Testors Model Master Naval Paint

Not had the chance to see them or work with them,  but when Testors announced their prior attempt at acrylic naval ship colors (10 to 15 years ago) their advertizing copy stated that they were matched to the Snyder & Short color chips.    Snyder is John Snyder,  now of White Ensign.  

Testors is the hobby brand of paints produced by RPM Industries who also bring you Valspar and Rustoleum for around the house among other brands for industrial use.  These guys are professional paint chemists and you can fairly well bet that the colors will match whatever their standard says it should be.

That's encouraging, Ed.  Nice to know they used Snyder & Short.  Thanks.  

I've used both MM and WEM Navy Blue-Gray for aircraft, and the difference between them was so great, I wondered whether they were really the same color.  

I had heard these were coming out. I wonder how long until the LHS will stock them.

Tower Hobbies has them "in stock" now, for example:

www3.towerhobbies.com/.../wti0001p

There is also an acrylic version:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0095p?FVPROFIL=++&FVSEARCH=haze+gray

Currently I'm well-stocked with WEM, so it'll be a while before I have a need to try them.

Sure interested!  I am doing the Zvezda Dreadnought now, and using regular Testors model master stuff.  Someone converted the kit color numbers to Testors for me.  That calls for MM Light Gull Gray, and one interesting thing is that matches the plastic stock exactly. In fact, when painting it is hard to see what I have already painted. Only way I can tell is the plastic surface is semi-mat while the painted surface is full mat.  The color is spot on.  I guess Zvezda really wanted to match the largest area of painted surface.

I hope the LHS do carry the new line- it will be nice to have colors easier to pick in terms of naval paints.

That's interesting, Don.  I don't find many kits where the plastic so closely matches paint.

When I started into ships last year, I tried matching various MM blues and grays to color conversion charts, then ran across WEM's Colourcoats.  I like them a lot, and they are easy to use.  But availability can become a problem.

I'll probably try MM's line, just cuz I also like a little variety in the colors.

I am very happy to hear that they will available in both enamels and acrylics. I prefer enamels in most cases, but acrylics do have their advantages here and there. If they have corrected the extremely poor adhesion issues that the old acrylic colors have, I will be one happy customer.

I only use enamels, because of the adhesion factor one reads about with acrylics..  Lacquer thinner seems to be "hot" enough to cling, and I haven't had a problem with any paint brand:  MM, WEM or Humbrol.  I often use acrylics for washes, but usually its cheap craft paint, sort of matched to the basic color..

I prefer enamels in most cases, includig my washes. And since I have learned to build and paint ships in sub assemblies, painting in acrylics and doing the wash with enamels makes sense. But the poor adhesion meant either priming (with enamels) first or painting with enamels, clear coating with an acrylic prior to the wash and then top coating, or painting with enamels and washes with acrylics, which are far inferior in my experience for washes... They dry too quick are are not as easily removed.

I've noticed that too, with acrylics as washes; sometimes hard (impossible) to wipe them off--even though I thin them with water.  I've taken to wait no more than 10 minutes before trying--and then sometimes the whole thing comes off.  Very frustrating.

Ya know, getting better at this hobby just means more heartache and headaches on the way to that finish...

. . .and at every step, there is something new that can go wrong.