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So long story short, I got back into modeling earlier last year and have been thoroughly enjoying it. Things have changed a bit since my childhood... So many options. 

 

I've been primarily building WW2 German armor and that's what my paint set revolves around. With the release of Tamiya's F-14 kits (love this bird) I decided to dip my toes into aircrafts, which brings me here. 

 

What colors would you guys suggest to start with? My plan was to go with Mission Model (preferably) or Tamiya for non metallics, and Alclad for metallics. Given those 3 manufacturers, if one wanted to build some Tomcats and F5s and had to pick 10-15 colors to start out with, what would they be? 

 

~Cheers! 

Edited by EightyDuce
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Good stuff! Any input on the Alclad? I've never come across any of their stuff before yesterday, but their metallics look really nice (at least on paper/screen). Also their armored glass green looks nice for the f14 canopy(front).  

 

Anyone using Mission Model paint? 

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I'm a huge fan of lacquers over enamels and other acrylics like Tamiya, Vallejo, &etc. While I primarily use Mr Color, I do use some others, including Alclad.  There was a quick presentation at last month's IPMSOC meeting on MMP paints. They are apparently sprayable directly from the bottle. There was also the suggestion they could be further thinned with Mr Color Leveling Thinner if desired. Their description of use was what I would expect based on my favored Mr Color. As a result of the discussion, I just purchased a few Mission Models paint in colors Mr Color doesn't offer, include ZCY, ZCG, and some rust colors. Haven't used them yet, but I'm looking forward to one of the rust colors as a trim color for the Folsom Air C-47 that I'm working on.

 

While enamel and other acrylic paints allow you to be a little sloppier in paint application, lacquers are the most demanding because they lay down in a very thin coat--the thinnest of all model paints. As a result, you need to pay close attention to surface preparation. Once I'm ready to paint, I polish the plastic with abrasive pads up to 12000 grit and then give the plastic a wipe-down with isopropyl alcohol to ensure there's no contaminant on the plastic before applying paint. I prime with thinned Mr Surfacer (I thin all paints to about the consistency of 1% milk). I then polish that out with my abrasive pads. I usually keep my compressor set for 1 atmosphere (a little less than 15 psi or 100 kPa). I spray from about 0.25 to 1.5 in from the model surface. The goal should be for the paint to be shiny when it hits--a grazing light helps to ensure this. Don't attempt to get full coverage from a single coat. Spray thin coats and build up the coverage. If you're doing gloss paints, lay down a final "wet" coat only after you've gotten full coverage with thinner coats. Since lacquers dry so very quickly, this is easily done in one session. I'm currently building some 1/144 C-47s, and I can paint the entire model in a single session, which requires holding the model in recently painted areas. On that C-47, I started painting by holding the empennage and spraying everything else. By the time I was ready to paint the empennage, one of the wing tips was dry enabling me to hold the model there. If masking is needed, I'll wait a few hours before masking. While Mr Color lacquers are quite robust, I do reduce the tape adhesion a little by sticking the tape to a clean surface before applying to the model.

 

Alclad colors are applied as I described above except for masking. Some of the colors, like the chrome and similar, are quite fragile. I don't recommend masking or even handling surfaces painted with chrome. I use Mr Color gloss black (#2) as an undercoat for Alclad chrome. The undercoat color will show through all Alclad paints, so use a grey color--or even white--for the other Alclads. This effect can be used to create subtly different metal "panel" colors with a single Alclad color and multiple primer colors.

 

HTH

-- 

dnl

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  • 2 weeks later...

EightyDuce,

 

I have used Mission Model paints and they are unlike any other acrylic paints out there. You must use only their thinner with their paints, and actually you don't need it at all. If you do use it, it's like 1 - 2 drops for every 15 - 20 drops of paint. Before purchasing any and using it, go to their website and print the instructions on how to use it. Here's the link to it:

 

https://www.missionmodelsus.com/pages/tips-and-tricks-faq

 

I found that I could spray it fairly well to do a camouflage pattern on a Boulton Paul Defiant:

 

20180813_200104_zpsx3ihfcgp.jpg

 

I have not tried to spray really fine lines with it yet, so I cannot comment on how well it does in that area. I typically set my air pressure to around 15 psi and use a Badger Khrome airbrush to paint with.

 

I've also used Alclad and they are great paints, but I have also used the Xtreme Metal paints by AK Interactive and I must say that I like these better than the Alclad. Here's a link to them:

 

https://www.scalehobbyist.com/catagories/browse.php?kw=xtreme,metal

 

Happy modelling!

 

HTH

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22 minutes ago, marvin20 said:

EightyDuce,

 

I have used Mission Model paints and they are unlike any other acrylic paints out there. You must use only their thinner with their paints, and actually you don't need it at all. If you do use it, it's like 1 - 2 drops for every 15 - 20 drops of paint. Before purchasing any and using it, go to their website and print the instructions on how to use it. Here's the link to it:

 

https://www.missionmodelsus.com/pages/tips-and-tricks-faq

 

I found that I could spray it fairly well to do a camouflage pattern on a Boulton Paul Defiant:

 

20180813_200104_zpsx3ihfcgp.jpg

 

I have not tried to spray really fine lines with it yet, so I cannot comment on how well it does in that area. I typically set my air pressure to around 15 psi and use a Badger Khrome airbrush to paint with.

 

I've also used Alclad and they are great paints, but I have also used the Xtreme Metal paints by AK Interactive and I must say that I like these better than the Alclad. Here's a link to them:

 

https://www.scalehobbyist.com/catagories/browse.php?kw=xtreme,metal

 

Happy modelling!

 

HTH

 

I ended up buying a bunch of MMP colors to do a test run on a AFV F-5. So far I really like them, they go on smooth and don't seem to clog/dry up on me. Their primer though, tends to clog a bit on my 0.3mm Iwata, so you have to constantly wipe the tip. This is using their recommended ratios. 

 

Additionally, MMP really seems to not get along with Tamiya ultrathin. The slightest contact between the two causes the paint to fail and peal. 

 

Also bought some Alclad colors, aluminum, burnt pale metal, jet exhaust, clear red, green, blue colors, and their thinner and primer. So far I really like their metallics, but I've never sprayed AK colors before. 

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