Revell Aqua Color

[Mike]

This review was originally done by Nigel (Cop) for ARC. But seems to fit here nicely seeing as they are now readily available in the UK but not, as far as I know, in the US.

Many of you may have heard, Revell have now launched their new acrylic range of paints or you may have seen those strange square paint pots sitting on the shelf in your local hobby shop. They where a long time coming, but having given them a quick try seem to be worth the wait.

They come in a square jar, which makes storage much easier, than with the usual round jars we have to put up with. The lid cleverly doubles as a pallet which can be connected to the jar for added stability. On the top of the lid is a colour chip, the name of the colour, and Revells paint code. Great for identifying the correct paint when they are in your draw, rack, etc.

The lid also twists off which avoids the risk of the lid flicking across your workshop as you prise it of with a screw driver. (Don't ask!!!) The circular pallet in the lid also fits inside the jar avoiding the mess associated with paint running down the outside of it, it also stops the build up of dried paint around the lip.

So far so good. A lot of companies should take note of this excellant yet simplistic design. A good jar is a major bonus in my book. The only downside is that I have to return to the use of eye droppers to move the paint into my airbrush. Something I am able to avoid when using the Vallejo range.

I gave two paints a quick run through my airbrush. Tank grey and Nato olive. I thinned them both to a ratio of 75% paint to 25% water. ( I use de-ionised water.) My airbrush is a Badger 360 and the air pressure was set at 10psi. The paint was mixed in the airbrush cup and was gravity fed.

Being a recent convert to Acrylics, I'm still in the, stumbling in the dark phase to some extent. I have used Vallejo model air so they were my bench mark. I have to say I was pleasantly suprised at the quality of these paints. The coverage was very good and could I obtain a constant line in the region of 1mm wide. I gave a bit of sprue the once over along with the pilot from my Tamiya 1/32 viper.

As you can see the paint went on very smoothly and was easy to control. I was able to paint the pilots boots and chest rig with minimum overspray. I`m sure I could get much better results with a bit of experimentation with regards paint consistency and air pressure. There was a build up of paint at the tip, but no more than what I get with the Vallejo air.

On the jar is states that the paint should be dry in about 1 hour but I found it dry enough to handle after just 15 mins. After an hour it couldn`t be rubbed from the sprue nor could it be removed with Tamiya tape. (As a side note, the sprue was unwashed and had been exstensively handled prior to paint application.) It could however be scraped from the sprue with my finger nail. But that does not reflect badly on the paint I just wanted to see how well it stood up to abuse. The instructions on the Revell website state that the paint is fully cured after 2-3 hours.

The whole of the acrylic range can be mixed together to produce any colour you need, which is a good thing as the range is, at the moment, limited to just 36 colours. Hopefully this will expand in the near future.

All in all I think Revell have done a fine job in the production of these paints and I for one will be purchasing many more. And at £1.50 a jar they represent excellant value for money.

Definetly recommended.

Hope this helps those who fancy giving them a try, but have shyed away from them because of the Revell logo. For a full colour guide along with RAL color referances have a look here.Aqua color range.

Nigel.

[Bazza]

Hi. I totally AGREE !!

They are far preferable to Revell Enamels !!

i swear BY them,rather than AT them !!

Cheers Baz.

[avro683]

They are far superior to the Revell enamel range IMO and better value for money than most of the rival brands. Coverage is first class with a paint brush; I have yet to shove it through my airbush though.

Tony

[seavixenxj494]

i used the aqua sky colour for my sea venom hand painted went on a treat

recomended i say