Gloss black: Model Master or Tamiya?

I use Testors in the little bottle thinned about 60-70% to get a very smooth finish. If you want a super glossy and smooth finish then shoot several enamel clear gloss coats and let it cure for a week or so. Then use some Novus and an old t shirt to rub out the paint. I did this on a couple of Blue Angel Hornets and the paint looks like a mirror.

I have also read Tamiya black with Mr. Leveling Thinner works great Specially if you shoot some Mr Thinner over the freshly applied paint.

echolmberg

Thank you for all the replies!  I've often heard of people using "hardware" paint such as Krylon and I keep forgetting that's an option.  In fact, I even forgot that I did use Krylon gloss black once as an undercoat for an Alclad paint job I once did years ago.  It worked well the first time but, for some reason, it didn't work well for me the second time.  So I sorta shelved that idea since then. 

This is the very reason why I've banished Krylon in raattle can, Krylon paint are 100% pure GARBAGE. I would have used Rustoleum brand instead in rattle can.

  Don and Murph, I am the same way.  MM and Tamiya are the only two paints I can get here en masse.  I'm starting to see more and more Vallejo paints creep into the area but I just don't know enough about their glossiness and their ease of use through an airbrush just yet.  I do have one of their bottles of German grey which I love using when I brush paint my aircraft tires.  But as Don and Murphy stated, with what I have readily available to me, the gloss enamels give me the deepest shine and toughest finish.

Mississippi, just the other day I read that Mr. Color has a gloss black that is supposed to be the bee's knees!  I can pick up MM and Tamiya anytime I want at my local stores but I think I really need to give the Mr. Color line of paints a try.  I need to join the 21st century and actually ORDER some paints on-line.  LOL!  I'm so used to going to the neighborhood brick-and-mortar stores for such things.  Old habits die hard, right?

Eric

Don Stauffer

Since I find MM enamels easy to find in my area (Michaels and Hobby Lobby stores close by), MM black has been my go-to, but trying some Tamiya paints now, to learn how to work with them.  Previous attempts to get good gloss with Tamiya gave so-so results, but getting better this time.  However, as long as enamels are still available they will be my first choice.  I can easily get a deep, high gloss.

 

 

Since I find MM enamels easy to find in my area (Michaels and Hobby Lobby stores close by), MM black has been my go-to, but trying some Tamiya paints now, to learn how to work with them.  Previous attempts to get good gloss with Tamiya gave so-so results, but getting better this time.  However, as long as enamels are still available they will be my first choice.  I can easily get a deep, high gloss.

Thank you for all the replies!  I've often heard of people using "hardware" paint such as Krylon and I keep forgetting that's an option.  In fact, I even forgot that I did use Krylon gloss black once as an undercoat for an Alclad paint job I once did years ago.  It worked well the first time but, for some reason, it didn't work well for me the second time.  So I sorta shelved that idea since then.

Stik, actually you're right.  I do have a shelf full of the little square Testors bottles on my work bench.  They have given me good results.  I guess I just wanted to see what else was out there.  Call it an "experimental" phase.  I've always had good results with Testors and the MM line.

I did stop off at HobbyTown yesterday and I did have a bottle of the MM gloss black in my hand.  That's when I noticed that the shop, which is recently under new ownership, now has a well-stocked line of Alclad!  I have always heard people talk of how well the Alclad gloss black undercoat worked for them so I picked up a bottle to give it a try.  On a side note, I also spotted the re-released 1/48 scale Testors/Hawk U-2 spyplane on sale for 50% off.  How could I pass that up?

Thanks,

Eric

Use the Tamiya.

As a primer, I have pretty good luck with Ace Premium Gloss Black enamel. I am no fan of off-the -shelf hardware store stuff, and I probably wouldn't use it on a expensive model, but in a pinch building a 1/48 kit from the 70's say. it works well.

No Testors little square bottle stuff at your LHS?

As much as I love Tamiya acrylics, I find that the gloss colours can take days, up to a week or more, to fully cure. It's pretty much a case of paint and put under a dustproof cover for a few days before touching.