Paint Suggestions

[Scott Smith]

3 hours ago, f5guy said:

 

Hi Scott,

     Well now I'm thoroughly confused 😆 I looked on my MRP paint bottles and it says "Acrylic Laquer" . I always thought that acrylic meant water based, and laquer was solvent based? Clearly I'm missing something.

 

     

    Your Texan looks awesome by the way!

 

     I had a car modeler from the local club show me the trick of using a "hot" thinner to level the paint out some years ago. I use finger nail polish thinner from the local beauty supply store. It works just fine and is hot as a pistol. Thanks, Fred.

 

Fred,  Acrylic is a “carrier” for the solids that can be used in all kinds of paint formulas.  There are Acrylic Enamels, Acrylic Lacquers and just Acrylics like you mention that are water based. Yes, it is quite confusing unless you’re a chemist. 
 

Here’s a good read on it. 
 

https://www.scalemodeller.com.au/blogs/from-the-desk-sms/so-just-what-is-an-acrylic-lacquer

[Spectre711]

I forgot about True North paints, are they only available through True North?

 

I'm getting low on MM colors I use the most and also found that the newer bottles have a much shorter shelf life.  It's time for me to start switching over.

 

 

[Bsin]

10 minutes ago, Spectre711 said:

I forgot about True North paints, are they only available through True North?

 

I'm getting low on MM colors I use the most and also found that the newer bottles have a much shorter shelf life.  It's time for me to start switching over.

 

 

 Testers, bring back Model Master paint now!

[Chriss7607]

For enamel paints that can be used on models and are officially mixed to federal standards, try Crosslinks Paints out of Dallas, Texas. Big ol' spray cans available and they're indistinguishable from Model Master. It's really nice to be able to spray stuff interior green without having to airbrush. My Dad used it on a 1/48 Hasegawa Hornet and placed it beside another that was airbrushed with the Model Master paints. If he hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known. Granted, this doesn't solve ALL of the paint replacement problems (like German WWII R.L.M.  colors), but I can say that they do work well and make life easier.

[scotthldr]

Not sure if they’re still trading but Roll Models used to stock Xtracolor Enamels,  these cover BS, FS, RAL and RLM colours.

[Spectre711]

5 hours ago, scotthldr said:

Not sure if they’re still trading but Roll Models used to stock Xtracolor Enamels,  these cover BS, FS, RAL and RLM colours.

I tryed to go ion Roll the other day and a different named shop came up so I dont know whats with that.  They also had resupply issues with Xtracolor before covid so who knows now.

[Rob de Bie]

16 hours ago, SERNAK said:

As a suggestion, I definitely recommend MRP. It does have some accurate FS colours .

 

Here's MRP's FS x6375 against the FS595B fandeck. Not bad to my eye. The comparison is not completely accurate, since MRP is at least satin, and should therefore be a bit darker than the matt 36375 of the fandeck.

 

Also, I've got an MRP list, with sub-lists, on my website: https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/mrp-list-all.htm

 

 

Rob

[SERNAK]

Hi Rob,

 

I see you are one of the lucky ones who have a catalogue.

 

Every time I planned to purchase one, I always ended up spending my budget on buying a few more kits!

 

Cheers,

 

Bill

[Rob de Bie]

5 minutes ago, SERNAK said:

Hi Rob,

 

I see you are one of the lucky ones who have a catalogue.

 

No, it was the lack of a catalogue that made me build that webpage! I just couldn't grasp the MRP color range without one, so I made it myself.

 

Rob

[wxltcol]

So, Rustoleum bought Testors.  However, apparently, they couldn't deal with Testors method of making paint, which supposedly was make a batch of a color or colors (55 gallon drum(s) and make more once they ran out. hence, they discontinued Testors.  

Also, they didn't think it was profitable.

 

Personally, I'd love to buy Rustoleum and force them to make Testors, but...  If I could, some head would roll...

Tom

 

 

[wxltcol]

PS What I wrote is what I've heard about the situation and I'm happy to hear more and better information from someone better informed.

[Curt B]

I don't have anything new to add here, just to add my own experience/bias.  I've tried most of the brands, and while I really would love to find a great water based (read, non-smelly) paint that does it all, I have yet to really find one that is perfect.   The best of that lot is Mr. Color Aqueous, and really the only down side of these is availability in all the colors that they make... I have yet to find a store that does.  Other than that, it is GREAT paint!   The best paints are Mr. Color Lacquer, and MRP.  As others have written, MRP is pre-thinned, which is convenient, but you can go through the paint, which comes in 30ml bottles, pretty quickly.  Mr. Color Lacquer needs to be thinned, with the almost magical Mr. Color Leveling Thinner.  But other than the smell of both of these, Mr. Color Lacquer and MRP are the best paints going, in my humble opinion.  AK Real Color paints have a a huge array of paint colors, and sprays quite like Tamiya (that means, really well), but their process to thin and spray their paint is like a mini science project.

[WymanV]

21 hours ago, Spectre711 said:

I tryed to go ion Roll the other day and a different named shop came up so I dont know whats with that.  They also had resupply issues with Xtracolor before covid so who knows now.

 Roll Models sold out to Kitlinx in 2018 IIRC.

[Camus272]

On 10/1/2022 at 11:31 AM, wxltcol said:

PS What I wrote is what I've heard about the situation and I'm happy to hear more and better information from someone better informed.

Well, it was RPM that owned Testors, which they acquired in 1984, before they expanded their Model Master Line. They later acquired Rustoleum into the company as well. But nothing has changed for decades as far as ownership, they just apparently decided that Model Master wasn't worth keeping alive.  I wished that they would have sold it to some other hobby-focused company, but given the change in opinion about enamel paints int he last decade or two, it maybe wasn't worth it.

[wxltcol]

4 hours ago, Camus272 said:

Well, it was RPM that owned Testors, which they acquired in 1984, before they expanded their Model Master Line. They later acquired Rustoleum into the company as well. But nothing has changed for decades as far as ownership, they just apparently decided that Model Master wasn't worth keeping alive.  I wished that they would have sold it to some other hobby-focused company, but given the change in opinion about enamel paints int he last decade or two, it maybe wasn't worth it.

 

Thanks for that info!  I really appreciate it.  I wish they'd they would have sold Testors to someone else, too.  I really like the MM paints and don't have a good replacement. I may have to try True North or someone similar.

[viper730]

4 hours ago, Camus272 said:

Well, it was RPM that owned Testors, which they acquired in 1984, before they expanded their Model Master Line. They later acquired Rustoleum into the company as well. But nothing has changed for decades as far as ownership, they just apparently decided that Model Master wasn't worth keeping alive.  I wished that they would have sold it to some other hobby-focused company, but given the change in opinion about enamel paints int he last decade or two, it maybe wasn't worth it.

Some one have a bunch of money. Maybe contact RPM and see about reacquiring the rights to MM and Floquil.......

[Bsin]

27 minutes ago, wxltcol said:

 

Thanks for that info!  I really appreciate it.  I wish they'd they would have sold Testors to someone else, too.  I really like the MM paints and don't have a good replacement. I may have to try True North or someone similar.

It's such a shame that Testors

stopped making MM paints!

[andrew.deboer]

There are lots of good alternatives to MM. Thousands of modelers get great results with Gunze, MRP, AK Real Color, MCW, Mission, Tamiya, True North, or whatever they are using. So, when a modeler says XXX paint sucks because he or she had a bad experience, I take that with a grain of salt. (I never did get comfortable with MM Acryl...)

 

I also would like Tamiya quality with FS colors. For that purpose I would go with MRP, AK Real Color, or Gunze, but my local shop doesn't do those brands. So I get what I can locally and supplement with MRP and AK.

[A-10 LOADER]

On 10/3/2022 at 10:59 AM, viper730 said:

Some one have a bunch of money. Maybe contact RPM and see about reacquiring the rights to MM and Floquil.......

Floquil, another great paint I miss.

Steve

[ElectroSoldier]

On 9/25/2022 at 8:09 PM, Spectre711 said:

I've been trying to adapt to the Vallejo Air but I'm not a fan. 

 

Does the MRP need to be thined and is it lacquer based?

 

I have a spray both that vents outside so the fumes are not a problem.

 

Vallejo are ok. Acrylics that use a water carrier have their own set of problems. but Ive never used a paint that didnt have some problems in one way or another.

 

On 9/27/2022 at 12:49 AM, Spectre711 said:

Yeah, I'm looking for FS and RLM colors primarily and the ability to hand brush would be nice also at times.

 

AK Real Color are good for RLM, not sure about the FS colours though.

 

On 9/27/2022 at 1:11 AM, Spectre711 said:

Anyone using the Hataka Hobby Orange Line paints?  looks like they have to be thined but how would it work with hand painting in a cockpit?

 

Ive a fair few of their paints too, I wouldnt recommend brush painting in that manner with any lacquer based paint, its a bit to thin for brush painting.

 

On 9/27/2022 at 11:59 AM, Spectre711 said:

No need for any special thinner is one thing I loved about the MM enamels.  You thin the right ratio and down it went smoothly and it stuck.

I couldnt help you there, I always use the thinners for the paint line Im using. 
Many of them may well be the same stuff in a different bottle but the one thing I know about them is they will always work in the paint they are designed to be used with.

[Spectre711]

I liked using their MM thinner for the MM enamel paint but regular cheap stuff would work fine and is available anywhere just about.

[scotthldr]

15 hours ago, ElectroSoldier said:

 I always use the thinners for the paint line Im using. 
Many of them may well be the same stuff in a different bottle but the one thing I know about them is they will always work in the paint they are designed to be used with.

You would think that would be the case. I primarily use Xtracolor (20yrs +), but could never get Xtracolor thinners to work with them. The paint would take days to dry and sometimes would remain tacky to touch for ever(found any shade of Green to be the worst offender). I was advised by another modeller early on to switch to Revell Colormix instead and haven’t looked back, still use Xtracolor/ Revell combination to this day.

[ElectroSoldier]

5 hours ago, scotthldr said:

You would think that would be the case. I primarily use Xtracolor (20yrs +), but could never get Xtracolor thinners to work with them. The paint would take days to dry and sometimes would remain tacky to touch for ever(found any shade of Green to be the worst offender). I was advised by another modeller early on to switch to Revell Colormix instead and haven’t looked back, still use Xtracolor/ Revell combination to this day.

I cant remember having a problem like that when I used their enamel paints to paint the SIOP scheme on a B-52.

[FAR148]

Here’s a video I’ve found helpful 

 

 

Cheers,

Steven

 

[A-10 LOADER]

I've always used enamel reducer to thin my MM paints but, Mr. Color Leveling Thinner works with them as well.

Steve