Not sure if this has been discussed here or not. In a very rare visit to Facebook and this popped up on a On30 group. I know that it has been hard to get prototypical paint colors as they are going by the way side. So this maybe of use to some people. I know I might need some if I ever get off my rear and get my STMA stuff built.
FWIW, I tend to use Tru-color paints pretty often. I find them pricey but they work well in my airbrush and the colors are good. Covering an entire building is probably not the best idea. But for a scratchbuilt or regular model, I like them.
Not sure WHY one might need the prototype color as one seldom has the prototype to compare against…I suspect just telling people it’s the TRUE color might be enough, if spoken with enough authority… 
Or, perhaps that is why I decided on my OWN RR…with VERY authentic colors (whatever was in stock and looked half decent!)
Jim, I did not look into the website at all. Just passed it along. Do you know what kind of paint it is? Acrylic, enamel, ??? You mentioned airbrushing it and I am pretty fond of acrylic in my airbrush just because I am lazy and it is easiest to clean. But for a good paint, in the right colors, I would be willing to switch.
Bruce this made me laugh probably more than I should have. You should hear some of the very heated arguments I have had with myself on this topic. I almost got in a fist fight with myself about this very topic. So I decided clear back in my HO days that I was going to build 1 prototypical railroad, the St Maries River Railroad. This has jumped the gap to Large Scale. In HO Walthers makes STMA stuff. I had the caboose. I took the caboose to St Maries and held it up to the real caboose. Not even close. Now fast forward to Large Scale and I found paint schemes to make the STMA colors using other prototype colors. I got all the stuff, made my mixes, felt very pleased with myself and then took my test cards to St Maries. . .not even close. Then I looked at ALL of the STMA locos and cabooses. . .Turns out they suck at matching prototype colors also. None of their equipment matched to a rivet counters expectation. Then it dawned on me. . .One they don’t care that much and two there are these two pesky things called weather and UV which are hell on paint, especially color.
What did I finally learn from these arguments. . .there is no “true” prototype color. They may start out with a color but after the car rolls out and is put in use that rapidly changes.
The bottle says “acetone” and you need to use thinner to clean up.
As in acetone based or acetone to clean it up? I don’t profess to know much about paints as I have been pretty well stuck in my ways. But I had no idea there was an acetone based paint. But that seems intriguing. I assume it is a fairly thin viscosity paint? I would think, not knowing anything at all about what I am talking about, that anything acetone based would be thin(ish).
Seems thinnish. I add a bit of thinner before airbrushing it. Probably acetone in both the paint and the thinner.
Okay I might have some serious cognitive issues. After googling something other than that above link, this is the EXACT paints I ended up buying to do the STMA colors with. I guess I had better do my homework.
I haven’t used these before. When I did my first colors for STMA (see my post to Bruce) it was with Floquil. I bought these in the same colors as my floquil formula. Hope I have good results with them.
Seems to me know that my foggy brain is jogged that we may have already had this conversation about tru color paints.
TruColor paints are enamel based. There’s plenty of paint options available still in both acrylic and enamels. I’m not worried.
Scalecoat paint actually seemed more popular as a enamel paint than TruColor in the forums I’ve read. But I try to stick to acrylics (Badger and Vallejo are my go to)
FYI:
Yes, we seem to have had this discussion before.
I make no defense, I am losing my marbles.
That implies you had marbles to begin with…
Not sure if this was already posted but here goes
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thankfully I am not really a prototype guy. After this discussion and the jogging of my now defunked memory I am glad I don’t have to try and figure out how and where to buy my paint. After a couple engines and a caboose I should be free from the chains of prototypical color.
MRH has quite a acrylic coloring matching guide. The older version of it is floating around online, but if you subscribe to MRH you can get the most up to date version. All for free. 
PS, somehow I’m missing the quote feature on the reply button now?
Craig:
Select part of an existing post and a quote button will float nearby.
Thanks. Figured it was something easy. Too many forums with slightly different quote features.
