madmike Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 (edited) Revell enamels and ye old Humbrol acrylics. Bloody awful crap and not worth the purchase price. Tamiya airbrushes a dream but don't go near it with a brush. Finally to even out my soapbox sermon, Model Master Metallisers - excellent for small parts needing the metal look, but if you use it on as a BMF fuselage and look at it the wrong way, it chucks a hissy fit and peels off. MikeJ Edited September 25, 2006 by madmike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Model Master Pouch Paint Grey Primer (they no longrr make these pouch paints which were supposed to plug straight into your A/B, no thinning). This stuff sticks to plastic like a greasy pig on a slippery log. Butter would make a better undercoat. All the other MM pouch paint i've used are fine though? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vc-10 Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Humbrol 15 (British Airways (1970s) hull Blue) can be variable, had some great tins, but one that took over a month to dry! Also had a Humbrol Matt earth do that aswell.....But others that are fine! Some of these were a while ago, before the Chinese move. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bilkeau Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Revell enamels and ye old Humbrol acrylics.Bloody awful crap and not worth the purchase price. You're displaying remarkable restaint there, Mike! I'm surprised that they got away with actually calling the execrable gunk "paint" - they seem to have been chiefly composed of coloured toothpaste and sand. Nick Quote Link to post Share on other sites
silver1 Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Another vote for Model Master acrylics. Peels off with the masking tape but priming and using LOW tack tape helps. They are also inconsistant. One jar sprays well but another splatters. I am slowly switching to enamels. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
karlwb Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 The new super duper Revell 'Aqua' acrylic paint, absolutly awful. Won't spray or brush paint - so I'm not sure exactly how to apply it..... If this is an example of all the modern acrylics then long live enamel (past 2010 I hope) Karl Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DangerAtom Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 I can't believe no one has mentioned the origional Model Master Acryl line in the black label and gray lid. That crap shot like snot and laid down like sandpaper. But what was even worse than that was the 'Colors by Boyd' acrylic line that Testor came out with. It shot beautiful and laid down pretty smooth. And after a week of setting up, it would wash right off under running cold water. The primer as well. Thankfully they were both discontinued many years ago, but I do know of a local shop that is still selling some of the first MM Acryl paints if anyone wants to throw some good money away. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Filak Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 I use Acryls without any problems, but generally, I only use them for cockpit painting, and then, usually only two colors (Dark Gull Gray and Aircraft Interior Black). In that regard, I've never had a problem with adhesion. Also, I shot my Tamiya F-15E with Acryl Gunship Gray, and adhesion wasn't a problem. Of course, that may very well be because I primed it first. I guess it depends on the application. What I can say is that I really don't care for the Acryl line, but in all fairness, I don't like acrylics as a general rule. I've always had consistently better luck with enamels, and outside of specific applications such as cockpit painting, I won't be trading in enamels anytime soon. Truth be told, the only reason that I paint cockpits with acrylics is to prevent the colors from bleeding into one another. In this single application, I tend to get much sharper results with acrylics than I do with enamels. There is one enamel color in the MM line that I find extremely frustrating; Aircraft Gray (FS16473). I've tried a number of different thinners with the stuff, but I usually find it to be one goopy mess of crap. Gloss Gull Gray also gives me unpredictable results, although not to the same extent. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 (edited) I've had okay luck with MM Acryl paints, but I am using MM enamels more and more, especially for airbrushing. I've figured out the right mix of lacquer thinner and MM enamel and am having good results airbrushing it. MM Metalizer as mentioned is good for small parts, but I'd use Alclad for whole aircraft (like my F-86 Sabre project quite a while back). Polly Scale is also good for me, especially for brushing. I also have some Tamiya and Gunze paints as well as a few Humbrol tins. As for really bad paints, well just about any paint that comes prepacked with a kit (like some of the Heller or Airfix "Smithsonian" space kits I have) would probably fit the bill....the paint in those kits is thick stuff, not terribly usable. And I just thought about it and realized....those are acrylics. Humbrol acrylics, if they're prepackaged with Heller/Airfix kits, that makes sense. And others have mentioned Humbrol acrylics in this thread, so I'll add my vote for that! Justin Edited September 26, 2006 by Justin Davenport Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stephen Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 Revell enamel, I've had brand new tins where I've had to thin it even to brush paint effectively , and before anyone suggests it I am very thorough when it comes to stirring and shaking. I second that.I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. Stephen Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Living Legend Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 Shift about 2 years ago I made the switch from MM enamel to MM acrylic. Instead of buying 1 or 2 jars I bought about $70 usa at once. I figured I might need a color so better to have it on hand. That was dumb really dumb. I used 3 jars and never touched the stuff again. MM acrylic is lifeless, dull, seems faded and limp. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bavarian Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 ALCLAD II. I tried as Primer: Tamiya Black Acryl, Gunze Mr. Surfacer, Alclad Black Base, Alclad Primer... And let these primer coats dry betweeen 1 hour and 1 week.. No matter wich primer, no matter how long it dries.. After 3 weeks , the "Spiderweb" cracks appeard and ruin my finished modell. One F-104, one F-100 and a F-86 Sabre are the victims of this "Paint" and saddly ended in the Dustbin. This paint is the biggest scrap ever. And my biggest waste of time, kits, work and money in Modelling. No i am switched to Gunze Mr. Metall Color, polishable metallizer. Great stuff... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Father Jack Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 ALCLAD II.I tried as Primer: Tamiya Black Acryl, Gunze Mr. Surfacer, Alclad Black Base, Alclad Primer... And let these primer coats dry betweeen 1 hour and 1 week.. No matter wich primer, no matter how long it dries.. After 3 weeks , the "Spiderweb" cracks appeard and ruin my finished modell. Have you thought about using no primer at all? Works great! Father Jack Quote Link to post Share on other sites
janman Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 Revell. Most of the shades. How can a country that brought us Mercedes-Benz and Porsche produce such a miserable line of paints!? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Murph Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 There is one enamel color in the MM line that I find extremely frustrating; Aircraft Gray (FS16473). I've tried a number of different thinners with the stuff, but I usually find it to be one goopy mess of crap. Gloss Gull Gray also gives me unpredictable results, although not to the same extent. Steve, That is the last MM acryl color I used. I used it to spray the hinge areas of an F-15 inlet, after I had masked off the rest of the area (sprayed with Gunze). When I took the tape off, the masked over Gunze stayed on fine, but the MM paint, WHICH WAS OBVIOUSLY NOT MASKED, came off with the tape. :blink: :D I would suggest you try Xtracrylics version of ADC gray; it's much better. I have an Iceland F-4 which needs the MM ADC gray stripped off, <_< and I'll be respraying it with the Xtracrylic version. Regards, Murph Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smithery Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 Another vote for MM Acryl. All you folks typing masking tape is making it peel off my model. Oops, there it goes again........ I'll stick to the Gunze Aqueous. I can thin that stuff down to the consistency of water, and still get great results. And unlike Tamiya, they make shades according to RLM, FS, and other recognizable color standards. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eric2020 Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 I have used Revell paints, and still work woth it, altough I thin it for brushing and airbrushing with it. Their white number 5 is very bad and serves only as an primer for models. I also do have shploads of Humbrol paint, those are the most accurate to have at hand. about 5 years back they changed numbers and colours and we have to mix 2 or 3 colours to get 1 single colour. Very bad choice of Humbrol, as most of the modelling world is not willing to mix their paints, and also most of the modeling world are men with colour blindness so how could they change??? Now Hombrol is about to be gone, who will take over??? We do not need another Chinese paint mixer, I used MM and that is not working with Humbrol paints, so that gives trouble as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GForceSS Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 Humbrol 183 FS 16440 is suppose to be gloss Gull Grey. The stuff is dead flat. I thought the "1" meant gloss. Luckily I have lots of Xtracolor Gull Grey in stock. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
volzj Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 And unlike Tamiya, they make shades according to RLM, FS, and other recognizable color standards. What, you don't find descriptions like "Medium Gray" useful Kevin. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cellar dweller 02 Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 For me, the worst paint is almost any acrylic. I don't know, I just can't seem to be able to spray it wihtout getting frustrated. Whether it's the paint/thinner ratio, air pressure, or what, I always wind up going back to Model Master enamels. Maybe I'm addicted to the fumes? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fishwelding Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Acrylics can be more challenging to use than enamels--that's been my experience. But for various reasons, I am determined to get them to work for me. I followed a comment made by Murph a while back to crank up the air pressure, and reduce the thinning. Just yesterday this method produced excellent results for me with Tamiya acrylics. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smithery Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 What, you don't find descriptions like "Medium Gray" useful Kevin. :) Yup, right up there with "RLM Grey" and "German Grey"........ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
David Walker Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Yup, right up there with "RLM Grey" and "German Grey"........ And my favorite, XF-52, "Flat Earth." There's got to be a message in there someplace. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
brettkp Posted September 29, 2006 Author Share Posted September 29, 2006 I ended up using my dremel to mix the lumpy paint. Not sure if it got rid of all the small chunks, but it hand brushed well. I used a tootpick (the square cross section type) straight in the dremel, at speed it throws the end slightly off centre, allowing it to mix the paint without throwing it everywhere. I might have a go over the weekend spraying it. Brett Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonbryon Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Yeah, Humbrol enamels get my vote for the worst paints. Until 2 years ago they were the best, but then they went all transluscent and thin. I switched to XtraColour in the UK, and now am giving Mr Color laquer paints a go... Jon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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