The Little World

Don’t laugh too much. You never know where the trail of discovery will lead.

I have been pondering this in my local store – Hobbytech – as I wander the paint aisle. It is much the same when I go to the big DIY chain store – Bunnings  – and try to make sense out of their multiple paint and varnish aisles. I value choice in most things but the business of making an informed choice is hard sometimes.

So far I have managed to suss out Humbrol enamels and enamel thinners and clear coats. The paints are good, their drying characteristics are awkward, but the clear coats are fine. I can go all the way through from spray to cleanup with confidence.

Tamiya and Mr Hobby acrylics as well – again by using proprietary liquids I can manage the whole workflow and am rewarded with faster drying times. I’m a little chary of the behaviour of acrylics under masking tape but if I do not press the envelope it seems to work.

But now I ventured into Testors Model master territory and have been warned to do so carefully. The colour that lured me in was the US aircraft interior apple green. I mixed a chromate green for wheel wells and body openings but the cockpit green eluded me. The Testors looks good…but I’ve been warned that it might not be compatible with Tamiya thinners. I’m to use water to dilute it. We shall see.

Of the other exotics – Vallejo, and other brands – I know nothing yet. So far I’ve not felt the need for them but like any other addiction, the pull grows strongly upon one. And as I suspect that there is no one great unified system that can cover all needs – there will always be some degree of mixing of makers in the painting process.

There will also be some careful analysing of the prices vs the coverage. I have used the Tamiya rattle cans for some projects and been most satisfied with the actual result – but wonder at the economics of it in other cases. With three airbrushes of various sizes, I am in a position to take advantage of potted paints.

Now here’s a question that others may answer wherever they live…what does it cost to paint a model? Say we take an average 1:72 aircraft of the single or two-motor variety. All up, using whatever colours might be needed to do the job – how much do we actually spend on that paint skin? $ 4? $ 8? $ 12? Hard to quantify the amount of paint in a coat, given the thinners and the variety of paints that might be used for a camouflage job. I must start keeping an accountant’s record of each paint job to see just what is going out.