used. However we have NO information on the insignia colors. Can you point us in the right direction to get info on those colors ?

Other than Insignia White for U.S. Aircraft we have not seen any info on other insignia colors, even in the Monogarm book that we have for U.S. Army WWII.

Thank you for your interest and any info you can supply on the above would be appreciated.

Martin Cohen, PhD
Tru-Color Paint

We have taken all the comments about our website into consideration and have modified all the military pages in the following manner.

1) Color chips for all of the paints have been added to their appropriate category. That is all the U.S. Naval colors have been added to the Naval page, Armor Colors to the armor page and Aircraft colors to the Aircraft page. As we add more countries colors we will update the website accordingly.

2) Color chips and information on popular generic colors, solvents (thinner and retarder), finishes (clear flat and clear gloss) and paint useful for figures and dioramas are shown on 2 pages added to each military paint section - armor, aircraft and naval. It makes it easier for the modeler to find white, black, red, etc.

3) In the Naval page there is a reference table showing the Camouflage Measures of the U.S. Navy with the Correct Tru-Color Paint stock number for that paint and time frame. All of the Grays, Blues, Anti-Fouling Red and Deck colors are represented. We could not find a similar table for the Greens and Browns used on ships in the Pacific.

4) The order forms will stay as we feel this is more secure than having a shopping cart where the credit/debit card info might be compromised by hackers. Since we invoice via Paypal (a very secure platform) just the email address is needed for billing purposes.

We believe this covers the majority of the comments regarding our website. If there is anything else we should address, please reply to this thread.

Looking forward to meeting with all the modelers at the IPMS National Convention in Phoenix, AZ on August 1-4, 2018 at the Phoenix Convention Center.

Martin Cohen, PhD
Tru-Color Paint
P.O. Box 74524
Phoenix, AZ 85087-4524

714-488-9779
email: [email protected]

Below is part of my instructions for RAF aircraft paint masks. Please note that the WW II roundel colours and the "Sky" underside colour/code colour seem to be very ellusive to paint and decal manufacturers.

The best matches that I have ever used are probably "Colourcoats" enamels. Now manufactured by someone else but they were developed by John Snyder (White Ensign Models) and he did his Thesis on colour matching.

I now use MR Paint and their roundel colours are very good, their dull red is a little lighter then Colourcoats but I do prefer this type of paint. I have recently bought their early/late roundel colours and the red is Signal Red BS537! So not a proper match

Anyway, I see more and more modellers painting on markings so these colours are becoming more and more desirable. I am always getting asked about the best paints to use and so I am always looking to recommend paint. I am looking at Alclad II at the moment as they have recently released RAF colours but not roundel colours


Colour notes for RAF Roundels, Fin Flashes & Codes.

During WW1 it was found necessary for the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) to use some form of recognition symbol. The roundel was decided upon as the French air force was using a similar device at the time. The RFC used the same colours but in reverse, i.e. red inside, then white and blue on the outside. With the birth of the RAF, as a separate entity, on the 1st of April 1918 a flag was needed for the new arm. The design for the new ensign, which was approved by the king, included a roundel of the proportions of 1-3-5. This design of roundel seems to have become the standard and was seen on nearly every aircraft from the early 1920s until the adoption of camouflage in 1936.
The early style of roundels was in a lighter, brighter red and blue, than the colours adopted for camouflaged aircraft and during the war. However, during the early stages of the war, some aircraft still had the roundels in the brighter colours, but most had the newer colours. From post May 1947 the RAF reverted back to the brighter colours.


There were several different types of roundel. The designations that are normally used for these are not official but are used by modellers and are as follows.

1. Type A, dull red, white and dull blue.
2. Type B, dull red and dull blue only.
3. Type A1, dull red, white and dull blue with a yellow outer ring.
4. Type C, dull red, white and dull blue, the white portion being much thinner than the “A” type.
5. Type C1, dull red, white and dull blue, with a yellow outer ring, the white and yellow portions being much thinner than the “A1” Type.
6. Type D, standard red, white and blue roundel, in the brighter colours, post May 1947.


The paints used for these markings are as follows. The British Standard (BS 381C) and the US Federal Standard (FS 595B) are included but not all British colours were to be found in the BS 381C system. And the FS numbers are the closest match.


Roundels and Fin Flashes.
1. Bright red pre war and post war BS 381C No 538 (Post Office Red)FS 11136 (Bright Identification Red)
2. Bright blue pre and post war BS 381C No 110 (Roundel Blue) FS 15056 (Bright Identification Blue)
3. Dull red BS (no match) FS 30109 (Dull Identification Red)
4. Dull blue BS (no match) FS 35044 (Dull Identification Blue)
5. Yellow BS (no match) FS 33538 (Identification Yellow)
6. White BS (no match) FS 37778 (White is white?)
Code Letters.
1. Medium Sea Grey BS 381C No 637 FS 36270 (Medium Sea Grey)
2. Sky BS 381C No 210 FS 34504 (Sky)

Thanks for taking the time to take a look at this, I look forward to your thoughts

Mal:

Thank you for taking the time to respond to our query about insignia colors. Sorry it has taken so long to reply - had computer issues.

Regarding the RFC roundel colors, wouldn't they be accurate on decals being supplied by the various manufacturers ? Do many modelers paint the insignia on the WWI aircraft ? If that is the case, we should be looking at that as well since we are not only developing the RAF WWII colors, we are involved with the RFC WWI colors and have already done the PC-8, PC-10 (2 versions) and PC-12 colors.

We have access to all of the FS color chips, so if in your opinion the FS #'s you listed are good matches to the roundel colors, we will purchase those chips to match for addition to our product line in 2019.

Would you be interested in helping us with this project as we develop colors for the RFC aircraft ? As the lab makes potential matches we could send them to you for evaluation. There would be only 2-3 versions of maybe 4 colors sent at a time in 1/2 oz. quantities. We would NOT get started with this project until after the IPMS National Convention in August of this year.

Looking forward to hearing from you. You can reply to this thread to email us at your convenience.

Martin Cohen, PhD
Tru-Color Paint
P.O. Box 74524
Phoenix, AZ 85087-4524

714-488-9779
email: [email protected]

Many declas have the wrong colours or poorly matched colours on them, although some are quite well matched. Sky seems to be particularly illusive As for WW1 markings I think that Wingnut Wings (WNW) have very good colours on their decals. But WW1 colours, certainly the blue on the roundels was lighter than that pre WW1. I know nothing more about WW1 colours other than what I see in WNW kits.
I would really like to evaluate your paints, I am always looking for a good paint range but I will be very harsh on colour matching but if you are sure about the quality and colour matching of your paint that really shouldn't be a problem?
Like I said though I am not up to speed on RAF roundel colours but I know someone who can tell me if they are accurate or not.

I couldn't say if "many" modellers paint on the insignia on their models but I have produced a few custom sets for the WNW kits. If there were accurate colours available then probably more would? I'm just about to do a set for a Sopwith Camel

Please note that the FS numbers quoted in my reply are the closest match?