Lifecolor Royal Navy WW2 Colours

[Shar2]

Royal Navy WW2 Colours
Lifecolor

I’ve been trying these paints out now for the last couple of months so thought it was about time I wrote up the review. I won’t reiterate what Mike has already said about Lifecolor paints HERE. These two sets have been out for quite a while now, but they have only just arrived at BM’s London offices. Fortunately though, I have already used some of the colours on my builds and they do work very nicely. My normal media is enamel but every now and then I like to get the acrylics out, particularly on cold days when I can’t have the patio door open. The first set covers mostly the greys used by the RN, and include:-

• UA631 – Dark Admiralty Grey 507A
• UA632 – Medium Admiralty Grey 507B
• UA633 – Light Admiralty Grey 507C
• UA634 – Light Grey B20
• UA635 – Medium Green-Grey MS3
• UA636 – Dark Blue-Grey B5

The second set covers the rather more garish and unusual colours, but also some of the most commonly used:-

• UA637 – Hull red
• UA638 – Western Approaches Blue
• UA639 – Western Approaches Green
• UA640 – White
• UA641 – Semtex Green
• UA642 – Corticene

Whilst most of the colours have looked to be just about spot on when used, I found the Hull red a little too brown and dark, there should be a hint redder in my view. Detail painting using a brush proved to be a delight. The paint going on well and drying to the same tone as the sprayed paint, which I’ve found is not always the case when using enamels.

For those times when you've left your airbrush uncleaned, or even the brushes you've used, then this new product will be just the job for you. It's designed to be used in conjunction with tap water, much like the paints, and all you have to do is give the brushes a rinse in water, before using the cleaner until the hairs are devoid of paint, when you give them another rinse in water and dry. For airbrushes, you will need to disassemble the airbrush and place in a carton to soak fro between fifteen and twenty minutes.Once cleaned, reassemble the airbrush and spray water through it. It might be an idea to use this cleaner in an ultrasonic bath, should you have one.

Conclusion
These are great paints, easy to use and with good colour density. The pigments are quite fine and definitely need to be thinned before using in the airbrush, although I found they didn’t clog as much as some. The cleaner is another handy item to have in you paint collection, especially as we don't always clean our airbrushes or brushes as well as we should. The cleaner is just the job for those times when we haven't cleaned our airbrushes or paint brushes as well as we should. Very highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of:

[Mick4350]

Good to know that they can be painted with a brush.

[Antoine]

If I may, I would add that in my experience, Future is very convenient to thin Lifecolor, giving it the adequate consistancy for airbrushing, with a very smooth satin finish.

[Stalker6Recon]

The more I read about Lifecolor, the more confidence I get in their paints. I only have a few bottles as of now, but I am looking to buy a bulk order since I live in the Philippines and shipping to my home is quite expensive. They have most of the FS colors that I need, what ever is missing, I can make up with tamiya, a brand still available locally.

 

Thanks for the review, it is very helpful. The only question that remains for me, is what thinning agent and what ratio do I need to begin spraying their paints?

 

Anthony