Lifecolor Paint - is it me?

[cruiserguy]

Good Afternoon Everyone,

 

I've just bought the latest Lifecolor set for IJN ships, and having nothing to do I decided to try them on an old scrap hull. Well, was I disappointed. I started using Lifecolor some years ago, and found their opacity and coverage good.using a brush. When I tested this set, I found the opacity and coverage were poorer than I expected. For some colours, it looks as if I'll have to use at least 3 coats to have a decent coverage, and that's just the greys. The greens, reds, and yellows (deck colours) look as if they will take more. However, I do know reds, yellows, and greens can be a problem. OK, it's no big deal but I would like to know if the formulation has changed as it looks as if these paints are a bit thinner than in the past and more suited for airbrushing than using an ordinary brush. 

 

I thought I might just be having a bad day, but I mixed my standard formula for Vallejo when using a brush, 40/60 paint to thinner, and it went on nice and even with few visible strokes and good opacity. Is it me, or have the paints changed?

 

I have the other naval sets, haven't quite come across anything like this with them, and I'd appreciate some comments from other users.

 

Sincerely,

 

Will.

[Steve Noble]

I tried them many years ago and was unimpressed to say the least. I'm not sure if the formula has changed since that time, but I've never tried them again after that terrible first go. Only acrylics I use via brush are Vallejo. Everything else I spray via airbrush, mainly lacquers and auto acrylics, some Tamiya XF range.

[PhantomBigStu]

I brought 4 lifecolour paints  year ago, mixed bag, one I haven't used as it turns out the shade is nothing like it should be nor have I found an alternative use for it, the 2nd and 3rd I've found to be excellent and brush really nicely, and when they run out I may restock with them again though both are available in my go to brand, the 4th however I found awful, coverage was appalling even over white primer (its a light grey) 

 

[dfqweofekwpeweiop4]

I've got the IJN paints and I can't say I've got any major issues so far. I started an IJN auxiliary warship to test them out, the Kure Grey and Linoleum were fine with a couple of coats, which is what I expect but the Beimatsu deck colour took a few more coats. I've not tried the Greens as yet though. One key thing to remember with acrylics over enamels (which is the alternative for IJN colours), is that you can put several coats down in an evening, whereas with enamels it would take several evenings as you have to give them time to dry properly. One Lifecolor colour that takes quite a good few coats, is the White from the RN Western approaches set, but you could use any white instead.

 

Note that the Hinoki deck colour is only for Yamato, Musashi and Nagato.

 

thanks
Mike

[Mike]

Paint is a funny old thing, and can be as personal as your choice of brushes, or how your first experience with it went.  I use LifeColor to spray all the time, and although it isn't the most robust of paints, it's easy to spray, and I have also used it many times on small areas of brush-painting.  We've never had a bad batch here in all the years we've been using them, but some colours are more opaque than others.  I'd try adjusting the amount of thinners you are using, just to be sure, as I find that they often need less thinning than you'd expect, even through the airbrush

[cruiserguy]

Hi Mike,

 

I don't think it's a bad batch, and don't want to give that impression. I was simply a bit surprised at the number of coats I have to paint to get a good finish. I mainly use Vallejo, and perhaps this is one of the issues: I am familiar with it and less so with Lifecolor. I'll say this about the paint itself, I like the accuracy of the colours, the two dark greens are particularly good. I hope what I have written doesn't put people off for I'll just have to learn how to use Lifecolor properly just as I did with Vallejo when I started using that range.

 

Sincerely,

 

Will. 

[Mike]

There's always a learning curve with any new paint, isn't there?

[cruiserguy]

Hi Mike,

 

Sadly, yes, there is. I hope it doesn't take as long as it did with Vallejo.

 

Sincerely,

 

Will.

[Ventura11]

Hi Will,

 

    I read your post.

I am realising that testing new paints is difficult and funny at the same time.

Today I will begin to brush a Javelin with 164. I keep my fingers crossed.

 

Cheers,

 

Paolo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

[sapperastro]

I have had the same experience as you brush painting Lifecolor; thin with low opacity. Somebody once claimed on another forum that there is actually a Lifecolor 'Thickener' available somewhere...In any case, it was taken off the brush painting agenda.

 

It sprays ok, but it wasn't good enough to knock my other preferences off their perch, and since I rarely use an airbrush these days, having fallen in love with brush painting again, I didn't bother buying any more bottles.

 

Everybody has their own little ways of doing things, as do the different paint brands...once you master certain paints, it is difficult when you have to try learning how another paint works. I know (most) enamels back to front, and always get a good result with them, brushing or spraying. After trying most of the acrylics on the market (I like to alternate between enamels and acrylics, or even use them together), I wound up preferring Revell aqua, with a little Tamiya (thinned and retarded...jeez that sounds funny...) and Vallejo MC thrown in.

[cruiserguy]

Good Afternoon Everyone,

 

I took some time this morning to answer the question I raised at the beginning of the thread. Using a Badger 200 with a medium needle and compressor set at 20 psi to start then down to 15 psi, I tried airbrushing some of the IJN colours onto an old, primed kit. Undiluted and straight from the bottle, they airbrush beautifully, dry to an even satin sheen, and it takes two (the greys) or three (the yellows and greens) coats for a good even finish with no primer showing through. As for the colours, the greys are nice and opaque, the greens and yellows less so, but that's to be expected. I didn't spray the reds, but the linoleum brushed OK, and I would expect it to airbrush OK too.

 

I'd probably dilute them a little and stick to a lower pressure when using them, even if it needs an extra coat for a good finish. Although it was a "belts and braces" experiment, I would conclude they are better for airbrushing than ordinary brushing, although I think you could manage touch-up OK with an ordinary brush.

 

 Best Wishes,

 

Will.