Author Topic: Paint Recommendations  (Read 4086 times)

Offline James

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Paint Recommendations
« on: April 03, 2020, 04:20:15 AM »
With being stuck at home now, and my wife possibly finally coming home, Tuesday possibly,  after being in hospitals, long term acute care facilities, skilled nursing, rehab, etc. since December 9, 2018 I will time on my hands and can get back into modelling. I was wondering what brand/brands of paint do y'all use? Any brands to stay away from? Any that are highly recommend?

Thanks,
James Sontag

Axes Grind and Maces Clash

Offline Borsos

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Re: Paint Recommendations
« Reply #1 on: April 03, 2020, 04:27:57 AM »
James, good to hear from the recovery of your wife.
I think the question about colors will bring you as many answers as paints are around there. I must say that I am very happy with Tamiya and Mr Hobby acrylics. They are not too expensive and widely available here from many mailorders. Something very nice and very special are Mr Paint colors. They aren’t cheap and much thinner then the aforementioned colors  — more like ink. But they spray wonderfully and I really love them.
There’s that other color system, the „Spanish“ acrylics like vallejo, AK or Scale75. They are great for brushpainting figures and smaller details, but I never ever put them into my airbrush.
Best regards
Andreas
"Deux armées aux prises, c'est une grande armée qui se suicide."
Barbusse.
"Ein Berg in Deutschland kann doch einen Berg in Frankreich nicht beleidigen. Oder ein Fluß oder ein Wald oder ein Weizenfeld."
Remarque.

Offline James

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Paint Recommendations
« Reply #2 on: April 03, 2020, 05:06:53 AM »
Thank you, Borsos, that means a lot. Since December 9, 2018, Christy, my wife, has only been home January 5 - 15 2019 and July 26 - September 11, 2019.

So Tamiya and Mr Hobby acrylics are your choices, and if one wants to splurge, Mr Paint. How's Humbrol, as I always loved Humbrol as a kid in the 1970's building World War II aircraft.I would like to get some Drooling Bulldog paint before they do no more. How are some for brush painting? Any brand that has World War I aircraft specific colors?

Thanks again my friend, hope you and your family are safe and that also goes for everyone here,

James
Axes Grind and Maces Clash

Bughunter

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Re: Paint Recommendations
« Reply #3 on: April 03, 2020, 06:28:43 AM »
I can only sign, what Andreas wrote above!
Just a clarification because of confusing names:
Gunze has a alcohol based acrylic series "Mr.Hobby - Aqueous Hobby Color", the color names starts with H, e.g H301.
Another Gunze series is "Mr.Color" solvent based acrylic paint, the names starts with C, e.g. C301

Mr.Paint sounds similar, but this is a complete different company from Slovakia: https://mrpaint.sk/
They sell different paint series, I really like the lacquer base "Mr.Paint" series, names like MRP-254 (and yes, there are some WWI colors)
The Aqua based ones are MRP-A001, but I haven't tried them.

For metal colors I think the reference are "Alclad II" paint series, they are fantastic.

I must admit that the smell of Alclads and Mr.Paints are heavy (some people refuse to use them because of that), but with a extraction unit this goes out of my window this is not a issue. But that solvents allow a easy handling and other advantages, which cannot be reached by water based acryls.
Compared the smell of Mr.Hobby is much less.

Cheers,
Frank

Offline James

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Paint Recommendations
« Reply #4 on: April 03, 2020, 06:57:07 AM »
Thank you, Frank. I will check out the paints the  both of you recommend.

James
Axes Grind and Maces Clash

Offline RAGIII

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Re: Paint Recommendations
« Reply #5 on: April 03, 2020, 07:52:47 AM »
Good to hear about your Wife coming home. I agree about Tamiya, I love the results. I also have been using a lot of Valejo Acrylics. ( Available from My Local Hobby Store and Local Hobby Lobby). They are a bit different and take getting used to but have a wide range. Also hand brush very well for smaller parts and even larger areas. Some hate Valejo but I tend to disagree. JMHO,
RAGIII
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"Don't slop it on" Lynda Geisler

Offline James

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Paint Recommendations
« Reply #6 on: April 03, 2020, 07:58:32 AM »
Thank you, Rick. In a way, I kinda hope they keep her there longer, as he immune system isn't the greatest and she's [probably sager at the rehab facility. Haven't seen her physically in over two weeks as the day she went there was the first day of no visitors. We do video chat.

Anyway, I will also check out Valejo as well. Thank you so much,

James 
Axes Grind and Maces Clash

Offline Borsos

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Re: Paint Recommendations
« Reply #7 on: April 03, 2020, 08:15:20 AM »
Thank you, Borsos, that means a lot. Since December 9, 2018, Christy, my wife, has only been home January 5 - 15 2019 and July 26 - September 11, 2019.

So Tamiya and Mr Hobby acrylics are your choices, and if one wants to splurge, Mr Paint. How's Humbrol, as I always loved Humbrol as a kid in the 1970's building World War II aircraft.I would like to get some Drooling Bulldog paint before they do no more. How are some for brush painting? Any brand that has World War I aircraft specific colors?

Thanks again my friend, hope you and your family are safe and that also goes for everyone here,

James

I also used Humbrol and Revell enamels as a kid. Usually I prefer acrylics now (alcohol or water based ones) because of the smell. I do have some drooling bulldog colors and I really like them, I just didn’t know if I should have recommended them as they are obviously no more longer produced. I personally doubt the existence of something like a „specific WWI color“, because there weren’t specific colors in these days anyway and no one really can know the exact shade of the planes 100 years ago (the few color photographs don’t show exact colors and museum pieces age dramatically). But that doesn’t mean that I don’t use colors that are called e. g. „PC-10“ or „PC-12“, I really like these shades made by Mr. Paint. Not because they are called „PC-10“, but because they look great on a model. Well, on the other hand the „Richthofen‘s red“ from the same brand is as much a nonsense name (and a marketing strategy) as the „Fokker grey“ that AK offers. (I always use RLM02 for green grey metal surfaces with Albatros or Fokker planes, and I am not the only one here).
Might that help?
Again, good luck for you and your wife, from december 8, 2018, till now, that’s an awful amount of time!
Stay well,
Andreas
"Deux armées aux prises, c'est une grande armée qui se suicide."
Barbusse.
"Ein Berg in Deutschland kann doch einen Berg in Frankreich nicht beleidigen. Oder ein Fluß oder ein Wald oder ein Weizenfeld."
Remarque.

Offline James

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Paint Recommendations
« Reply #8 on: April 03, 2020, 08:22:20 AM »
Thank you again, my friend. I totally see your point, that there not really and "specific" WW I colors. PC 10 can be debated and argued that it was this or that shade, and hardly anybody agrees with one another. What I'm wondering then, what would you use for Pfalz silbergrau? Jasta 5 green? What about doped linen? Really new at World War I aircraft.

I agree, it's been way too long for Christy.

James
Axes Grind and Maces Clash

Offline macsporran

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Re: Paint Recommendations
« Reply #9 on: April 03, 2020, 05:44:07 PM »
Hey James, you asked about Humbrol paint, which rather dominated the market (in Europe anyway) before the millennium. Back then there was a lot of lead in their enamels, so the formula changed to conform with new safety regulations. Unfortunately the paint quality went through the floor with lack of opacity and some just refusing to ever dry! Many changes of formula later, the current range is good for brush painting small areas but quite difficult to thin properly for spraying. I have a drawerful of them but can't remember when I last opened one!
Revell enamels cover better but are quite thick and usually need thinning even for brush painting: also dry too quickly.

For spraying, the guys above have covered things pretty comprehensively, although I'd add that Xtracolour from Hannants gives really good results.

For brush painting, my go to choice is the Revell Aqua water-based range. You need a quick spray with an undercoat - a rattle can, over the sprues does fine if you don't have an airbrush - then the Aqua colours flow well and dry very quickly.
I do most of my interiors with this stuff. A thick brushful first, then water-thinned darkened or lightened post-shading, then a wash of the original colour over the top to tone it all in. For spraying it, I use isopropyl alcohol instead of water, makes a great base for working with artists oils for a wood finish. For most exterior colours though I'd use Tamiya or Gunze.

I also make model cars and often decant paint from Halfords rattle cans for shiny coats - but the primer white and grey are a great source of cheap undercoat for any type of model.

HTH and best wishes for the health/lockdown situation.
Sandy

Offline Borsos

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Re: Paint Recommendations
« Reply #10 on: April 03, 2020, 06:07:32 PM »
Thank you again, my friend. I totally see your point, that there not really and "specific" WW I colors. PC 10 can be debated and argued that it was this or that shade, and hardly anybody agrees with one another. What I'm wondering then, what would you use for Pfalz silbergrau? Jasta 5 green? What about doped linen? Really new at World War I aircraft.

I agree, it's been way too long for Christy.

James

Hello James,
For Pfalz Silbergrau and French Enduit metalisee on Nieuports, they just added Aluminium flakes to the paint. I usually mix Mr. Color silver with white. That’s it. For the tails of the Jasta 5 planes I‘d recommend any deep green shade. And for CDL everything from off-white to ocker is fine, in my opinion — always depending on whether the linnen was bleached or not.
That’s the fine thing (one of so many...) that there’s no one who can say, „ah, the red you used is too ... something“, or „the blue is too bright“ or whatever.
I‘d like to add one thing to Sandy‘s thoughts on Revell Aqua Color. These are the only Acrylics available in shops here in Germany, so if I urgently need a certain color, from time, to time I‘ve got no choice. The alternative would be ordering one jar of paint from a mailorder and pay postage. I don’t like Revell Aqua Color too much. But They are better thinned and airbrushed with a mild window cleaner than with water, then they spray very much better.
Best regards
Andreas
"Deux armées aux prises, c'est une grande armée qui se suicide."
Barbusse.
"Ein Berg in Deutschland kann doch einen Berg in Frankreich nicht beleidigen. Oder ein Fluß oder ein Wald oder ein Weizenfeld."
Remarque.

Offline James

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Paint Recommendations
« Reply #11 on: April 03, 2020, 09:59:54 PM »
Thank you both, Sandy and Andreas. I know what I will be doing today...looking for paint online.

James
Axes Grind and Maces Clash

Offline ebergerud

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Re: Paint Recommendations
« Reply #12 on: April 14, 2020, 05:10:34 PM »
There's an option for metallic colored WWI schemes. Vallejo has a line of metallic paints that's been out for a couple of years called Metal Color. These are water based acrylics and do a remarkably good job even though you don't have to put up with the powerful order of lacquers like Alclad (or the new Tamiya Lacquers) or even the more mild Gunze "acrylic lacquers." They've got about 15 colors. They sell a four bottle set designed for WWI aircraft (at least designed for fabric covered planes - I doubt they're thinking Piper Cubs). It includes Dull Aluminum, Semi-matte Aluminum, White Aluminum and Chrome. Dull Aluminum is simply their aluminum paint with a good dose of matte gray in it - good match for dope to my eyes. Ditto with Semi-matte aluminum. The other two colors are designed for real metal parts. I think I'd use either their Silver or standard Aluminum for metal. The set and individual bottles are widely available. Single bottles are about $8 for 32ml - a good price. I've had very good luck with these and they airbrush very well. If you get them make sure you keep the cap well sealed - it's a convenient bottle but would dry out if not properly sealed. I can't stand lacquers or enamels so these odor free water based paints have opened the door to making perfectly good natural metal finish aircraft of any era.
Eric

Offline James

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Paint Recommendations
« Reply #13 on: May 19, 2020, 12:48:24 AM »
Of all the recommendations, which are best for brush painting?

Thanks,
James
Axes Grind and Maces Clash

Offline Dave W

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Re: Paint Recommendations
« Reply #14 on: May 19, 2020, 09:31:29 AM »
Hi James

I'm a brush painter and there are several paint brands I find that brush quite well. I use all of these:

1. Vallejo Model Color. Thin with water, brush well, good range of colors.
2. Humbrol acrylic. Excellent coverage, brush well, no brush marks.
3. Citadel/ Games Workshop. Used by wargamers this is a British brand I highly recommend. Their metal shades are excellent. I've also mixed their metal shades with matt white for a Pfalz silver grey effect.
4. Lifecolor. Good range of colors.

Online retailers should stock all of these lines.

Cheers

Dave W
Gold Coast
Australia
Owner and Administrator of ww1aircraftmodels.com and forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com