Tru-Color Paint is seeking your input for what new colors should be added for the AFV modeler. Besides the detailing colors like various rusts, muds, dusts, etc. and paints for figures - all of which are in the schedule to be manufactured and released in the balance of 2017 and 2018, we would like to know what should be the focus of new colors for this segment.

Should we concentrate on German, British, Israeli or other countries AFV's from WWII to present ? If so, what countries should we look at first to get information on ? Your input is of great value to us.

What other manufacturer in the hobby industry asks for your help ? We are working on the schedule for the latter half of 2018 and into 2019 (we plan ahead !). Depending on what we hear from the end user on this and other forums, we will make our decisions by early 2018 on what is the focus of new colors for the AFV modeler.

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to respond to this thread.

Martin Cohen, PhD
Tru-Color Paint
P.O. Box 74524
Phoenix, AZ 85087-4524

714-488-9779
email: [email protected]

When you enter into the German armour and uniform colours you are entering into a very well catered for area, as such I would leave this area for the time being in order to give your paints in this field a chance to gain a following. Anything IDF would seem to be a good idea due to the huge following it has garnered since starting to be well covered by various manufacturers. I would suggest that when covering the amour you provide the same colour in various shades to attract maximum attention.

The area that is always popular is WW2 German which is well catered for and armour of the last 50 years or so seems to have become very popular of late, again thanks to a number of manufacturers dipping their toes into this area. The other area I would give a lot of consideration to is Middle Eastern armour due to the amount of Russian armour that is now available and that looks so much better when not just green.

Perhaps also colors of the Imperial Japanese forces. Tamiya and Gunze Sangyo have colors in that line, but I think some more options would be nice.

great idea

There are always colors people have to mix or colors that are not the same between companies. British green is an example. Create a difinitive color set. Another thought is to make two shades of a color set. A factory fresh color and a faded weathered shade of the same color.

Hi Martin,

Thanks very much for reaching out to modellers for input. That kind of producer/customer relationship is very much appreciated.

Having seen many posts on many forums there are some colours that keep coming up that either have not been produced mainstream or on a regular basis. Many of the posts seen related to the colours below have resulted in mixtures of paints to create the colours or adhoc recipes.

Post War Colours...

British Deep Bronze Green

Marine Corps Green

German Gelboliv RAL 6014

Good luck with your products!

All MERDC camo colors!!!

We want to thank all of the modelers who have responded so far to our question. Our decisions on what should be added for the latter 1/2 of 2018 will be made sometime in January (hard to believe we are already talking about the new year !). We asked the same question on other forums to garner as much input as possible. As we review the suggestions we should be able to see what modelers want.

We still have nearly 3 months to obtain intel on this subject and so far there has been no glaring area that seems to dominate (although British WW2 colors appears to be in the lead). Ask your friends to put in their thoughts on the subject.

As for several shades of the same color, we could do that. But since Tru-Color Paints are completely miscible with each other (they are all made with the exact same polymer and nearly identical solvent blends) the modeler has the ability to adjust the color lighter or darker as they wish using our generic white, off-white, grimy black, black, various grays, clear gloss and even clear flat is it really necessary to make 2-3 shades of the same Yellow Earth or Sand color, for example ? I can see the point of making a "freshly painted" tank color versus a "faded" paint color, but that can be achieved by adding a few drops of off-white or a lighter version by adding gloss or flat.

We understand that the modeler would like to purchase already blended colors or variations, but we have to think of the investment (dollar wise) the hobby shop (local or online) and our distributors have to make to stock multiple layers of the same color as well as the room that takes up. It also becomes an inventory and manufacturing nightmare in our factory. Right now we have 4 versions of Olive Drab for U.S. Armor and 2 versions of Olive Drab for British WWI aircraft. And yet, they all carry the same name - Olive Drab and a version number.

Thank you for listening to me and we look forward to more input and comments.

Martin Cohen, PhD
Tru-Color Paint

I would like to 2nd the motion of British AFV colours (spelled it correctly for the desired subject) WWII era. Med/North Africa would be really nice but heck do all theatres including Pacific (Aussie/Commonwealth AFV's too).

Cheers

Did you just update your website??? I just checked it out and almost every color we suggested is on your list for future releases! Thats great!!!!!

http://trucolorpaint.com/military-paint/

Good call.

Hi Martin,

New colors for Imperial Japanese subjects.

The ideas about MERC and Arab armies sound like good ideas to me.

Speaking of a growing number of new kits for a nationality, what about WW2 France? Their aircraft colors have been created by several manufacturers over the years but are those colors the same as were used on ground equipment? I do not know.

And what about WWI for the same reason - increasing number of subjects?

Colors of armor from the various militaries during the Wars in the Former Yugoslavia Republics during the 90's would be great.Seems this is one that is being overlooked.

Rich and Others:

The majority of the MERDC colors are already scheduled: TCP-1403 to TCP-1409 (7 colors) which will be followed by the NATO colors: TCP-1410 to TCP-1412. The first 2 MERDC colors will be released on Oct. 2, 2017 followed by 2 each month until Jan. 2018. Then the 3 NATO colors will ship in Feb., 2018.

We will have colors for other vehicles like Tan, Interior Green, US Marine Corps Green, Deep Green for non-combat vehicles and uniform colors (including MP's).

The listing on our website (http//trucolorpaint.com/military-paint/ has not been updated since posting it on Sept. 1. When we decide on additions to the product line, we will post that on the forums and the website.

Again, thanks for all the input.

Martin Cohen, PhD
Tru-Color Paint

Soviet cold war and modern Russian colors would be great

While I don't model IDF armor I can see a definite need for their grey/green paint. Also IDF uniform green.
Early Bundeswehr Gelbolive would be something I'd buy.

Martin, thanks for asking the people who would use the paints for their input. Very forward thinking !

Ivanhoe:

Thank you for your email and complement. We believe modelers should have an input on what we develop in the coming years if Tru-Color Paint is to be a preferred source of paint for the models you are building.

As for the IDF colors, would you be willing to help us with the development of the "correct" colors for the green-gray paint ? Not sure what the IDF uniforms look like - any reference material available ? Have they changed over the years like the U.S. ? If you OR anyone else would be willing to help with this project contact us by email. I already have some ideas for the gray-green color. The only question I have is the colors used on IDF armor gloss, semi-matte or matte ?

Looking forward to hearing from you or any other modeler who is interested in helping.

Martin Cohen, PhD
Tru-Color Paint
P.O. Box 74524
Phoenix, AZ 85087-4524

714-488-9779

Martin, Thanks for the generous offer to help ! I'd love to contribute but as I said I don't do IDF equipment (yet). I just remember the big debate about what was the true color. I don't think that anybody has a dedicated Israeli set yet.
I'd hold off on WWII German colors until a much later date. As that market is WELL served. Go for the armies of the world that are underserved paint wise and build off of that.
The last paragraph is just my .02 worth.
Tom

South American countries: Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Columbia...to mention a few. While not producing a whole lot of their own vehicles, they sure did mix up the color schemes that seemed to have no peer in the hues they used.

John:

Thank you for your response. Although we doubt many South American AFV's colors have been made, I don't believe there would be much of a market for them to justify the development cost. Any other modeler into South American AFV's - your input needed.

Martin Cohen, PhD
Tru-Color Paint

"We understand that the modeler would like to purchase already blended colors or variations, but we have to think of the investment (dollar wise) the hobby shop (local or online) and our distributors have to make to stock multiple layers of the same color as well as the room that takes up. It also becomes an inventory and manufacturing nightmare in our factory. Right now we have 4 versions of Olive Drab for U.S. Armor and 2 versions of Olive Drab for British WWI aircraft. And yet, they all carry the same name - Olive Drab and a version number."

I'd like to see a systematic factory color mixing guide to take the guesswork out of making our own colors. For example, you could have a chart showing ten parts of a base olive drab stock number 123 plus two parts yellow stock number 456 and one part white stock number 789 will produce a bang-on 1/35th version of USMC Jeep Paint circa 1944 with a year's exposure to sun and rain. The same base color with different additions then becomes factory fresh Lima Locomotive Works Sherman paint circa 1941, and so on. I'd think most model builders could handle mixing the right number of drops of two or three colors, and the inventory issues for you and retailers could be simplified. People already mix their own colors of course, but often relying either on guesswork or on a he-said, she-said basis where pro modeler A says mix the following colors and pro modeler B says something different. And then the judge at the model contest decides your dunkelgelb isn't dunkel enough....

I like the idea of a paint SYSTEM with mixing instructions which would reduce the number of times I get the evil-eye from my wife when she has noticed I've bought yet another $35 package of paints which is good only for painting post-WWII infantry weapons or infantry uniforms for one army in one war or whatever. I can't wait until she starts building those car models she's been buying, then the shoe will be on the other foot.

Doug:

When we were developing the railroad colors we have (over 400 colors now in product line), we contemplated the idea of making aged, weathered colors for freight cars. The problem arises that my idea (and the rest of the Tru-Color Paint staff) of what a faded Southern Pacific boxcar should look like after 1 year,5 years, 10 years, etc. is vastly different from 1 modeler to another.

The same is true for armor and other army vehicles which seem to have more wear and tear than ships or planes. Sure, we could say take 20 drops of TCP-1401 Olive Drab and add 5 drops of TCP-157 Soo Line Off-White (a yellowish green light white), for example, and get a aged looking olive drab. However my idea of an aged olive drab may not be the same as another modeler. So I guess we could devise a chart as a starting point for a modeler. Is this something you would like to help with ? If so, let us know.

Martin Cohen, PhD
Tru-Color Paint

PS - We have over 100 automotive colors !

I know personally Id love some IDF colors, uniform and the likes. I also think there would be a strong market for Modern Soviet colors given the dearth of post war Russian kits hitting the market as of late.

Also as I understand Testor's is in the process of or already has discontinued the Model Master line, there is the obvious market to replace alot of the colors that only that brand really offered

I read about this recently. It appears they are discontinuing their Model Master II line - their military colors, about 130+/- colors. But I couldn't care less because when they discontinued their Polly Scale and Floquil lines, I discontinued being a Testors customer. I feel bad for the rest of you, though. Stinks to have your favorite brand go away.

So I am very interested in Tru-Color looking to increase their product line.

Rob & Fred:

We know about Model Master military line going away. Can't say we are sorry to see it go in those tiny bottles.

Tru-Color Paint had already planned to enter the military paint market before we had even heard about this and the fact that Testors also discontinued colors out of their own product line. Our guess is this was the push of Rustoleum, the parent company of Testors, as they do not understand the hobby market.

Anyway, Tru-Color Paint does intend to stay in the market and expand our offerings every month until the middle of 2019 ! Beyond the U.S Ship, AFV and Aircraft market, the only other country scheduled is British WWI biplane colors.

However, I can tell the modeling community that we are already color matching the Japanese WWII colors in the lab and will schedule them for release in 2018.

Still need more input from YOU - THE MODELER - as to what should be the emphasis for AFV, Aircraft and Figure colors to be made. YOU have until the end of Dec., 2017 to put in your 2 cents - let us hear from you ! The modelers are our target customers - what say you ? The second 1/2 of 2018 production schedule will not be finalized until the middle of Jan., 2018 so there is time for your input !!!

Martin Cohen, PhD
Tru-Color Paint
P.O. Box 74524
Phoenix, AZ 85087-4524

714-488-9779
email: [email protected]