Where can I find cheap paint?

joey_d1119 · Post by **joey_d1119** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 2:40 am

Where can I good selection of model paint at less then average prices? Any suggestions?

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 9:38 am

Online or locally?

eHobbies is a little below list. e-Hobbyland has Tamiya paints onsale.

Or, if you'e really feeling cheap, you can try any of the arcylic art paints. Just be forewanred that they tend to not stick well and are a bit soft (easily damaged) even after being fully cured.

philp · Post by **philp** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 8:16 pm

If you are looking for some of the standard colors, Walmart brand spray paint works pretty good. You get the large can for under a dollar.
White (Flat and Gloss), Black (Flat and Gloss), Primer Gray, Red, Blue, Green, Aluminum and several others. I have used the black on Bat Boat and the Aluminum on a Meteor (British jet for you not in the know) and it coats well, no runs if applied right and looks great.

en'til Zog · Post by **en'til Zog** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 4:40 am

I'll swear by (not at) Krylon colors in the nice big rattle cans. I especially like their High Temp BBQ BLACK paint - nice and shiny and sticks well. Some people find it a bit 'hot' for some plastics, but I haven't had any trouble with it. I use it for primer, and just by itself it has a nice shiney finish.

I also use a lot of rattle cans of automotive touch up paint - which I often find on sale at discount liquidators. Just make sure the cans rattle and don't have dribbles of paint on their outsides.

Some people love 'apple barrel' brand craft acrylics. Me? For bottle paints I try and stick to Tamiya & Polly Scale paints.

One thing to remember? "Cheap paint" sometimes costs way too much in time to correct screw ups and money in repair/removal/replacment materials. It's often much cheaper in the long (and short) run to use 'quality' paint.

Hey, what do people see? The styrene the model is made of, the putty & resin bits, or the PAINT on top? That's often how they judge your work. Solely by appearance.

zaphod · Post by **zaphod** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 6:21 am

You might check out a snooty art supply store. There a few lines of acrylic paint that, when thinned to the consistency of Model Master, give more ounces per dollar spent. They also have the benefit of having more archival pigments and non-yellowing media. Some brand names to look at are Windsor & Newton, Grumbacher, and Liquitex.
I have recently had good luck with gouache, and the next time I need paint, I'll get the artists' stuff.

Cobbie · Post by **Cobbie** » Sun Nov 27, 2005 8:56 am

zaphod has a good suggestion.
I've used Liquitex brand paints for a while, and they're quite good, although it should be noted that some colors are transluscent, and it will take a few coats to be opaque.

If you use an airbrush, Liquitex has an airbrush medium to thin paint that works quite well.

The best brand I have found so far is the Pebeo Deco line. It's an acrylic paint that thins well (I use the Liquitex medium), gives a nice, opaque finish, and comes in either gloss or matte finish.
http://www.pebeo.com/asp/prod/fiche.asp?lang=us&id=13
Very inexpensive, and I get great results with it.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Sun Nov 27, 2005 11:15 am

zaphod wrote:You might check out a snooty art supply store. There a few lines of acrylic paint that, when thinned to the consistency of Model Master, give more ounces per dollar spent. They also have the benefit of having more archival pigments and non-yellowing media. Some brand names to look at are Windsor & Newton, Grumbacher, and Liquitex.
I have recently had good luck with gouache, and the next time I need paint, I'll get the artists' stuff.

Liquitex is carried by most arts & craft stores, it's probably the most prevalent brand available. W&N will cost you as much as a bottle of Tamiya and Gumbacher is close.

And all of them are a bit on the soft side and are not fond of adhearing to plastic.

Stingray · Post by **Stingray** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 3:43 pm

Paint is something that I try not to be cheap on. It's worth buying the good stuff IMO.

-S

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 5:21 pm

Stingray wrote:Paint is something that I try not to be cheap on. It's worth buying the good stuff IMO.

-S

Truely said. There's a reason I almost emptied the rack when Hobby Giant was closing. Tamiya @40% off is a steal.

Maschinen Krueger · Post by **Maschinen Krueger** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:31 pm

kylwell wrote:
Truely said. There's a reason I almost emptied the rack when Hobby Giant was closing. Tamiya @40% off is a steal.

oh man! I totally spaced going over there. Did they even have sci-fi kits?

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:35 pm

Not really. Picked up some tank kits, a few aircraft kits.

Augustus · Post by **Augustus** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 11:29 pm

Apple Barrel Acrylics and Water-based Enamels from Walmart work perfectly. There are no issues with drying "soft" that I have ever run into or not "sticking well" - Kylwell did you primer before painting? What happened?

I have used Tamiya, Testors/Model Master, Humbrol, Polly Scale etc. in the past, but I went to Apple Barrel after discovering they have a better "creamy texture" than the mentioned paints.

People are often surprised when I tell them I used a "cheap" brand. Ticks them off to no end when I tell'm I paint something for less than 5.00 that looks like it was painted for no less than 50.00.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:00 am

Augustus wrote:Apple Barrel Acrylics and Water-based Enamels from Walmart work perfectly. There are no issues with drying "soft" that I have ever run into or not "sticking well" - Kylwell did you primer before painting? What happened?

I have used Tamiya, Testors/Model Master, Humbrol, Polly Scale etc. in the past, but I went to Apple Barrel after discovering they have a better "creamy texture" than the mentioned paints.

People are often surprised when I tell them I used a "cheap" brand. Ticks them off to no end when I tell'm I paint something for less than 5.00 that looks like it was painted for no less than 50.00.

No primer, straight on plastic. Haven't tried AB, do my best to never step foot inside a Walmart. I've tried Creatix, Liquidtex, and one other whose name escapes me (it was 'generic house brand'). Applied straight to plastic they all had issues with the Creatix being the worse (look at it wrong and it'd peel off).

Augustus · Post by **Augustus** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:07 am

kylwell wrote: No primer, straight on plastic. Haven't tried AB, do my best to never step foot inside a Walmart. I've tried Creatix, Liquidtex, and one other whose name escapes me (it was 'generic house brand'). Applied straight to plastic they all had issues with the Creatix being the worse (look at it wrong and it'd peel off).

Oh wow. Jeeze. Yeah. Not a good way to use acrylics. Whenever you put an acylic-based paint to plastic you should primer first. No wonder you ran into problems with those paints. A plain old white/grey/black primer (light coats) is fine for a base to apply acrylics.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 10:16 am

Augustus wrote:
kylwell wrote: No primer, straight on plastic. Haven't tried AB, do my best to never step foot inside a Walmart. I've tried Creatix, Liquidtex, and one other whose name escapes me (it was 'generic house brand'). Applied straight to plastic they all had issues with the Creatix being the worse (look at it wrong and it'd peel off).
Oh wow. Jeeze. Yeah. Not a good way to use acrylics. Whenever you put an acylic-based paint to plastic you should primer first. No wonder you ran into problems with those paints. A plain old white/grey/black primer (light coats) is fine for a base to apply acrylics.

Never had a problem with Tamiya so why should I add another step?

Augustus · Post by **Augustus** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 2:55 pm

Probably because Tamiya paint has a binder already set with the polymer, apparently that causing that slight odor, which helps it bond to plastic when a primer is not used. Even still, a primer should be used.

Liquitex, Apple Barrel, etc. are have little or very light binder set in them and as a result, work far better with a primer base to adhere to. Using such paints without a primer base will lead to problems. Such is why most modelers use primers.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 3:50 pm

The only time I prime is with resin, disparit materials, or if I have something dark colored I need light colored.

And then I use Tamiya fine primer, tho' I'm going to give Mr. Surfacer a try soon.

Lt. Z0mBe · Post by **Lt. Z0mBe** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 5:36 pm

En'til Zog wrote:I'll swear by (not at) Krylon colors in the nice big rattle cans. I especially like their High Temp BBQ BLACK paint - nice and shiny and sticks well. Some people find it a bit 'hot' for some plastics, but I haven't had any trouble with it. I use it for primer, and just by itself it has a nice shiney finish.

I also use a lot of rattle cans of automotive touch up paint - which I often find on sale at discount liquidators. Just make sure the cans rattle and don't have dribbles of paint on their outsides.

Some people love 'apple barrel' brand craft acrylics. Me? For bottle paints I try and stick to Tamiya & Polly Scale paints.

One thing to remember? "Cheap paint" sometimes costs way too much in time to correct screw ups and money in repair/removal/replacment materials. It's often much cheaper in the long (and short) run to use 'quality' paint.

Hey, what do people see? The styrene the model is made of, the putty & resin bits, or the PAINT on top? That's often how they judge your work. Solely by appearance.

I use Duplicolor filler primer, decanted into my airbrush, usually BEFORE I scribe panel lines, if I'm using disparate materials or resin. Krylon automotive primers and paints work great too, when fired through an airbrush. Additionally, I swear by the (cheap) Delta Ceramcoat paints, used over primer, or lightly sanded styrene if there are no disparate materials needing priming. I even fire them through my airbrush (thanks to the forum here for showing me the light

), thinned with Windex, with no clumping or similar problems. I've never had any issues with them leading to costly screw ups. But, it could be the Ceramcoat paints are "value" paints instead of the "cheap" paints, as I've never tried the Apple Barrel ones.

I hope this helps.

Kenny