TOPIC:

Well I too have had my PC paint issues in the past and present. I have a small collection of the Tamiya PC paints in the drawer for painting the detail that I don't want to mask but I have not seen any on the hobby shelves here in Canada for years. I have been a Pactra racing colors user since the 80's , some sprays but mostly the jar variety, you could mix what ever you wanted then put it in the airbrush and have really good control and less overspray too. Sadly the Pactra line disappeared with the sale of the Testors company a couple of years ago .
When I am out of those I don't know what I will do. I have used the PS line, yes they stink and so does the Pactra stuff. I think the Pactra line is some sort of nitrate dope based product. I don't know, but it always worked. I stayed away from the fast color and Pactra water based stuff, seemed a bit weak to me. As of late I have been using a Krylon brand spray that is formulated for plastics but I am not sure if you can get Krylon over in the UK. Seems to be an enamel type of paint so I am scuffing the surface that I am spraying it on just to be sure, no problems yet but I am not really beating my car like back in the day either. I have also heard of guys using a type of paint found at the auto jobber made for re spraying car interiors, plastics, vinyl, fabrics etc. might be worth a look.
I also have a friend who is an old school slot car builder and he just sands the inside of the body and just brushes on good old Testors enamel, doesn't seem to be a problem. Which has always made me wonder about all these special PC body paints anyway. I would try a test piece and check how it sticks, try sanding it, flex it around, just my 2 cents of course, results may vary.....

Kuhfarben wrote:

Tamiya actually state in the manual to mix X acrylics with PC paints for some models - notably the 959. They say to combine X-21 Flat Base with PC-5 black, so I'm fairly certain that the thinner will be fine.

This is an excellent point too, perhaps you could just use the X series paints on a sanded surface??

oldwilly wrote:

Kuhfarben wrote:

Tamiya actually state in the manual to mix X acrylics with PC paints for some models - notably the 959. They say to combine X-21 Flat Base with PC-5 black, so I'm fairly certain that the thinner will be fine.

This is an excellent point too, perhaps you could just use the X series paints on a sanded surface??

the x serie doesn't stick very well on lexan. Only for detailing like lenses light

Interesting responses

My experience has been that only tamiya PS aersols actually seem to stick to polycarbonate with any degree of reliability, anything else (including Tamiya PC, Faskolor, Tamiya X, Humbrol Hobby sprays) jsut seem to crack & flake away from the surface with not much of a knock at all. I'm wondering if the "answer" is to use clear PS as a primer internally, then use tamiya X paints on that. It worked ok on my Wild One driver, though that never really got "tested".

For those in the UK, EuroCarParts are (somewhat inexplicably) stocking tamiya PS paints at the moment, prices are so-so but are with free post, if you don't mind waiting a few days. Seems a bit of a "niche" product for a motor factor, but what do I know. They don't stock any sort of PPE, which I would have thought would be far more relevant

Krylon isn't generally available in the UK, just a few sellers offering a very restricted range, at high prices. Can't say I've used it or even read the labels so this doesn't necessarily apply to Krylon - but I've found US paints to be very effective and hard wearing, even if it is at the expense of not meeting European environment and user safety standards ...

... and speaking of safety, my great (probably great-great) aunt spent WW1 doping aircraft, "safety" consisted of doing it outdoors if it wasn't raining, too windy, or too cold, and being given a (IIRC) gallon of milk to drink each day as it was thought that would absorb the toxins

It seems like an excellent idea to try “PS Clear” as primer for X acrylics.
Found an article here about first spraying with PC-55 Flat Clear and then use other paint (in this case TS and AS) over that.

A few notes on my polycarbonate brush painting attempts:

• In the 80s I painted my Frog with a paint called Simprop Superfinish polyurethanlack. It's description I think was “highly flexible polyurethane lacqer”. It worked surprisingly well. Only on a few of the upper corners did the paint came partially loose – and the car was run a lot.
• I tried Kyosho Polyca once (water based 20ml glass) and applied with brush. It did not look pretty with sunlight shining through and was not fully waterproof, meaning after using in wet conditions or after washing, there were greenish drops of water dripping from the shell
• After those two above I have primarily stuck to the "simple and easy" spray cans.
• Pactra: I only got one bottle of that. It sticks extremely well to the shell. Unfortunately it smells like the worst acetone cocktail. It says “Contains Ketones” on the back and that must be why it smells like spray can paint and also why it sticks so well to polycarbonate.
• Faskolor has been what I use with a brush for fixing missing spots of paint. Usually it requires 3 thick coats with brush. I can imagine it does not cover as good with airbrush. Main issue I have is that it does not stick well and shakes off easily in crashes. Otherwise very pleasant and harmless.
  I have recently used it for small details (like black around windows) with PS spray paint on top and that seems to work quite well. But I have not tried with larger surfaces.

And now, two new alternatives:

Duratrax R/C Car Paint (an improved version of Pactra?)
As mentioned by oldwilly, Pactra was discontinued. I found a note from Pactra about it
and a rumor that another vendor intended to buy it. See here: Post 9 and Post 5 .
Then, in 2014, DuraTrax R/C Car Paint was introduced!
Look at www.duratrax.com/paint/
There are some strong hints to a previous large manufacturer and how good it is in relation to “the old” paint in their FAQ .

Hobbynox (a new Faskolor replacement)
This seems to have been introduced in 2017 by Minicars distribution in Sweden and produced in USA.
A couple of news articles:
www.redrc.net/2...sh-paints/
www.neobuggy.ne.../hobbynox/
The description reminds of Faskolor and the 60ml bottles looks exactly like the shape of Faskolor.
Link to Faskolor: for reference: www.parmapse.com/fas1.html
Good thing is that Hobbynox seems to be widely available! (for example here and here .

I tried only one time faskolor on a body. It was on my bolink body on the streetspec trinity. Colors were airbrushed and the paint looks to stick well after ~~20 years. And I ran it.

Thanks Notch

Looking at Duratrax, it doesn't seem to have any UK or even European suppliers. TBH between supplier and shipper delays (both sides of the pond), ruinous exchange rate & shipping costs, plus import taxes and processing fees, if something is only available from the US I just do without

Hobbynox on the other hand - generally not very Tamiya colours, and not widely available (but Modelsport was one of the of the two suppliers that have decent stock availability), but could well be a viable proposition

Just a note on the (formerly Pactra?) Duratrax bottle paints: I believe may have disappeared, although the corresponding spray colors are still around.

Duratrax' website for paints (www.duratrax.com/paint) still contains all the promotional info and videos for both spray cans and 15ml bottles, and has part numbers for both formats. But nearly every single color either no longer lists a bottle, or says "unavailable".

Remaining are:

• Blue Flash
• Fluorescent Red
• Brilliant Blue
• Teal

...which are stocked both by Duratrax and US-based Tower Hobbies. (Horizon Hobbies, owner of Tower, actually runs Duratrax' online store -- so I suspect it's all the same warehouse...)

I have managed to collect an unopened example of all PC paints (including 26 Fuel Protective Coat ) except 1 and 2, White and Red. If anyone has any spares they'd like to sell (not likely!) just let me know. This is for a Colorimetry project, to measure the color of the paints when sprayed on lexan.

Very well done on collecting so many of the PC paints

I looked throught my very small assortment, I have a PC-2 Red but there's only a quarter left & I don't want to give it up. I also have two PC-1 White, but due to poor stock control on my part, both have been opened & a bit used. Sorry about that

WARNING FOR SMARTPHONE USERS - VERY OLD THREAD !!!!

That said, it does seem like the best place for a small update on "polycarbonate" paints ...


The best part of a year ago (you can tell by the fairy light reflections in some of the photos ) I bought some Pro-Line paints - tamiyabase.com/...ate-paints


I saw some "new" PC paints on eBay recently, but only a few of the least popular colours:
5 off PC-21 Park Green - www.ebay.co.uk/...4217232061
4 off PC-9 Green - www.ebay.co.uk/...5226256791
4 off PC-14 Copper - www.ebay.co.uk/...5226256768 , and
6 off PC-11 Pink (only one remaining) - www.ebay.co.uk/...4433263441

Another seller had 5 off (two remaining) PC-4 Blue - www.ebay.co.uk/...4531370757


Pactra seem to have returned (again, ?) to the polycarb paint market with a number (though not a full range, IMO) of  stink free (probably) "Racing Finish Acryl" 1oz/30ml colours, e.g. www.makeitbuild...pactra&p=1
These are for airbrushes though.

There are also some lacquer based 3oz/107ml aerosols, and lacquer based 1oz/30ml jars for airbrushing. The range of these seems to be very limited though. TBH I'm not clear on what's going on with Testors & Pactra, the laquer based sprays were "new" in 2016 (see www.rcgroups.co...r-Formulas and/or ) with joint Testors/Pactra labelling, but more recent cans just seem to to have Pactra labelling ... the "Acryl" are also "just" Pactra. I couldn't find a corporate site for Pactra, and Testors site (www.testors.com/) no longer has any mention of the Pactra brand.

There's more to unpack there, I just don't know if I care enough to do it.


Vallejo also make a range of "premium" / RC / polycarb colours, but TBH I already have three polycarb paint manufacturers / systems, I'm not looking to try any more. 



To sum up - no indoor/brushable replacement for Tamiya's PC paints exists, still. Their PS line is excellent for coverage and stick, but due to the stink, it's never going to be an indoor paint.

Pro-Line paints (and a number of other stink free alternatives) are available, but only work through an airbush. 


ETA - the Duratrax sprays pleonard mentioned seem to have changed in the last 3 years - possibly in can size, almost certainly in range, and definitely in colour names, I couldn't see the iconic Pactra "Blue Flash" shade any more, anyway. His link ( www.duratrax.com/paint ) automatically forwards to www.horizonhobb.../duratrax/ now.