older floquil paints?

[bgoatsw]

I have recently gotten into airbrushing and been givin a shoe box of floquil paints. They look fairly old, but are not dried out, I was wondering if there are any precautions with using these older paints ? Are they worth using ? Thanks G

 

[wheeler1963]

As long as they aren't dried out, you shouldn't have any problem. Open them up, use the back end of a paint brush to stir up the thick pigments that have settled to the bottom, then reseal the bottle and shake it real good for about 5 minutes. I've got bottles of Floquil paint still from the 80's that is perfectly good today.

 

[Rico]

One exception to that is if they've been frozen, then they're pretty hard if not impossible to rejuvenate.
My LHS can't get Floquil anymore, not because of the contents but because the labels don't have french on them.
Geez... those frenchman... it's like they have a diferent word for everything!

 

[NH Mike]

If they are old enough to have the name Floquil and an image of a feather on the caps then you'll need Floquil Dio Sol for a thinner. Current Floquils with the plain black caps are enamel and regular air brush thinner will work.

Dio Sol is basically a mixture of xylene and toluol and somewhere here on the forum is the mixing ratio of those 2 for use with Floquil. Some have had success with using common laquer thinner but my experience has been that it evaporates too quickly.

 

[waltr]

It would also be a good idea to strain the paint through a filter (piece of nylon stocking stretched over the paint cup opening) to remove any lumps and dried flakes before using them in your airbrush.

 

[kbkchooch]

As long as they aren't dried out, you shouldn't have any problem. Open them up, use the back end of a paint brush to stir up the thick pigments that have settled to the bottom, then reseal the bottle and shake it real good for about 5 minutes. I've got bottles of Floquil paint still from the 80's that is perfectly good today.

easy tip, put a small (1/4 inch?) or so srew or nut in the bottle, then shake....it gives you a physical agitator

Oh and I have several bottles that are from the 60's that are still good, and also 1 can of Floquil, I believe from the 50's that still sounds very liquid when shaken! I just don't have much need for Tuscan Red!