Firetruck lime yellow paint

[Oldcarfan27]

My son and I recently aquired all 3 AMT fire trucks (Pumper, Aero Chief, Ladder Chief) and we want to do one of them in the lime yellow color that some firetrucks come in.

My question is - is there a pre-mixed paint (preferably spray) that matches this color? What paint is the closest match? Is Testors zinc chromate a close match?

Thanks

[gotnitro?]

Browsing the scale firehouse site turned up several options. One I thought looked very convincing is rustoleum key lime .

Here's a pic of the can

Hope this helps ya out !  Swing by the auto parts stores too, a well stocked one might have other options . 

[Aaronw]

Find something that looks good to you. There is a huge variety of options, everything from black, to purple has been used on fire apparatus. Unless you are specifically trying to match a 1-1 piece of equipment you really can't go wrong.

The Key lime mentioned isn't bad for the more green hued slime lime, Krylon Sun Yellow is a nice bright yellow. There are some fluorescent yellow paints which would work for the yellow end of slime lime, but they tend to be tricky paints to work with.

 

For shades of yellow, I'm partial to Chrome yellow aka School Bus yellow.

 

If you wanted to go really crazy, during the period these trucks were in service some departments painted their apparatus in red, white and blue flag themes complete with stars and stripes for the bicentennial. 

[Oldcarfan27]

That's perfect! I saw that paint at hobby lobby this week. I wasn't sure, but now you've confirmed it. Thanks, that's what I'll  use.

[maxwell48098]

Here's the standard paint samples that Pierce offers their apparatus in.  Look at the different shades of red, white, yellow, green.  Almost any shade you choose would be correct.

[Aaronw]

Does Pierce actually offer 42 shades of white or are some of those blanks to fill up the rack?

 

That is a great photo to show the huge variety of colors available and that is just one manufacturer.

[maxwell48098]

Each paint chip sample has a number on it in the lower right corner which they then cross-reference to the brand and type of paint the customer wants on the apparatus.  In person, you can see the very, very slight differences between them.  There really are 42 different whites that they offer.  Having been to both the DuPont and PPG color studios while I was working for Chrysler, I can tell you that there are literally 150 - 200 different shades of white, and nearly the same number of blacks.  So life really isn't as simple as black and white.

[Chariots of Fire]

If you don't want to do actual manufacturer's paint, try to find a reasonable color in Duplicolor.  I don't like Rustoleum for painting models because it is too thick and the spray is too concentrated.  It does not dry as well either.  Take a copy of the paint chips to an auto parts store and see if you can get close to one of the yellows you want.  Just MHO!

[redneckrigger]

Check out Model Car Worlds automotive finishes on this link: http://mcwfinishes.com/paint/catalog/air-brush/misc/.

Look for American LaFrance Lime Yellow for fire trucks, MCW #1018. I used to run a body shop and did a few trucks in this exact color, both using PPG and Dupont systems. If memory serves me right, it was PPG #82027. Back when I was Chief of the Savoy Fire Department, we even built a tanker in my shop from a military 5 ton M52 Mack powered tractor, and did it in that color. We had recently purchased a Seagrave FWD Detroit 8V-71 powered engine in the same color. We bought the Seagrave from a department in lower New York state. They missed her so much, they tracked her down when Savoy sold her and got her back in her original home as a parade truck. The M52 is also still doing her duty as a tanker for the Warwick, MA FD. We painted the M52 that color because the engine came that way, and we didn't want her to be all alone in the crowd of red trucks we had!  Both were great trucks that sadly have found new homes!

 

 

Edited March 27, 2018 by redneckrigger

[explorer2770]

Krylon Gloss Citrus Green and Ivy Green might be other options to try, although these are more green than yellow.  I picked up the Ivy Green to make this someday: 

Slime lime is a hard color to get in a can, but the Rustoleum Key Lime is my go to if I have to use a rattle can.

Rattle cans can be decanted and shot through an airbrush, or you can get acrylic paints and use aerosol adapters to shoot them. 

I have used DecoArt Americana Chartreuse Yellow acrylic paint for a slime yellow.  I know a guy that uses Tamiya XF-4, which is a little greener than you might be looking for.  You can try mixing various acrylic yellows and greens to get different shapes of slime.  I'm going to try mixing Testor's Fluorescent Yellow and Fluorescent Green airbrush paints (picked them up on clearance at Michaels) to get a slime lime paint.  Gravity Colors offers a National Fire Safety Lime Yellow color for airbrushing.

Good luck with your builds.

[Oldcarfan27]

On 3/18/2018 at 10:05 AM, maxwell48098 said:

Here's the standard paint samples that Pierce offers their apparatus in.  Look at the different shades of red, white, yellow, green.  Almost any shade you choose would be correct.

"Yes fire marshall, we offer it in white. What color of white do you want? White, light white, dark white, neutral white, pure white, off white, candy white or clear white?"

"And over here we have red...."

Can't say that I've ever seen a BLACK fire truck! Either that or it's a super dark green. (might as well be black)

Although Grabber Blue looks eye catching, I can't imagine it shouts "Fire, get out of the way!!!" Like red does.

Edited April 18, 2018 by Oldcarfan27

[Art Anderson]

In the middle 1970's,  many fire departments (at least out here in Indiana) went to using 1974 Oldsmobile "Omega Lime",  which I was told at the time, was a "recommendation" from the US Dept. of Transportation, and in fact,  the Lafayette (Indiana, where I live) ordered 3 ALF Century Series rigs--2 pumpers and a snorkel--in this very color, about 1975-76.  This is a color that which MCW Automotive Finishes ought to be able to mix up, pack in a spray can for you.  It's pretty much the original "Slime Lime".

Art

[maxwell48098]

The current Mt Horeb WI fire apparatus are painted black.  Here's a couple of them:

[explorer2770]

Here some paint comparisons that I did today.  For each comparison, I used Krylon white primer (Left), Krylon gray primer (Middle), and Plastikote Filler Primer (Right):

Krylon Citrus Green:

citrus green by Brandon VanNess, on Flickr

Rust-oleum Key Lime:

Key lime by Brandon VanNess, on Flickr

Krylon Ivy leaf:

ivy leaf by Brandon VanNess, on Flickr

Testor Fluorescent Yellow (airbrush):

testor fl yellow by Brandon VanNess, on Flickr

I hope this helps!

[Oldmopars]

I like the Key Lime or the Florescent Yellow. I was a volunteer at a FD back in the 80's that used the yellow/green color. All the other departments harassed us for it, now I see the other departments have moved to that color.  

[Jim B]

58 minutes ago, Oldmopars said:

I like the Key Lime or the Florescent Yellow. I was a volunteer at a FD back in the 80's that used the yellow/green color. All the other departments harassed us for it, now I see the other departments have moved to that color.  

That's funny.  All of our current trucks at the FD are yellow & white, but now we're switching to red & white.

[redneckrigger]

Tradition, something HUGE in the fire service, always had trucks red, as we all know. The yellow/green colors may not be popularly accepted, but they are far more visible at night. I am not a fan of non-red trucks, but our department is all yellow/green, and it does kind of grow on you, after a while.

[maxwell48098]

In my final year of college in 1973, my thesis was on emergency vehicle color.  I spent nearly 7 months gathering several thousand pages of information and notes in researching the area, conducting over 100 interviews with everyone from ordinary people on the street, to first responders, to emergency and normal vehicle manufacturers, to paint manufacturers, to opticians, to color and lighting professionals.  Except for traditionalists, the light, not quite florescent green (under mainly by the Ward LaFrance fire equipment mfr. at the time) was proven to be the best, most visible color under all lighting conditions, while lighter yellows were also a good choice.  Of course at the opposite end of the scale was black, and traditional medium and dark reds were in the bottom quartile.  It was amazing to see the differences in visibility under different lighting conditions.

But in the end, tradition seemed to be the driving factor in emergency vehicle color.  Ford example, Chicago's black over red color scheme goes back to the late 1800's when the chief's rode in buggies to fire scenes.  The buggies themselves were painted red while their canvas roofs were black, and thus began a tradition.  Fortunately, emergency lighting has come a long ways to make up for any loss of visibility under anything but bright sun light.  I wish I still had a copy of my thesis today as it would be interesting to see where we've gone since then.

[Oldcarfan27]

Thank you all for all of the great information. I especially like the photos and the color samples. Because of your input, I decided to get key lime because it looks like the closest choice to what I have in mind. I'm also going to use it for a Datsun 240Z build that I have in mind, because it looks like it's going to match a color they used back then too. So this can is not going to waste!

Thanks so much, for your help!

[clayton]

On 4/22/2018 at 3:14 PM, explorer2770 said:

Here some paint comparisons that I did today.  For each comparison, I used Krylon white primer (Left), Krylon gray primer (Middle), and Plastikote Filler Primer (Right):

Krylon Citrus Green:

citrus green by Brandon VanNess, on Flickr

Rust-oleum Key Lime:

Key lime by Brandon VanNess, on Flickr

Krylon Ivy leaf:

ivy leaf by Brandon VanNess, on Flickr

Testor Fluorescent Yellow (airbrush):

testor fl yellow by Brandon VanNess, on Flickr

I hope this helps!

I like the one on the left,it stands out.