Xtracolor enemel paints

matrixone · May 01, 2009, 01:45:26 PM

I just finished painting the upper surfaces of my 1/144 scale He 111 and tried using Xtracolor paints for the first time mainly because the Model Master paint that I usually work with don't have a very close match to the RLM 70 and RLM 71 paint shades that I needed for my model and the Xtracolor versions look much closer to the intended RLM colors.
After working with the Xtracolor paints I quickly found that they spray very well through my Iwata HP-B Plus and with little effort I can spray very narrow lines with better control than I can get when using Model Master enemel gloss paints and also have no issues with paint building up on the tip of the needle.

The downside to these paints is they take longer to dry than the Model Master brand but its worth the wait!

So if anybody has trouble spraying fine details with their Iwata HP-B Plus (or similar fine detail airbrush) give these Xtracolor enamel paints a try, they might help you achieve the kind of results with your airbrush that you are after.

Matrixone

Allan · May 01, 2009, 09:17:44 PM

That's useful intel, Matrix. WEM enamel also sprays nicely.
Allan in Canberra

matrixone · May 02, 2009, 11:37:14 AM

Thank you Allan,
When I can I want to give the WEM enamel paints a try.

Matrixone

Allan · May 02, 2009, 02:38:39 PM

Our club's annual comp is in late May, so I hope to stock up on some needed paint from the dealers who will be in attendance.
I'm eager to try Lifecolor red.
Allan in Canberra

lancer · May 02, 2009, 03:59:12 PM

Both Xtracolor and WEM paints are brilliant to use thrrough an airbrush. When I first started using them I queried the fact that they were a gloss finish with the old hannants shop and was told that Xtracolor paints give a gloss finish specifically so as to make it easier when decalling the model. I use them quite a lot and coming from someone who hates glosdd paint I guess that is high praise. the only gripe I have is that they don't brush to well and you need 2 or 3 coats to get a good cover if you're using a brush. Same goes for WEM paint as well.

matrixone · May 02, 2009, 05:12:13 PM

lancer,
I am no fan of gloss paints either but these Xtracolor enamels do work very well in my Iwata HP-B Plus so I will use them at times when I need to do fine detail painting and use the Model Master enamels with my Badger and other Iwata airbrushes when painting larger areas. Since I like to hand paint the canopies on my 1/48 and smaller scale models the high gloss finish of the Xtracolor paints could be a problem.
The other day while I had some of the Xtracolor paints opened up I wanted to see how they brush painted and painted some unused model parts with them, they covered about the same as the newer versions of Model Master enamels do but when the test samples were fully dried (a full day later) they were very glossy and had smoothed out nicely, Model Master enamels don't level out like they used to do a few years ago after being brush painted. Now when I build a model and use Model Master paints I have to airbrush even the small areas like cockpits and wheel wells because they don't brush paint nearly as good as they once did.

Matrixone

lancer · May 02, 2009, 05:28:11 PM

Hi Matrix,

They ARE good like you I don't like gloss paint, although that is a small annoyance to get good results. They do finish well with a brush as well. I built a 2 sear Typhoon bomber version for last years SIG display that finally got its first outing at Milton Keynes earlier this yeas 3 coats of NATO green, and it finished up pretty good especially with a mild sanding to break the gloss surface to allow the next coat to key to the last one. Next time I'll put them through my airbrush instead. Wehn you get the chance to try the WEM stuff, grab as many as you can. These finish with a semi gloss coat very smooth , levels well and the colours are spot on. Also good for decalling after wards.

matrixone · May 02, 2009, 06:02:18 PM

lancer,
Thanks for the tip on the WEM paint!

Where I live there are no hobby shops and the nearest one to me (a two hour drive) deals mostly with RC aircraft so getting my hands on WEM paints will not be that easy, almost all of my model supplies are bought through mail order and I have to find a dealer who sells the WEM paint brand.

Matrixone

Ian the Kiwi Herder · May 02, 2009, 10:58:42 PM

Quote from: matrixone on May 01, 2009, 01:45:26 PM
So if anybody has trouble spraying fine details with their Iwata HP-B Plus (or similar fine detail airbrush) give these Xtracolor enamel paints a try, they might help you achieve the kind of results with your airbrush that you are after.

Matrixone

Les
I rarely use anything else on any of my projects ! - and therefore heartily concur

Ian

NARSES2 · May 03, 2009, 02:23:48 AM

Have to admit Xtracolour are good but they take ages to dry which is why I don't use them that often. I know you can speed the drying time with "Rustins ?" but I've never tried it

White Ensign (WEM) are equally as good and dry a lot faster. I use a lot of WEM for my Italian,Russian and French stuff. They also do a large range of authentic naval and armour colours as well.

The full ranges can be viewd at http://www.whiteensignmodels.com/acatalog/index.html?http%3A//www.whiteensignmodels.com/acatalog/catalogbody.html&CatalogBody

Chris

nev · May 03, 2009, 09:02:45 AM

I haven't tried airbrushing WEM paints yet, but they brush paint beautifully

matrixone · May 03, 2009, 09:17:55 AM

Ian,
I have had some of the Xtracolor paints for a while but had not tried them until now, I am very sorry I waited so long.

Chris,
Thanks for the contact information for the WEM paints, I will get some when I can but I have at least 60 bottles of Model Master and 15 tins of Xtracolor to use before I need to buy any more paint.

BTW, I also have some of the Xtracolor Matt Varnish but have yet to use it, how well does it work? My sample has a very strange color to it and is sort of purplish or ''burple'' looking and I am concerned about it changing the color of my finished models. The last two years I have using Humbrol Matt Coat with good results and before that I was using Aeromaster enamel flat clear, both of those products have no color to them but are milky looking as you would expect a flat varnish to appear, quite unlike the Xtracolor Matt Varnish.

Matrixone

Ian the Kiwi Herder · May 03, 2009, 09:27:17 AM

Never used it, Les. I found Humbrol MattCote (their spelling) to be quite superb, especially when 'cut' with cellulose thinners, which really cuts down on drying time - I forgot to mention, I use cellulose thinners with Xtracolour too for the same reason - Humbrol MattCote is completely clear, no discolouration at all.

Having said that, for some strange reason the last jar I opened never went completely matt, it always had a VERY slight sheen. Fine for aircraft, not so fine for AFV's

Ian

matrixone · May 03, 2009, 09:28:02 AM

nev,
They work through my Iwata HP-B Plus very well and the HP-B Plus can be a little fussy about paint quality because of its small .20 nozzle so you can use them with your airbrush with confidence.

They do take longer to dry than other brands of enamel paint that I have used but that is not really a problem if you know what to expect.

Matrixone

matrixone · May 03, 2009, 09:37:55 AM

Thanks for the quick reply Ian,

I have had good results with the Humbrol MattCote by keeping the airbrush further away from the model and dusting light coats of it on.
One bottle of the Humbrol MattCote that I had also had a problem of not being very flat looking which was fine for a finish on a Luftwaffe paint job but was very bad for figures! I have since replaced the bad bottle and the new bottle of it works fine.

Matrixone