Will you guys ease up on the MRP buying??

[modelingbob]

If you live in the USA, Mr Color is the most economical acrylic lacquer out there. I can get it shipped to me in the USA from Asia for about $3.00 a bottle. MRP costs about $8.00 a bottle shipped to me. Whilst Mr Color is only a 10 ml bottle, in reality it actually contains about the same amount of paint (since you add thinner which is about 4 cents a ML for me). Regarding coverage of your model, Mr Color has denser pigments and takes less paint to cover than MRP. So, MRP is between 2-3X the cost versus Mr Color for me. Mr Color has good out of the bottle color matches, but MRP has more out of the bottle color choices. I use Mr Color about 10:1 more often than any other paint brand due to its relatively lower cost. If you live in Europe, Mr Color may not be the most economical paint. In terms of airbrush performance, Mr Color behaves virtually identical to MRP so their is no major difference between brands. I almost always use MRP paint right from the bottle for general airbrush work, but I do thin it when I need to do specific jobs (such as light staining). MRP thins beautifully with Mr Color Levelling Thinner. 

<<< I want to branch out in 2018, and I do not mind paying the 7 bucks a bottle, but funds are not limitless, so I want to do it in the most economical way>>>

Edited January 1, 2018 by modelingbob

[JesusNut]

1 hour ago, modelingbob said:

If you live in the USA, Mr Color is the most economical acrylic lacquer out there. I can get it shipped to me in the USA from Asia for about $3.00 a bottle. MRP costs about $8.00 a bottle shipped to me. Whilst Mr Color is only a 10 ml bottle, in reality it actually contains about the same amount of paint (since you add thinner which is about 4 cents a ML for me). Regarding coverage of your model, Mr Color has denser pigments and takes less paint to cover than MRP. So, MRP is between 2-3X the cost versus Mr Color for me. Mr Color has good out of the bottle color matches, but MRP has more out of the bottle color choices. I use Mr Color about 10:1 more often than any other paint brand due to its relatively lower cost. If you live in Europe, Mr Color may not be the most economical paint. In terms of airbrush performance, Mr Color behaves virtually identical to MRP so their is no major difference between brands. I almost always use MRP paint right from the bottle for general airbrush work, but I do thin it when I need to do specific jobs (such as light staining). MRP thins beautifully with Mr Color Levelling Thinner. 

<<< I want to branch out in 2018, and I do not mind paying the 7 bucks a bottle, but funds are not limitless, so I want to do it in the most economical way>>>

 

Thanks!  This was the answer I was looking for.  I think I will go with the Mr. Color for now and pick up a bottle of MRP to try it out.  Do you have a specific online shop you use out of Asia?

[modelingbob]

9 hours ago, JesusNut said:

 

Thanks!  This was the answer I was looking for.  I think I will go with the Mr. Color for now and pick up a bottle of MRP to try it out.  Do you have a specific online shop you use out of Asia?

I use Ebay a lot. Papalady is one Ebay vendor that has great prices and service. Sealmodels is a good online vendor. For some reason, for small air packets, shipping from China/Taiwan/Hong Kong is quite cheap to the USA. So, that's where the majority of my Mr Color and Tamiya enamels come from.

http://www.sealmodel.com/products.php?category_id=158

[dnl42]

I agree on Mr Color!!! Try your LHS, but if they don't have what you need, I've gotten great service from eBay seller animetropolis.

[JesusNut]

4 hours ago, modelingbob said:

I use Ebay a lot. Papalady is one Ebay vendor that has great prices and service. Sealmodels is a good online vendor. For some reason, for small air packets, shipping from China/Taiwan/Hong Kong is quite cheap to the USA. So, that's where the majority of my Mr Color and Tamiya enamels come from.

http://www.sealmodel.com/products.php?category_id=158

 

Thanks again!  I checked out Sealmodel and it looks like I can get them for a pretty good price.  I ordered a total of 9 bottles of paint for a few cents more than $25.  The only concern I have is I got something on the confirmation page that they will update the shipping fee.  I'm not too sure what that means, so I will see what happens.  But for right now it is showing I can get them shipped for about what I pay in the U.S.  

 

3 hours ago, dnl42 said:

I agree on Mr Color!!! Try your LHS, but if they don't have what you need, I've gotten great service from eBay seller animetropolis.

 

Thanks dnl!  Unfortunately my LHS does not carry any Mr. Color, but has a few bottles they bought when another LHS went under.  I bought a couple bottles, but they are old and the colors are very limited.  Lots of bottles of pink, but very few of any military colors.  

 

Another question for the group.  Can I mix Mr. Color and Tamiya?  I still have many colors in Tamiya, but am out of white and I like to mix a drop or two in when I am fading a panel or something like that.  For now, I am assuming I can since I use Mr Color Leveling Thinner to thin my Tamiya paints.  

[dnl42]

You could try to mix Tamiya acrylic and Mr Color lacquer, but I have idea if that will work or be usable/durable on the model.  I seem to recall that Hobby Lobby carries Tamiya and there's a store in Pensacola to help you finish up the Tamiya before you completely switch to Mr Color.

 

BTW, Mr Color likes to be sprayed close-in. Make sure it's hitting the surface wet and it will reward you with an amazing finish. I thin to about the consistency of 1% milk. Also, thinned Mr Surfacer 1000, 1200, or 1500 are wonderful airbrushed primers.

[JesusNut]

44 minutes ago, dnl42 said:

You could try to mix Tamiya acrylic and Mr Color lacquer, but I have idea if that will work or be usable/durable on the model.  I seem to recall that Hobby Lobby carries Tamiya and there's a store in Pensacola to help you finish up the Tamiya before you completely switch to Mr Color.

 

BTW, Mr Color likes to be sprayed close-in. Make sure it's hitting the surface wet and it will reward you with an amazing finish. I thin to about the consistency of 1% milk. Also, thinned Mr Surfacer 1000, 1200, or 1500 are wonderful airbrushed primers.

 

Good to know about spraying close in.  I try to do that with Tamiya unless I am spraying a highly thinned blend coat.  My Hobby Lobby does not carry Tamiya, but my LHS does.  I don't mind buying a few more bottles as needed to finish up the Tamiya.  I may experiment with mixing the two on a paint mule just to see what happens.  

[Mr Matt Foley]

If you spray Tamiya you absolutely have to use Tamiya Lacquer thinner or Mr. Leveling thinner. If you're using Tamiya alcohol based thinner you're not getting a good finish. The acrylic pigment in Tamiya acrylics reacts fantastic with the cellulose lacquer thinners. You won't be disappointed and you wont need to waste time spraying a primer either because it will stay down.