Hello gents, I figured I might post this paint question here in the Autos forum, as I suspect that we have some rather accomplished modelers who may have dabbled in fire and rescue equipment:
Can anyone lead me to a hobby paint that would closely resemble the bright lime green that gets used on some fire/rescue vehicles? Browsing my local hobby shop turned up nothing in their Model Master line, so I am looking for other sources for this paint.
Did you get to look at the new Testors laquer system? If I remember correctly one of the muscle car colors might be what you need. If nothing else hit a Home Depot/Lowes/Wally World and check the spray paint aisle. If nothing else go to a well stocked auto parts store and peruse the paint selection there. Good luck.
I know many people end up using the real stuff from the trucks. It is available under the Dupont Imron line at many automotive paint shops, I think one version is American LaFrance Safety Yellow or something like that. Auto paint is really expensive though, around $40-50 a qt. However I do recall seeing that one of the big spray paint companies like Krylon or Rustolium has recently added a very similar yellow. I’m pretty sure someone posted a build that used this spray paint, on one of the modeling forums I belong to. If I can find it I’ll get you more specific info on the spray paint.
Model Car World sells air brushable lacquers, and did have the slime lime you are looking for, I don’t know what they called it, but an email to them could probably tell you if they still carry it, also there is a neon yellow listed under race cars which might work.
Testor’s Model Master and their new automotive lacquer line apparently have some colors that could work for you depending on which shade of yellow / green you want.
Rustolium is the one that has in a spary can, apparently Key Lime is a close match for the greener trucks.
I don’t know if you are looking for an exact match for a specific truck or not. Slime Lime or Slime Green as the color is popularly known, is not really a specific color. There are many variations based on truck manufacturer, date of delivery and the department. It varies from a bright yellow yellow to a very greenish yellow color. If you are not trying to make an exact match to a specific truck, you should be fine looking through the options I posted above and picking the one most appealing to you. You should be able to make minor adjustments by putting a coat of yellow or green underneath the top coats to shift the shade a bit.
Thanks for the heads-up, Aaron. I will need to do some more shopping around.
I noticed today that our local airport has the slime-lime colored service vehicles, too. I wonder if they have any commercially-available aerosols that they use for touch-ups?
Ok, I have a correction on my correction, the Keylime is a Rustolium Painters touch color, not Krylon.
As far as touch up paint in an spray can, apparently you can get it from some of the apparatus manufacturers but I’m not sure how. You would probably have to find a local distributor / service shop and try to get it from them. If you talked to the guys at the airport though they might be able to point you in the right direction, or if you are lucky maybe they would give you a can.
Redleg12 recently built a NASA M113A1 Rescue Vehicle in the slime yellow color you are looking for. He mixed his own custom slime yellow color. " I mixed a custom blend of 80% Tamiya Flat White, 15% Green Yellow and 5% Cockpit Green for the main body color."
NASA M113A1 Rescue VehicleHere is the thread with pics of it.
Yeah Ineed something similar myself, but mine is for a diff project. I’m gonna use the AMT Payhauler kit, and turn it into “Longhaul” from the G1 Decepticons Contstructicons set from the G1 TRansformers cartoons. GRIN.
I’ve used #16-81 Badger Flex “Katy Yellow” (a model railroad color) over white primer for my HO scale airport CFR vehicles. To my eyes, it is very close to slime green.
