TESTOR'S! Small Bottle Metallics.

I have beat the drum for the old 'square bottle' PLA enamels quite often on this forum...still use 'em regularly for painting cockpits, engines and various small assemblies, and for dry brushing over the Tamiya acrylics I use for overall finishing.

As TB notes, their metallics and 'candy' colors are excellent and super-easy to use for automotive and 'utility' finishing. They thin easily, last nearly forever (or can be restored easily with cheapo brand thinners) and are about as trouble-free to work with as any brand out there.

Plus -- in that I mix my own colors, a lot -- I have never encountered a problem with mixing anything in the line with anything else...something I can't say for other lines I've used.

Testors changed the formulations various times over the years to keep up with changing regulations regarding VOCs and such...but they always managed to keep them consistent and 'non-finicky,' which is why I happily continue to use them. 

Tanker-Builder

You Know?

     Don't you? We older modelers used to do the chrome on our cars with that stuff BEFORE such things as Foil Chrome and Molotow Pens and Alclad! That's why some of us got so good with a brush. You had to be rick steady to do that, back in the day! I still have some, somewhere that are painted that way. I would have to dig for them though. The Chrome Silver was and is good .Just don't ever put your fingers on it! Even after months of drying and aclimating to your case or shelf in wherever you displayed it, that Chrome Silver didn't like to be Touched or Clear Coated!

That sounds a lot like Pactra's Chrome Silver. That stuff NEVER would dry! Looked great, however.

I've never clearcoated it, but mine does OK with being handled after about a week.  Just tiny parts though, and the cool thing is that the MRP paint I now use for almost everything else is completely immune to paint thinner, so if I slip with the brush when using the chrome silver on a landing gear strut, I can completely erase the mistake area with a thinner-dampened q-tip without doing any damage to the paint underneath.  Opens up all kinds of detailing possibilities using those Testor's square bottles, as well as their Model Master enamels.  I use them all almost exclusively now for brush painting details, because they brush so nicely, and mistakes can now be easily dealt with.

I had always used square bottle chrome silver in the past, and then I heard about the Molotow pens.  Tried one of those and didn't really care for it...didn't give me precise enough control over where it went, and it really didn't look any better.  So, its back to the old reliable square bottle.

You Know?

     Don't you? We older modelers used to do the chrome on our cars with that stuff BEFORE such things as Foil Chrome and Molotow Pens and Alclad! That's why some of us got so good with a brush. You had to be rick steady to do that, back in the day! I still have some, somewhere that are painted that way. I would have to dig for them though. The Chrome Silver was and is good .Just don't ever put your fingers on it! Even after months of drying and aclimating to your case or shelf in wherever you displayed it, that Chrome Silver didn't like to be Touched or Clear Coated!

I love the square bottle chrome silver.  Its like a little jar of mercury and I use it for painting all of the metal struts on my aircraft builds.

Of course you need a pic ;)