Found an unopened can of Diosol in my stash. I know Floquil has changed it's formulation in the last several years. What can I use Diosol for nowadays?
I use mostly laquer thinner for brush and airbrush cleaning and gallon cans of thinner form the local hardware store for thinning. I still have a few name brand mini cans of thinner Testors, Aeromaster, (new) Floquil but I think when they are gone I'm gonna stay with the generic thinner which has worked fine in tests so far.
I also bought a pint of MEK 'cause I just happened to see it. What can I use that for?
Not a simple question - floquil paints were originally laquers - back in the
60s and 70s. The main solvent was Xylene. They then toned it down to toluene. The old original paints would graze plastic even if airbrushed - unless you went with dusting coats - which were great the paint basically bonded to a melteds surface.
With OSHA and other contsraints they went to enamel base and dropped many of their colors. Some of us still believe they were the beat paints ever created.
Dio-sol changed with the times.
Getting back to your question. Depending on the vintage its a great or really good solvent for cleaning things like airbrushes - but nasty stuff to inhale or get absorbed into your skin.
"Val Kraut" wrote in news:4a91b898$0$31260$ snipped-for-privacy@cv.net:
Do we know about when they changed the formula 'cause now I'm thinking it might have been before I acquired my paints and Diosol. I still see Floquil thinner advertised as Diosol which clearly isn't the old stuff. Can a difference be told from the odor?
Interesting thought - they are both in the same family of chemicals - probably side by side you may detect a difference - but I'm not sure anyone but an experience chemicst or paint expert could do it alone.
"> Do we know about when they changed the formula 'cause now I'm thinking it
As to the MEK (Methyl Ethyl Keytone) is used to be used for bonding plastic (Glue). I works really well as it would simply melt each surface and when they were joined and dried they were literally "welded" together. MEK, however, is extremely dangerous as the fumes are directly absorbed by the lungs and also can be absorbed by the skin, It is a known carsinogen(Sp)? Most modelers ceased using the stuff years ago and I thought (obviously mistakenly) that it was no longer marketed.
Methyl Ethel Ketone is also an ingredient in some commercial paint strippers, including "aircraft strippers".
formatting link
It can leave a nasty chemical burn if it touches exposed skin. Contact your local recycling center to see if they'll take it, or for other disposal methods.
Hey Frank, don't dispose of anything just yet. Lots of hobby chemicals are nasty but very useful when used properly.
OK, first Dio-Sol. You made me go digging through my stash just to help out a fellow modeler! :-)
I have the "original" formula DIO-SOL in a 16 FL. OZ. can. It was purchased sometime in the mid 80s and it was for the original Floquil paints of that time (which still attacked polystyrene when applied without Floquil Barrier). Remember Barrier? :-) Part number on the can is 150001 (not really relevant as the part # stayed the same even when they changed formulas). But the label has other important clues.
contains xylol, toluene and aromatic hydrocarbon solvents. Photochemically reactive.
address on that bottle is Amsterdam NY.
This version of SIO-SOL was made for all the original Floquil Railroad Colors paints. Ones in square and round 1 oz. bottles with red printing on the labels. Various versions of those labels described their contents as xylol and toluene, sometimes alongside of petroleum distillates. All made in Amsterdam, NY.
Next, I have a 8 FL. OZ. can of a "new", "REV 1, plastic compatible" DIO-SOL. That one was purchased on Jan. 2002 (yes, I became anal enough to write down purchase date on my paints). Its part number is
140001 (because it is a smaller can than 150001). Label only shows that it contains petroleum distillates. This version of DIO-SOL was made for the next generation of Floquil Railroad Colors. First batch of those new paints came in round 1 oz. bottles again with red printing on the labels. But the paint bottle labels also stated (in red print) "REV. 1 FORMULA Compatible with plastics. No barrier needed. REV. 1 Colors are compatible with Dio-Sol and regular formula Floquil Colors." It also states that paint contains "petroleum distillate". Mind you that the "REV. 1" Dio-Sol can I have just described has no "REV. 1" indicated anywhere on its label but it lacks the xylol and to toluene from the warnings.
Another important clue as to this can of Dio-Sol being "REV. 1" is that it was made in Canada in Weston, Ontario.
Going back to formula revisions, the current Floquil paints have labels with black logo and red printing and they no longer mention any "REV". But I assume that they are identical) or at least very similar to "REV. 1" paints.
I don't know why Floquil made things so confusing for modelers. It seems that the original and REV. 1 paints and Dio-Sol are all compatible. I think that the original Dio-Sol would thin REV.1 paints fine but it will cause plastic crazing if directly applied to polystyrene.
Next, in the name of science and being helpful I did the sniff test. Original Dio-Sol has a "sweeter" smell than REV. 1 Dio-Sol. I suspect that is because of xylol or toluene.
I hope that this info helps you out.
I also want to mention MEK. I don't recall it ever being used in Floquil paints. It is a nasty chemical but Testors Plastic Liquid Cement still uses it. I have a 1 oz. bottle of that cement (part #
3502) and MEK is still listed on the label. It has a "copyright 2001" and I purchased it on 2003. So, MEK is still utilized in plastic modeling. If common sense is being followed than MEK should not pose any more hazard than other solvents we use in building model kits.
Why bother? Just consider it lacquer thinner. Xylene, Tolulene, MEK, Acetone, Trichloroethane, Methanol, and Methylene Chloride (as paint stripper) are all readily available in hardware stores. Lacquer thinner is just a mixture. There is nothing really to set it apart from any of these other solvents, safety-wise. Just take the appropriate measures.
Floquil changed because of OSHA? Pfft! Another urban legend. The real reason has already been noted: You couldn't use it on plastic models without a barrier coat. When plastic became the material of choice in the 70's for railroad models it just didn't make sense sell a hobby paint that couldn't be sprayed on hobby kits without an airbrush and a real rigmarole, and couldn't be brushed at all. Look at Peteski's post about the new labeling: "Safe for plastics!!" They had to change to stay competitive. (Which I guess they weren't anyway, leading to them being bought by Testors or Testors' parent company.)
There was another similar BS story this month: Tenax-7R was no longer available - it has been banned by Obama and the EPA!!! After a couple of weeks of the usual "goddamm-socialist-Obama-entire-country-is-going-to-shit-they'll-be-banning-war-models-next" posts, someone posts that after talking to the manufacturer (a small company), no it *wasn't* banned, the owner just had some personal problem that prevented him from shipping any for a couple of months. Hardly an interesting a story, and not surprising that most people instead ran with the one that supported their own fears and prejudices rather than checking to see if it was actually true. More fun that way, I suppose.
i haye the sneaky racism current in the u.s. obama was damned befor he took office. what happened to give the guy a chance? this self fufiling prophecy shit is part od the illness.
I'll take whatever name anyone wants to call me for thinking Obama's a dangerously naive, woefully inexperienced, insufferably arrogant and reckless ideologue who is in the process of frittering away the strongest political hand enjoyed by any incoming US President in recent memory. Obama is amassing a cache of political miscues that is due less to a strong opposition and due more to his delight in governing with an abrasive and divisive manner that is both incapable and undesirable of forming bipartisan consensus. When he's not out snuffing the life out of his very own key political initiatives through gross political ineptitude and hubris, he can be found foolishly wading into matters of such little consequence one would reasonably assume that given the enormity of the responsibilities of the office of President, they would be far below his pay grade - so to speak.
all of that may be true, but is not without precedent. he may crash and burn or he may learn to fly. i won't guess until mid term. i didn't vote for him. i just think we're too quick fix oriented and immediate gratification is not realistic.
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.