Paint

I'm using MRPs lacquers almost exclusively now.  They're kinda pricey, but absolutely trouble-free...which more than makes up for the extra money spent.  They go straight from the bottle to the airbrush, and have absolutely no tip dry, even in the high altitude/low humidity environment I live in.  Unless they specify otherwise on the bottle, all of their colors are semi-gloss.  I thought that was going to be a problem at first, since I mostly build military aircraft.  But, as it turns out, its actually an advantage, because it eliminates the step of putting on a gloss clearcoat before putting decals on.  It cures completely to an extremely durable finish in less than an hour.  The cured product is so nice that it almost looks as if the plastic you painted with it was born that color.  No screwing around with this thinner or that retarder...just straight from the bottle to the model.  HUGE selection of colors that are perfect matches for military colors from all kinds of different countries...pretty much the full Federal Standard line and LOTS of Russian military colors.  A really cool thing I found with it recently is that it is 100% impervious to enamel thinner.  So, if you do your base color with it...such as the white landing gear on an F-16, you can then use good old Testors square bottle metallic silver for the bare metal parts, and if you screw up and get that silver paint where you don't want it...just dampen a q-tip with enamel thinner and wipe it off.  It won't start to dissolve the MRP paint, no matter how much wiping and rubbing you do with it.  That's a first.  I haven't seen a paint yet that doesn't incur some kind of damage from enamel thinner, but this doesn't.  Heh...as you can see...I'm definitely hooked.  Its the Holy Grail of model paint as far as I'm concerned.  Its almost more of an ink, in that it atomizes extremely well and lays down very nicely.

Everything on this 1/72 F-16B was painted with MRP paint (except for the bare metal parts on the landing gear and missiles which were Testors square bottle metallic silver of course).

Very happy with Mr Color cut with their leveling thinner 50/50.

Had some success with MRP.  Still use quite a lot of Tamiya.  Tried Mission and failed miserably.

My first paints when I started airbrushing were Humbrol acrylics, since I had used their enamels when I built models as a lad.  I also tried Tamiya, based on what I read in fora like this one, and I still have quite a few of them.  However, I was still experimenting with these (to me) new products, and Vallejo Model Air acrylics were next on the list.  I built a Revell U-boat a while back, and bought the Revell acrylic paints the instructions specified.  So, my thoughts are - 

Tamiya are great, super quality and easy to work with, but require thinning with a solvent-based thinning agent.  They also don't seem to go very far & need replacing frequently.

Humbrol acrylics are also good but, again, require thinning, this time with water.  I haven't tried their new formula yet, which is sold in dropper bottles.

Revell acrylics are similar to Humbrol, but - as you point out - very thick, even sludgy.  But, when thinned - with water - they work very well (the U-boat turned out fine).  Trying solvent thinners with these is not a good idea - they turn into a horrible gel.

All these need thinning, and I don't like to do that in the airbrush cup as I can't properly judge the consistency, so I use disposable plastic cups for that, which is wasteful.

Vallejo Model Air paints spray without thinning, and perform very well (the metallics are very good).  They are a bit fragile until properly cured, so care is needed in handling - I don't find this to be a problem.  And, since no thinning is needed, I'm not buying plastic cups.  So, until I try the new Humbrol acrylics, Vallejo Model Air is my favourite at the moment.

Hope this helps,

                       Hutch.

Hey Eaglecash, your F16 looks fantastic. I expanded the image and yeah, the paint looks REALLY tight!

Like you, I don't mind paying more if it means I don't have to fight the paint. I am so tired of that. Thanks for advising all this. This paint sounds awesome! I will try it!

You guys are awesome. You have been such a big help to me. From primer, to clears, to now paint. You are setting me on a new path. 

keavdog

Very happy with Mr Color cut with their leveling thinner 50/50.

Had some success with MRP.  Still use quite a lot of Tamiya.  Tried Mission and failed miserably.

 

Hey John, I will try Mr color as well. I already have the thinner for it! I want to step into the land of reliable paints and you guys are getting me there.

Good to hear it is not just me about Mission fail.

I REALLY appreciate your input! Thanks again!

Hutch6390

My first paints when I started airbrushing were Humbrol acrylics, since I had used their enamels when I built models as a lad.  I also tried Tamiya, based on what I read in fora like this one, and I still have quite a few of them.  However, I was still experimenting with these (to me) new products, and Vallejo Model Air acrylics were next on the list.  I built a Revell U-boat a while back, and bought the Revell acrylic paints the instructions specified.  So, my thoughts are - 

Tamiya are great, super quality and easy to work with, but require thinning with a solvent-based thinning agent.  They also don't seem to go very far & need replacing frequently.

Humbrol acrylics are also good but, again, require thinning, this time with water.  I haven't tried their new formula yet, which is sold in dropper bottles.

Revell acrylics are similar to Humbrol, but - as you point out - very thick, even sludgy.  But, when thinned - with water - they work very well (the U-boat turned out fine).  Trying solvent thinners with these is not a good idea - they turn into a horrible gel.

All these need thinning, and I don't like to do that in the airbrush cup as I can't properly judge the consistency, so I use disposable plastic cups for that, which is wasteful.

Vallejo Model Air paints spray without thinning, and perform very well (the metallics are very good).  They are a bit fragile until properly cured, so care is needed in handling - I don't find this to be a problem.  And, since no thinning is needed, I'm not buying plastic cups.  So, until I try the new Humbrol acrylics, Vallejo Model Air is my favourite at the moment.

Hope this helps,

                       Hutch.

 

Hey Hutch, you mentioned Vallejo Model Air. I DO need to give Vallejo more attention. I have had some sucess with it but there are two main things that I didn't like about it. That being, tip dry, and the slow cure time. Usually though, I was able to lay a nice smooth finish.

I happened to watch a YouTube video tonight about Vallejo paint and the guy said he struggled with it too until he did three things. The first was to use a larger needle. The second was to increase the air pressure through the gun. The third was to add two drops of flow improver. He said by doing that, he did not need to thin the paint out of the bottle. Which we shouldn't  have to since it's supposed to be formulated for ABing. I do recall my AB struggling sometimes to push it through and I thinned using their thinner. It was usually only a few drops. Maybe if I boost the air pressure I won't need to.

Surprised about the problems with Mission Models,they have worked well for me using their prescribed ratio of 10-2-2  paint to thinner to their polymer.It dries to a slight satin finish.

If you like Tamiya, I also recommend the AK-Real line,behaves exactly like Tamiya thinned with any lacquer thinner.

I also use Vallejo Model Color thinned with their thinner and flow improver,no problem.

I still use my stock of Tamiya and Model Master Enamels and Metalizers.

Those are my problem free,go to paints.I will try something different if it is a rare color not available in what I'm used to.

Bakster

Hey Eaglecash, your F16 looks fantastic. I expanded the image and yeah, the paint looks REALLY tight!

Like you, I don't mind paying more if it means I don't have to fight the paint. I am so tired of that. Thanks for advising all this. This paint sounds awesome! I will try it!

You guys are awesome. You have been such a big help to me. From primer, to clears, to now paint. You are setting me on a new path. 

Speaking of MRP and the subject of your other thread, their clearcoats are also awesome if you ever want to go the lacquer clearcoat route.  They have a 2K clearcoat, which I haven't tried yet.  But their non-2K clearcoats are my go-to now.  4 different sheens...their Semi Matt is perfect for cockpits, because real cockpits definitely aren't matt...but they're not really semi-gloss either.  The non-2K clears just won't give you that 2K level of gloss, but are excellent for everything else.

I actually repaired and refinished a switch housing on a 1:1 aircraft with CA to fix the broken spots and fill the cracks, and MRP Super Matt Black.  Then we silk-screened the white placards on it, and I did a final coat of the MRP Semi Matt Clear.  The customer thought we had a new part made for him (not possible, since they don't make them anymore)...he was in disbelief when I told him it was the same, 40 year old switch housing.  

I agree with everything Eagle said about MRP.  It's absolutely trouble free.  I guess the only (minor) downside is that relatively few suppliers carry it, so you need to manage your inventory a bit more carefully.  I've struggled with Mission and Vallejo along with all their proprietary additives, incantations and secret handshakes.  Dozens of bottles are now relegated to tiny spots of brush painting.  Most will probably end up drying out and being tossed before they get used.  Tamiya is still decent for brush painting or an occasional small part, but that's about it for me. 

 Please don't judge the paint by my amateur building and photography skills!

Oh...forgot to mention the supplier part of it.  Sprue Brothers is an MRP dealer, and so is HobbyWorld USA.  Can't really recommend HobbyWorld though.  Their customer service is non-existent.  But, Sprue Brothers has always been fantastic.

Eaglecash867

 

 

Bakster

Hey Eaglecash, your F16 looks fantastic. I expanded the image and yeah, the paint looks REALLY tight!

Like you, I don't mind paying more if it means I don't have to fight the paint. I am so tired of that. Thanks for advising all this. This paint sounds awesome! I will try it!

You guys are awesome. You have been such a big help to me. From primer, to clears, to now paint. You are setting me on a new path. 

 

 

Speaking of MRP and the subject of your other thread, their clearcoats are also awesome if you ever want to go the lacquer clearcoat route.  They have a 2K clearcoat, which I haven't tried yet.  But their non-2K clearcoats are my go-to now.  4 different sheens...their Semi Matt is perfect for cockpits, because real cockpits definitely aren't matt...but they're not really semi-gloss either.  The non-2K clears just won't give you that 2K level of gloss, but are excellent for everything else.

I actually repaired and refinished a switch housing on a 1:1 aircraft with CA to fix the broken spots and fill the cracks, and MRP Super Matt Black.  Then we silk-screened the white placards on it, and I did a final coat of the MRP Semi Matt Clear.  The customer thought we had a new part made for him (not possible, since they don't make them anymore)...he was in disbelief when I told him it was the same, 40 year old switch housing.  

 

That is a great testimony of the product and I am excited to try the stuff. I will look into their clearcoats as well! 

Hey MJY65, thanks for your testimony on MRP as well. This sounds like the bomb.

MJY65

I've struggled with Mission and Vallejo along with all their proprietary additives, incantations and secret handshakes

This made me laugh because it is so true. And that is what frustrates me most about many of the paints out there... you have to find a formula to make them work. Then, when you do, it almost never remains constant across their offering. One day it works, the next time, not so much.

MJY65

Please don't judge the paint by my amateur building and photography skills!

Sorry, but I WILL judge because I think your F16 looks fantastic! I love your guys work. Your paint looks smooth and nicely applied. Not to mention the subtle shading that you did is really nice. You should be proud of this model. And there is nothing wrong with your photography skills. That looks good too. It has good lighting, it's nicely exposed, and the image is sharp. What more can you ask for. 

Eaglecash867

Oh...forgot to mention the supplier part of it.  Sprue Brothers is an MRP dealer, and so is HobbyWorld USA.  Can't really recommend HobbyWorld though.  Their customer service is non-existent.  But, Sprue Brothers has always been fantastic.

 

I was nosing around yesterday at Sprue Brothers and their MRP offering. Good to know these are the guys to buy through. 

keavdog

Very happy with Mr Color cut with their leveling thinner 50/50.

So, for the model I am working on, Mr Color offered me the best option in terms of color choice. So, my first order is for Mr Color. MRP will surely follow as I test their paints too.

I found a video testing Mr Color paints and I pasted the link below for anyone interested. He confirms the ease of use and he seems to really like it.

https://youtu.be/dh0XND6KwmQ

Bakster

 

 

keavdog

Very happy with Mr Color cut with their leveling thinner 50/50.

 

 

So, for the model I am working on, Mr Color offered me the best option in terms of color choice. So, my first order is for Mr Color. MRP will surely follow as I test their paints too.

I found a video testing Mr Color paints and I pasted the link below for anyone interested. He confirms the ease of use and he seems to really like it.

https://youtu.be/dh0XND6KwmQ

 

 

PS: I ordered these from Spraygunner late yesterday. I just received an email that they are shipped. Amazing service.

Eaglecash867

But their non-2K clearcoats are my go-to now.  4 different sheens

Hey Eaglecash... are these the MRP clears that you use in the link? 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/mrp-mrp-048-gloss-varnish--1328405

Are these Acrylic lacquers?

Hey Bakster,

Those are the ones.  They're just plain lacquer paint and require no thinning.  Here is a full list of their clears.  Have a look around on their site.  They have a pretty extensive selection.  You should be able to use their paint numbers to search on SprueBrothers.

https://mrpaint.sk/index.php?route=product/search&search=super%20clear

^^^^^

Same ones I've used.  They also make a special matte varnish to simulate Have Glass V. (MRP-278)   

My go-to's are Tamiya, Mr Color laquers, and mission models paints. A good amount of people seem to bash mission models paints and I dont know why. It's probably the best spraying acrylic paint out there IMO. If I do use MMP I rarely use the poly additive and I have found it sprays best at 15-20 psi. Priming is also a must with MMP! 

J.A. Modelworks

My go-to's are Tamiya, Mr Color laquers, and mission models paints. A good amount of people seem to bash mission models paints and I dont know why. It's probably the best spraying acrylic paint out there IMO. If I do use MMP I rarely use the poly additive and I have found it sprays best at 15-20 psi. Priming is also a must with MMP! 

 

I'm with you,no problems spraying Mission Models.

Vallejo Model Color works great for me also.

Very similar to Tamiya are the AK-Real line,same bottle as Tamiya same characteristics,I thin it with Lacquer thinner,and their colors are more specialized.

I agree that availability is important,if I can't get it,if shipping prices are prohibitive,then it doesn't do me any good.

J.A. Modelworks

It's probably the best spraying acrylic paint out there IMO.

I wouldn't argue with that.  If I didn't have a nice spray booth and had to spray acrylic, I'd probably use MMP.   I like the way Tamiya sprays better, but their color selection is nowhere near what MMP offers.   

I use Tamiya's acrylics, for airbrushing and hand-brushing; running out my stash of Model Master colors, mostly just interior colors for aircraft, plus some RAF camo colors; Testor's enamels in the little square bottles; Andrea's water-based acrylics; Vallejo Model Color water-based acrylics; Lifecolor water-based acrylics; and craft store brands of water-based acrylics: Folk Art, Americana, and Apple Barrel.

Unless those brands all go away, I see no need to try anything else.  Your mileage may vary, of course.

I use Vallejo for everything except primer and utility gloss cotes.  For that i use rustoleum in spray cans and future.  

Vallejo is fantastic imho.  Its non-toxic and has no odor.  Its available in any color under the sun, thins with water, cleans up with windex, great bottles, etc i could go on and on.  

The only downsides are that you have a bit of a learning curve with thining and dry tip and it takes a bit to fully cure once applied.  Once you learn it, its very user friendly. 

Tamiya sprays nice BUT it brush paints horribly and doesnt have great selection...and it can be hard to get from time to time.  Its worth your time to learn vallejo imho. 

WonderBread

...Tamiya sprays nice BUT it brush paints horribly...

It needs to be thinned, to apply by hand.  I learned that after many years of using Tamiya acrylics, brushed right from the jars (I used other paints, too; Tamiya had specific colors I was looking for, and I didn't trust mixing my own).

The paint would clump on the brush, and when applying a second coat, I'd find that the second coat would sometimes lift the first one off.  And that was with a primed surface.

Eventually, as I started working more with an airbrush, I read a comment somewhere that said Tamiya's paints are formulated for airbrushing, and are meant to be thinned.  The light bulb went on at that point.  Now, I avoided using Tamiya's thinner at first, because I was being Dutchy.  I tried water, but got the same results.  Then I tried 91% isopropyl, and got the same results-though I found it useful for cleaning the brushes.

So I broke down and bought the Tamiya thinner, and found that I could apply coats as thin as if I had airbrushed them.

I use some Vallejo colors, but they're equivalent to Andrea's colors, in my experience, no worse, but no better.  Some of the Model Color matte colors have a glossy finish, too.  The Prussian Blue, for example.  So I use them, along with the other water-based acrylics I listed above.

WonderBread

Tamiya sprays nice BUT it brush paints horribly and doesnt have great selection...and it can be hard to get from time to time.  Its worth your time to learn vallejo imho

It brushes fine for me with a couple of drops of Vallejo's airbush flow improver mixed into it.  I also put a little bit of the flow improver in the next pallette cup over from the one with the color in it, so I can pre-wet the brush with it.

I don't do much brush painting anymore though.  Everything but knobs and switches gets airbrushed now.  For knobs and switches, I'm using good old fashioned Testors enamels in the square bottles.

Eaglecash867

...Can't really recommend HobbyWorld though.  Their customer service is non-existent... 

Yeah, there's a discussion over at HyperScale on that topic.  I've never ordered from him, myself, so I can't say.

the Baron

Yeah, there's a discussion over at HyperScale on that topic.  I've never ordered from him, myself, so I can't say.

I ordered a bunch of MRP paint from them, along with 2 Eduard canopy mask sets for my Su-25 project (one for the inside, one for the outside).  Apparently, they only had 1 left in stock, so they put one on "back-order".  This is fine...happens sometimes, I get that...but the problem is that they billed me for the back-ordered item up-front and never seemed to care about getting more of them back in (which is what the term "back-order" is supposed to mean to everybody in the world who deals with parts inventories).  After waiting for 6 months for the back-order to be filled, I sent them an e-mail requesting that they send the back-ordered item or refund my money for it.  Never heard back from them.  Tried to file a dispute with Paypal to force a refund, but Paypal couldn't do anything about a transaction more than 180 days old.  I could have pursued it further with my bank, but it was only about 10 bucks, so I just decided to punt and stop doing business with them.  I definitely won't be going back.

A bit late to the thread here, but wanted to chime in and mention that I am slowly converting to MRP myself. Their lacquers are great, but more amazingly (to me anyway) their acrylic-lacquers (whatever that means) are pretty awesome. I have accumulated a small inventory of both. I have tried Mission Models (mentioned above)_ a few times and I strongly prefer the MRP becuase it seems to cover better, with Mission Models seeming to take a painful number of thin coats to cover. In fairness, I was probably making some basic mistake with the stuff since many folks here really like it.

Earlier, on the subject of Vallejo you mentioned a larger needle, higher PSI and a couple drops of Vallejo Flow Improver. Those are the 3 things you want to do. The dry tip issue will not go away completely, as it seems to do with pure lacquers, but it won't be much of an issue. FYI, I use .35mm min (.5 preferred) and 25 PSI.

Somebody mentioned how well Vallejo lays down when it's done right above, and I agree. It really does.

On the Acrylic clears (and Stynylrez), I've found that a proper fan tip with a .5mm tip (in my case) seems to solve most of the issues. Even, as much as it pains me to admit it, with F.... Fu.......Fu.......Fut.......... FUTURE!. :)

Otherwise, for a fuss-free clear coat , I prefer an oil-based and my go to is still the Alclad clear line but I suspect the MRP clears will delight me once I try them, since all of their other stuff has.

Good luck with your quest, Stevie.

Eaglecash867

 

the Baron

Yeah, there's a discussion over at HyperScale on that topic.  I've never ordered from him, myself, so I can't say. 

I ordered a bunch of MRP paint from them, along with 2 Eduard canopy mask sets for my Su-25 project (one for the inside, one for the outside).  Apparently, they only had 1 left in stock, so they put one on "back-order".  This is fine...happens sometimes, I get that...but the problem is that they billed me for the back-ordered item up-front and never seemed to care about getting more of them back in (which is what the term "back-order" is supposed to mean to everybody in the world who deals with parts inventories).  After waiting for 6 months for the back-order to be filled, I sent them an e-mail requesting that they send the back-ordered item or refund my money for it.  Never heard back from them.  Tried to file a dispute with Paypal to force a refund, but Paypal couldn't do anything about a transaction more than 180 days old.  I could have pursued it further with my bank, but it was only about 10 bucks, so I just decided to punt and stop doing business with them.  I definitely won't be going back. 

Yeah, that was the theme of the recent complaints, that he's taking money now for items he doesn't have in stock, but then fails to deliver.  Apparently he didn't always conduct his business that way, but, that doesn't matter if you've ordered something, had your money collected, and then get neither the order nor a reply.

I remarked that that sounds a lot like the way Internet Hobbies conducted his business, but that drew an angry response from one of his older customers.