Reviving old Floquil and its other brands identifying solvents on labels "best way to store" Floquil paints,restoring them with "additives?"


jpolacchi

New Member
So,I'm attempting to star a new subject but I do realize it stems from a "main one" and that is the old Floquil brand paints themselves.I'll try to keep my quarries simple as I prefer it that way,but questions.Questions,questions yes I have questions.I will try to stay in order and resist the urge to go off subject. My first question is "identifying the thinner" for Floquil. Most of us "know" that Dio Sol is the thinner required.However,over the years and as Floquil ,I guess "expanded" that have other paint lines or ones that are as old as Floquil itself.

So,first and foremost,as Floquil continued to be made through the 90's and into the early 2000's up until Testors took over (and ruined the paint I.M.O) the labels on the 1oz. paint jars changed some.The NOS bottles (square bottle or round" typically listed Dio Sol as the required thinning solvent.Sometime either during the late 90's or early 2000's the lable was re-worded.If it didn't say "Dio Sol on it is listed use FMC airbrush thinner or thin 75% to 25%.I can only assume they were still referring to using Dio Sol.However,I have other Flowquil paint lines/brands.

One is their Floquil Military Colors(or which I have acquired a fair amount) and the other is the Floquil Marine Color line.Now,the military line doesn't really say anything different on the label,sometimes its just "vague",the labels often do not match one another despite being the same paint line and I can only deduce that they use Dio Siol like all the others.The Marine paint line is different.It states a different airbrush thinner...but its a designated..."identification or product number?" I have seen two different numbers listed on different bottles,so...its a tad confusing to know which they are referring two and I have been unable to find/identify which thinning solvent they are referring to.I know allot of this is irrelevant and anyone/everyone out there is either using Lacquer thinner or Xylene to thin Floquil paints for airbrushing. Mainly I'm just wanting to know what kinds of paints these were.

My next subject is "storage". I've invested a fair amount of money into Floquil paints and I'd like to be able to use them for as long as I am able to. While it does not get terrible hot,cold and humidity isn't too much a factor where I live,these paints (most I have anyway) are very old.Most all of the Floquil paints I have are in incredible condition.Some are as "new" as the day they were bottle or really needed a good,hard shaking.Keeping them that way is a different story. I had a half,hair-brained idea that possible "cold storage" might keep these paints in pristine condition for a long time.

My (possibly not smart idea) was to store my paints and thinning solvents in an "old" refrigerator.I known that storing combustible liquids in a closed spaced/container is a BIG NO NO.However,my argument is(was),if I store these item sin a refrigerator set at its warmest temperature(say...68 deg. to 70 deg.) the paints/solvents won't experience the same heating up and expansion they normally would in a room or garage.Storing them at a stable temperature would be a "good thing" (I think?),possibly,they would not experience the same evaporation,bottle tops stay on,don't "pop loose",and I wouldn't think under those storage temperature conditions that there would not be any "off gassing" or vapor build up which would produce an either explosive or flammable environment. So,I[m just trying to get some feedback in "best storage" for Floquil brand paints.

Finally is "restoring" paints that need some help.I do have a few bottles(not many)that need a little more help.Some of them have been depleted of any liquid vehicle in the bottle,and many most(if not all) are NOS.Most are the classic Floquil Railroad colors.I have some of their other brand Flo Paque,which are virtually identical paints except for the color or they are stains.Aside from thinning the paint(a little with minimal added drops of Dio Sol),how else can I bring these paints back to life?Should I use any of the additives?

Should I add some Glaze (or Hi-Gloss or Flat clear coats),or should I add any retarder to them?I don;t know of many others who use the Floqul additives be it Glaze or Retarder.The retarder just slows the drying way down(depending how much you add),the glaze is...I'm still nit sure what the glaze actually is,other than used as a base or barrier coat to be painted on,or used to seal a porous surface maybe?Glaze does look allot like the resiny,liquid combined with Dio Sol that are in all of my full bottles,I am just not sure if I should or shouldn't use it or not to try to restore some of these paints that are lacking the liquid carrier to the paint?I'd be interested to know what I should do to restore these paints besides just adding drops of Dio Sol to them.
 
I have a quart can of Dio-Sol that I purchased about 40 years ago or so. I used about 3/4 of it early on, so there's only about a fourth of it left. I also purchase a quart can of Xylene (Xylol) a couple of years ago. Danged if it don't smell identical to the Dio-Sol. If you ask me, they're one in the same.

I've got a small collection of Floquil Railroad paints in 1 oz. bottles that I also purchased back in that time frame. The paint is still in great shape. I keep the bottles tightly capped. I made a paint shaker out of an old jig saw. Once every three to five years or so, I get ambitious and shake the paint bottles up by clamping them to the blade, then running the saw for a few minutes.

As far as restoring paints, at least you can give it a try. If you can determine the main thinner that was originally used, just put some of the thinner in the paint bottle and stir or shake it and see if it starts rejuvenating. If it does, great! I've had some success doing that in the past. And if not, oh well. Just have to dispose of it. I've had to do that too on many an occasion.

I store all my model paints in my house year-round. On shelves or my paint table, out of direct sunlight of course. Room temperature is the best way to store any paint. You get the best longevity by doing that.

Well, that's my story. Hopefully some others will chime in with their experiences. 👍:)
 
Giving you a "thumbs up" on your post!
Can't remember off hand, but there have been other posts about restoring and preserving Floquil paints - I'll have to search around this forum and others?
Mine are at least 40 YO and I have had to ditch a few that I could not do anything with. Others I have opened and placed a 3/16 inch nut in the jar and added a bit of Xylene to the mix. I have also used the jig saw method - found out that a jar not secured properly does not play well with the garage floor - one hell of a mess - I was surprised at the amount of paint in one of those little jars!
 
Giving you a "thumbs up" on your post!
Can't remember off hand, but there have been other posts about restoring and preserving Floquil paints - I'll have to search around this forum and others?
Mine are at least 40 YO and I have had to ditch a few that I could not do anything with. Others I have opened and placed a 3/16 inch nut in the jar and added a bit of Xylene to the mix. I have also used the jig saw method - found out that a jar not secured properly does not play well with the garage floor - one hell of a mess - I was surprised at the amount of paint in one of those little jars!
Thanks for the thumbs up! Got a chuckle out of your story about launching your paint jar and making a mess on your garage floor. Reminded me of a similar incident of mine when I was a young teen!

At any rate, before everybody goes rushing out to grab their jig saw and shake their paint, here's how I went about it.............

I have an older Black & Decker variable speed jig saw I purchased a few decades ago. It is a darker green, plastic housing, if that rings a bell with anybody. About 6 or 7 years ago, I found out it really wasn't a heavy-duty unit when the steel base broke off of it during a nasty cutting job.

Fast forward a couple of years, and I read on some other forum about using a jig saw as a paint bottle shaker. Lights went off in my head and I knew I had the perfect tool for the job!

So I took the jig saw, cleaned up and smoothed out the rough edges of the broken plastic housing that formerly held the steel base. I then installed an old, dull jig saw blade and wrapped a few layers of blue painter's tape around it, to help cover the teeth. Rotating the motor until the blade was in the full up position, I marked the masking tape with a black marker at the closest point of touching the saw parts. You don't want to attach bottles any closer than this, so as not to damage or break them. :eek: 🤬 I found a suitable-sized hose clamp, and slipped a a piece of heat-shrink tubing over the band, as extra insurance to help insulate the steel band from glass bottles. I didn't heat-shrink it on, although one could if they wanted to.

Here's a few pic's of my setup, showing the two most common types of paints that I shake with it..........................................
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I have to say, it works pretty darn good for shaking paint. Just have to make sure to get the hose clamp adequately tightened (but not too tight) in order to prevent the bottle from flying off. I haven't lost one yet, anyway. 😜
 
My first YouTube video was a paint shaker I made as a joke. I just thought it looked funny flopping about on my desk. But it actually worked so still use it. The valve in the engine in the video seized up due to lack of lubrication so I use a different one now.

A few years ago someone brought in a whole box of Floquil paints, some in square bottles with 79¢ price tag. None were opened and I got them all to mix up except one red. It remained a blob. I used one bottle to paint my rotary dumper but even after I thought it was mixed I had to stir the last few lumps. It worked well though and I like how the dumper turned out.

Can the paint be made usable after it goes solid? I thought enamels underwent some chemical reaction as they cured unlike lacquers that can be remelted with lacquer thinner. I always thought the Floquil paint smelled like Toluene, probably a mix.
 
OK ... I will have to try your setup with the clamp. I bought a small Irwin squeeze type clamp and filed the end so it would fit into the shaft and be tightened with the set screw. The problem with the squeeze clamp is that it would not "LOCK" in position and after a bit of shaking - the jar would launch for the next moon shot!
 
Well,I will have to see what happens if I open up a couple of those bottles and add a couple drops of Dio Sol to them.So,I guess adding any Glaze or Retarder to and of the paints is not recommended? Mainly,I bought the Retarder so when I do use a 1oz.(or one of my 2oz. bottles) and don't use all of it that if I add maybe 10% to what remains in the bottle I thought that would be another way to extend its life span after being opened & used.I bought the Glaze because (to me anyway) it looks like what is already in the Floquil paint.I have also have a couple bottles where it appears the liquid body of the paint either leaked out somehow, or evaporated over the years, but I'll add some Dio Sol first before adding anything else. As far as "the paint shaker" goes,I was going to buy that mini pant shaker from Micro Marc.I think it cost around $50.00,but I have some credits I might use towards it unless anyone in here says its a waste of money/piece of junk?
 
For long periods of storage, I have found that making sure that the top is screwed on tight and then store the paint upside down. YMMV
I have "zero" knowledge of the MM mixer.
 



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