The Little World

Observe the heading image. Four pots of Mr. Color lacquer paint. All of them say ” silver ” somewhere on the label. One, however, also says ” trouble “.

The saga started when I painted the Airfix Brewster Buffalo earlier in the year. I had two pots of Mr Color Super Silver – No. 159 – saved up from when the paint became scarce on the Perth market. I gingerly opened one, diluted it with Mr. Color Levelling Thinner and prayed …that should have been sprayed. Any rate, my sprayers were answered with a gorgeous clean polished aluminium silver colour:

As Marty says – I’m happy with that.

Then, in the middle of the GSI Creos drought, more silver reappeared on the shelf and I grabbed three pots. I opened one, diluted it, and sprayed the Canadair Sabre with it. However, unlike Marty, I’m not happy.

I’d inadvertently picked up pots of No. 90 – Shine Silver. I suppose I should have twigged that it was different from the fact that it seemed a great deal thicker in the bottle than the No. 159. It took more air to spray, and when it did finally cover, the end result has a decidedly grainy look about it. It turns out to be a paint that would be better suited to custom cars and hot rods or Gundam robots.

Even two good coats of acrylic clear do not disguise the Metalflake appearance.

With the other problems associated with this air show Sabre, I decided not to press the issue and just live with it. The lesson to learn is to look at the charts and the labels before assuming everything is going to do the same job. I have invested in more No. 159 Super Silver plus the slightly duller No. 8 and a Mr. Metalcolor No. 211 Chrome silver. If you add the bottle of Alclad silver I also got on my recent trip, I should have enough to cover a considerable number of aircraft and the No. 90 Shine Silver can be shelved pending some sort of car project.

I lives and learns.