Gunze vs Mr. Color Paints

[Viper88]

I have used Gunze paints in the past for years and really liked them. I hear many talking about Mr. Color paint and it has it's own thinner. Can anyone tell me the differences between the 2 besides Gunze is water based and Mr. Color is what lacquer based I think? What are the Mr. Color fumes like? Is the quality of one better than the other? Appreciate any feedback.

[toadwbg]

You nailed the basics: Acrylic thinned vs Lacquer thinned. I'm not 100% certain on this, but I believe they in fact are the same chemistry (pigment, binder) except for the thinner as you can also thin Gunze Aqueous with Lacquer and it sprays just like Mr Color...

I like Mr Color's lacquer (Mr Color Leveling Thinner) thinner by the way. This stuff airbrushes like a dream.

For Gunze Acqeous you can use Tamiya's X-20 acrylic thinner with great results. Personally I mix my own equivalent with 90% ISO Alchohol and retarder.

Edited August 12, 2012 by toadwbg

[gregax]

Gunze Mr. color paint are probably the best modeling paints. Period.

Fast drying time, really hard surface, they can withstand oil washes etc.

Gunze Acrilic paints come close second. They are a bit soft (handling your model after painting when paint is dry to the touch)

but you can sort that out by using the same thinner as for Mr. color paints. I use Mr. Color leveling thinner for that.

Mr. color stinks a bit more, but nothing in comparison to let sey, Alclad. Just use a good respirator.

My advice. Buy the whole range and enjoy.

[GGoheen]

Mr. Hobby (Aqueous) are by far more appealing than Mr. Color (Lacquer Based), although they've all but disappeared on the US market. Very durable and quite easily to work with, be it through your airbrush or simply brushed on. You can still get overseas from several distributors though and I'd recommend doing so, as they appear to be less toxic and can easily be thinned with 90% or greater isopropyl alcohol.

[trojansamurai]

Gunze is the name of the manufacturer, like Testors. They have two lines of paint: Aqueous Hobby Color and Mr. Color. There's a misconception that acrylics = water based. Not true. Aqueous Hobby Color is a water-based acrylic and Mr. Color is a solvent-based acrylic.

While the two yield somewhat similar results especially when using Mr. Thinner as a common solvent, Mr. Color dries much faster and harder. I've always had issues with AHC's lighter shades like white and yellow from drying and curing completely, whereas I've never had the problem with Mr. C. Mr. C also sands and feathers well, which is a plus if you need to do any light sanding of blemishes or you want to buff the finish to glass-like luster for some aircraft and automobiles.