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Mr Color (lacquer, not water based) Tips or Tricks?


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I decided to try Mr Color paints (The lacquer solvent based, not the water/alcohol Mr Hobby Aqueous), so I bought their cool little early and late RAF colors sets, along with a bottle of their Leveling Thinnner.

  I just airbrushed the Sea Gray on the bottom of a Spitfire. So far so good. I thinned it about 1:2 paint to thinner and sprayed right on the bare plastic at 12psi with a Badger 150 double action.

Do any of you guys use the Mr Color Lacquers? How are you using it? Any caveats or tricks that you've found?  

What kind of cure time to these have?  How long should I wait before masking, or clear coating, or painting other types of paints over them?

Any known issues with decal solvents (Solvaset, Mr Mark Softer, Tamiya Markfit, etc?

 

 

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Congratulations! You've chosen the best paint!

 

Mr Color is my primary paint, by a very large margin. I just posted my airbrushing method in another thread:

To answer your other questions.

  1. Lacquer only needs to dry. It doesn't need to cure, as enamel does. Parts can be handled relatively quickly, should be no longer than 10m unless you're putting on too heavy a coat. For non-gloss wet coats, 5m is about right.
  2. As noted in the above, I mask in 30m to 1h. 
  3. If I'm misting another color, say for shading where no masking is needed, I'll do that in 10m--about the time to clean out the old color and thin the next color.
  4. I use Mr Color Gloss Clear C46, MSI Micro Satin, and MSI Micro Flat. The MSI clears are thinned with water.
  5. I've used Solvaset and Mr Mark Softer without issues. For these as well as my usual MSI Micro Set and Micro Sol,  I don't glop it on, but I do completely cover the decals.
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Thanks for the tips dnl42.  🙂

 

Update, as I said earlier I put the Sea Gray right on the plastic. To remove fingerprints/oils, I had wiped the model with dish soap/water on  a microfiber towel, then dried with another towel before painting. 

 

 I let the paint dry for about an hour, then masked the demarc line with poster putty rolled into a worm. I also masked the bottom of the horizontal stabilizers with yellow Shurtape (which looks to me like Tamiya tape, but may be different).  I then painted the top surfaces with Ocean Gray.

 

The poster putty came right off with no problems at all. However, the Shurtape on the stabilizers did peel up little flecks of paint. It's not bad and just looks like a little chipping.  I'm going to leave it alone and consider it part of the wear/weathering, so no catastrophe this time. However, I'm wondering now, if in the future I should be putting primer down first instead of painting right on the plastic. 

 

What do you guys think. should I try some Mr Surfacer 1000 thinned with the Mr Leveler on the next model?

Edited by dmk0210
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3 hours ago, dmk0210 said:

Thanks for the tips dnl42.  🙂

 

Update, as I said earlier I put the Sea Gray right on the plastic. To remove fingerprints/oils, I had wiped the model with dish soap/water on  a microfiber towel, then dried with another towel before painting. 

 

 I let the paint dry for about an hour, then masked the demarc line with poster putty rolled into a worm. I also masked the bottom of the horizontal stabilizers with yellow Shurtape (which looks to me like Tamiya tape, but may be different).  I then painted the top surfaces with Ocean Gray.

 

The poster putty came right off with no problems at all. However, the Shurtape on the stabilizers did peel up little flecks of paint. It's not bad and just looks like a little chipping.  I'm going to leave it alone and consider it part of the wear/weathering, so no catastrophe this time. However, I'm wondering now, if in the future I should be putting primer down first instead of painting right on the plastic. 

 

What do you guys think. should I try some Mr Surfacer 1000 thinned with the Mr Leveler on the next model?

 

If you are using soap and water to clean, make sure you rinse away all remnants of any soap, else it will interfere with paint adhesion.

 

Shurtape is a brand  and they make many types of tape, so I'm not sure what you're actually using. I stick to Tamiya's family of tape or some of the other Kabuki types from Gunze and other distributors. It has very low tack making it ideal for masking over painted areas.

 

Mr Surfacer 1000 makes a great primer. Needs to be thinned significantly. Usually more than 50/50. Judge by consistency not ratios. Should be skim milk consistency or even a little thinner. Lays down as smooth as a baby's butt :naughty:.

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I just tried Mr Crystal Color on the weekend using the Mr Color thinner about 1:1. Sprayed beautifully but it is a little fragile in the adhesion area, despite Mr Surfacer 1000 as the base. I think I'll de-tack the masking tape a little before masking next time. I think I'm a new convert from enamels...

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One practice I've developed is make sure the airbrush is atomizing well before I pour in the paint. I'll drop 3-5 drops of thinner in the airbrush; I then start with air (no paint) and then slowing pull back on the trigger, increasing the fluid flow. This does 2 things: 1) makes sure there's nothing wrong with the airbrush (clogs, misalignment, &etc), and B) makes sure there's compatible thinner in the brush.

 

Once I load the paint, I'll give a quick full-flow blast of paint. All of this helps ensure there are no surprises when I start spraying.

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I also do that. I always spray some thinner through to clean the brush and make sure it's working OK before I paint. Then once I mix up the paint, I test it on some cardboard I keep near the paint booth.

 

This is the Shurtape I use (link). I never had any problems with it before. Like I said, it feels just like the Tamiya tape. 

 

 I finished up the green of the camo on the spitfire yesterday. This time I masked with plain paper masks cut out and attached to the model with poster putty worms. This worked perfectly. The poster putty caused no problems. This was letting the under coat of Ocean Gray dry 24 hours.

 

 How long do you guys think I should wait before I clear gloss it with Future?

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Hey there,

 

I'm a Mr. Color lacquer user also, as well as MRP (the former Mr. Paint) lacquer.   I wouldn't think you would have any issues by using that paint over bare plastic, but it never hurts to prime.  I'm a fan of Badger Stynylrez water based primer (or Mig One Shot), and that's a great base for Mr. Color.  Of course,  appropriately thinned Mr. Surfacer is a lot of people's go-to primer.  I have the black Mr. Surfacer 1500, but haven't used it yet.  You really can thin Mr. Color significantly, and you can go even thinner than 2:1, thinner: paint, if you desire.  One thing I have learned and which others have said they do as well, to get the absolute best finish on Mr. Color, soon after finishing your color coat, spray a fine mist of pure Mr. Leveling Thinner on top, and you will get an even finer surface finish than just the color coat alone.  If you have any kind of roughness in the color coat, (which I did my first time using Mr. Color, due to spraying from slightly too far away and the paint just beginning to dry before hitting the surface), that mist of thinner over the top does a great job of smoothing it out!  If you do this, you shouldn't have any need for Future, but if you're set on using it anyway, you should be able to put a coat of Future on it in about 30 minutes or so, just to give the lacquer a bit of time to 'off-gas', even though the Mr. Color, in my experience, is dry to the touch in less than 10 minutes.

 

Also, regarding your masking tape issue, I suggest you use Kabuki masking tape (the stuff that you get if you use Tamiya masking tape).  It seems to have somewhat less tack than some other masking tapes, but does a great job at what it's for, masking.  It's pricier than some other options, but well worth it, in my opinion.

Edited by Curt B
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  • 7 months later...
On 6/30/2020 at 8:15 PM, Curt B said:

Also, regarding your masking tape issue, I suggest you use Kabuki masking tape (the stuff that you get if you use Tamiya masking tape).  It seems to have somewhat less tack than some other masking tapes, but does a great job at what it's for, masking.  It's pricier than some other options, but well worth it, in my opinion.

 

Is the 3M blue painter's tape adequate for this (as opposed to buying Tamiya brand)?

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Over all if you ignore any kind of colour accuracy problems (I would leave such pedantic things to others) then over the years Mr Color lacquers to be very good, solid reliable paints to work with.

Their thinners work best at about 2:1 but you can get away with less thinner (but that will bring its own use characteristics, ie you might need a higher pressure at the regulator).

Pigments are nice and fine, the thinners keep them together well its easy to spray them because "the thinners are hot"

 

Over all Mr Color lacquers are a great way to start airbrushing because they wont do things like clog like acrylics can when you dont really know what to look out for.

 

5 hours ago, MA Cooke said:

 

Is the 3M blue painter's tape adequate for this (as opposed to buying Tamiya brand)?

Scotch blue by 3M, Frogtape (yellow, orange or green) and Tamiya tape all work well over a primed surface Ive found.

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Another question, if anyone knows:  am I safe to mask using Maskol and then spraying Mr Color lacquers? I'm specifically thinking of the canopy - I've always struggled with masking canopies using tape.

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On 2/14/2021 at 4:05 PM, ElectroSoldier said:

 

Their thinners work best at about 2:1 but you can get away with less thinner (but that will bring its own use characteristics, ie you might need a higher pressure at the regulator).

 

 

When you say "2:1" - is that 2 parts thinner and 1 part paint (for a 3-part total mix)?  (Some may read that as 2-part solution, 1 part thinner.) 

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On 2/20/2021 at 9:59 PM, MA Cooke said:

Another question, if anyone knows:  am I safe to mask using Maskol and then spraying Mr Color lacquers? I'm specifically thinking of the canopy - I've always struggled with masking canopies using tape.

 

Yes, Maskol will be unaffected by Mr Color, but it will stretch when you pull it off and most likely give you a ragged edge.

 

17 hours ago, MA Cooke said:

 

When you say "2:1" - is that 2 parts thinner and 1 part paint (for a 3-part total mix)?  (Some may read that as 2-part solution, 1 part thinner.) 

 

Yes, 2 parts thinner and 1 part paint.

 

Jon

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13 minutes ago, jonbryon said:

 

Yes, Maskol will be unaffected by Mr Color, but it will stretch when you pull it off and most likely give you a ragged edge.

 

 

Yes, 2 parts thinner and 1 part paint.

 

Jon

 

Excellent, thank you!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Next question - I'm using the Mr Color clear gloss, and think I may not be thinning or spraying properly. I doing 1 part clear plus 2 parts MC Levelling Thinner, spraying at 15 psi (dynamic), doing a couple of light mist coats first, then when I go to spray a heavier coat, I'm getting a TON of pebbling on any flat surfaces that are in a "valley" of sorts. (Think the underside of an F-14 between the engines, or the underside of a Spitifre near the wing intakes. It's frustrating me to no end. I used half of a 10 mL bottle last night clearcoating the undersides of a 1/48 Tomcat and a 1/32 Spitfire. Argh!

 

Any tips or suggestions?

Edited by MA Cooke
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  • 3 months later...
On 3/22/2021 at 9:03 AM, MA Cooke said:

Next question - I'm using the Mr Color clear gloss, and think I may not be thinning or spraying properly. I doing 1 part clear plus 2 parts MC Levelling Thinner, spraying at 15 psi (dynamic), doing a couple of light mist coats first, then when I go to spray a heavier coat, I'm getting a TON of pebbling on any flat surfaces that are in a "valley" of sorts. (Think the underside of an F-14 between the engines, or the underside of a Spitifre near the wing intakes. It's frustrating me to no end. I used half of a 10 mL bottle last night clearcoating the undersides of a 1/48 Tomcat and a 1/32 Spitfire. Argh!

 

Any tips or suggestions?

 I'd suggest using LESS clear gloss. Maybe 3 to 4 parts thinner to one of gloss clear. MIST each coat on. Gradually build up your number of gloss coats to your desired satisfaction. I wouldn't put on heavier coats of gloss just more mist coats.

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3 minutes ago, Bertie Lissie said:

 I'd suggest using LESS clear gloss. Maybe 3 to 4 parts thinner to one of gloss clear. MIST each coat on. Gradually build up your number of gloss coats to your desired satisfaction. I wouldn't put on heavier coats of gloss just more mist coats.

 

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May I make a suggestion?  If you want a smooth, though not necessarily gleaming gloss, you should be able, after your last layer of Mr. Color paint color, to fill your color cup with pure Mr. Leveling Thinner, and spray lightly over all of your Mr. Color painted surfaces.  It's been my experience that doing this will give you a surface completely compatible with doing decals and/or panel lines.  I found that on my very first use of Mr. Color, before I had the optimum paint/thinner combination down, the last color coat was just the tiniest bit 'rough'.  Based on recommendations I'd read, I did just exactly what I told you, and sprayed pure Mr. Leveling Thinner over the painted surface, and it came out almost magically like perfect!!!  

Edited by Curt B
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