General testors paints

bunicula

Hunter
i've looked all over the forum and can't find any sort of info on using the testors model masters line for armor and helmet. anyone out there ever used testors paints from start to finish and could provide a list of colors used? i'm wanting to try and stay away from humbrol and floquil if possible. not opposed to using them again. but i'm looking for alternatives to those paints. thanks!
 
Testors doesnt have many colors that match the way the floquils and humbrols do. Personally i dont like the testors for Fett as they are thicker and harder to use with the airbrush...and tend to leave brush marks while using a brush unless you thin them, and then they loose the opaqueness. I always use humbrol or floquils. The only testors/model masters i use is the "silver chrome trim" as it gives a very bright silver color.
 
I disagree...but thats just me....their waterbased paints work pretty well for me a few coats and theyre gtg....and I have matches for floquils like UP armor US med green etc...
 
I disagree...but thats just me....their waterbased paints work pretty well for me a few coats and theyre gtg....and I have matches for floquils like UP armor US med green etc...

Ah, yes this is true. the acrylic enamels are pretty good...but i never tried em for Fett stuff so i havent even tried to match colors. I personally like the humbrols aside from a couple of the floquils like the Up armor yellow, caboose, and dark lark grey.

Dom..question...do they have a sheen to them or are they totally Matt? One of the reasons i like the Humbrols so much is thet they are the most matt finish paint ive found.
 
They have comparison charts (Humbrol:Testors) Humbrol on Amazon will take a month to get to the states (And I have Amazon Prime) I'm currently doing a practice paint up using Testors and Model Masters. When I get the colors down for ROTJ, I'll have them posted. Testors is finicky about being thinned- You really need their personal thinner for airbrushing (It's in a little red tin can that looks like lighter fluid) I've been spraying through my airbrush with absolutely no problems with thickness, opaqueness or glossiness. Hardest part Is mixing and matching to make that perfect color.
 
Testors owns Floquil and PollyScale. They discontinued the redundant colors. Everything that's still available I've found online easily. Most recently-retired colors, too. And I have the current equivalents from Testors for US Med Green and Panzer Olive Green. Also, the Reefer Yellow (if I recall correctly -- it may have been the UP Armor Yellow) is close enough to the yellow of zinc chromate yellow metal primer as makes no difference. Also Testors Chromate Yellow. ;) Let me dig up what I've got out in the garage and get back to ya.

But in general I prefer airbrush acrylics. Easy to work with, easy to clean up, and (partway through weathering) here's what they look like on my Boba-based custom:

DSC02865.jpg


DSC02848.jpg


--Jonah
 
Yeah- If you can get back with the Testor/Model master (Even Tamaiya) Colors for your ROTJ armor and helmet That would be great.
For the Helmet Colors I have Testors Sea Blue for the upper mandibles (with a splash of Matte Black), And Testors Moss Green For the Upper and Lower Mandibles. MODEL MASTERS Boxcar Red for The Red Visor Trim, and Model master International Orange for kill stripes... [The Greys] for misting on the metal layer and Ears; Model Master Medium Grey, Model master Euro Grey and Testors Flat Grey. All Enamels Through An Airbrush.
 
That yellow looks REALLY bright, the left ESB shoulder IS chromate, while the knees are NOT. Union Pacific Yellow is not the same color its duller. RLM 22 is the same color however.

And I like acrylics as well for the armor...some people will say its not as sturdy but most automobiles are water based paint now....

Im still working on equivalents as I dont think testors is correct in what they SAY is an equivalent. Like US MED Green dries the same as (MM) Russian Armor Green. I can for sure tell you that like RLM 22 are colors I sat down at the hobby shop with their 3 racks of paint and figured it out with floquils in hand.
 
I went with mostly the Rogue Studios color list. Mostly. Since my armor is actually stainless steel, I used zinc chromate aircraft metal primer for the base layer on the shoulders. The mid-layer is ATSF Catwhisker Yellow (the pale color), and the top coat is the Reefer Yellow that gets oranger the more one applies.

That primer really is exactly the same color as my Testors yellow zinc chromate paint, and so close as to be almost indistinguishable from my botle of UP Armor Yellow. From looking at the original, the darker yellow on the shoulders and knees is for the deepest weathering that doesn't get bare metal. And yes I know my armor's still pretty bright -- I'm only partway through the weathering and haven't dulled down the shoulders yet. I'm going to do those same time as the knees, which aren't ready yet.

I also took my old bottles of US Med Green and Panzer Olive Green in to my hobby shop and compared to current offerings. I think I can get to my paints tomorrow, and I'll post up pics of the comparison.

And I probably should have mentioned in my post above, that rather than two shades of green for helmet and armor, I used the US Med Green equivalent as a mid-coat over he gray primer, and then the Panzer Olivgrun as the top coat, so helmet and armor will match. As I said -- Boba-inspired, but more consistent. So in that picture, the "US Med Green" analogue is the darker green you can see around the scratches.

--Jonah
 
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Exactly what colors do you use for your helmets (ESB as well as RotJ if possible) Lou? I quite like the greens on your helmets :)
 
ESB i use Humbrol 78 for the main green. (thats what you see in my avatar) Although now since Ponte has pointed out some interesting things color wise, i have been playing with adding a touch of blue to it. Havent come up with an amount im dead set on yet though, and only helmets shown on my FB page recently have the blue in the mix.

I havent done many ROTJ but i use Jayvee's color list for those.

In general, Ive also started using Testors Model Master paints and am pretty happy with them as well. They just need to be thinned a little, like the humbrols. In the beginning of this thread i really didnt care for the Tesors paints, but have noticed they are slowly making colors very close to the floquils. Still not the same consistency as the floquils which is one of the reasons i liked em so much, but the color palette is better and with a little thinner they airbrush well.
 
ESB i use Humbrol 78 for the main green. (thats what you see in my avatar) Although now since Ponte has pointed out some interesting things color wise, i have been playing with adding a touch of blue to it. Havent come up with an amount im dead set on yet though, and only helmets shown on my FB page recently have the blue in the mix.

I havent done many ROTJ but i use Jayvee's color list for those.

In general, Ive also started using Testors Model Master paints and am pretty happy with them as well. They just need to be thinned a little, like the humbrols. In the beginning of this thread i really didnt care for the Tesors paints, but have noticed they are slowly making colors very close to the floquils. Still not the same consistency as the floquils which is one of the reasons i liked em so much, but the color palette is better and with a little thinner they airbrush well.

le1120 , Jayvee's list is good for ROTJ. Humbrol 31 heavy in that dome mix. looks great when youre done. Very grey-green (like a faded esb). The mixes on that page are accurate, though I've tweaked a few here and there to my liking.
IMHO, MM/ Testors paints still don't really have close matches to most of the colors. As Lou knows, I have hundreds of jars of MM/Testors paints and still don't have any perfect matches. Still, they are good paints, and I use them regularly in my mixes.
 
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Thanks a lot guys! I had already seen Jayvee's list and thought it was a pretty good pick of paints, but I was just wondering what you pros do :)
 
I've searched and haven't been able to find what I'm looking for, and this thread looks like the closest thing...

I've found threads on Humbrol consolidated lists for armor and helmet colors, but I haven't exactly been able to find a cut and dry list of Testor's colors for ROTJ Boba. Does anyone happen to know of a list, or could someone make one? I've been trying to cut over to Model Master acrylics and there is a lot of great advice in this thread, but TDH could use a consolidated list of Testor's colors for ROTJ Boba.... why let Humbrol have all the glory? ;)
 
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