Hataka Acrylic Paint - Any Good?

[JohnT]

I was looking for paints for an early WW2 French machine and also an Israeli Air Force machine and lo and behold I spotted that Hataka Paints do sets for both but are they any good I wonder? Anyone used or can recommend alternatives? possibly enamels?

http://www.emodels.co.uk/brands/hataka-acrylic-model-paints

thanks in advance as always

John

[dfqweofekwpeweiop4]

It seems, some people like them, others hate them. From reading what others have said, they don't need much thinning for airbrush use, so will need a little experimentation to get the hang of.

I don't know of any other French AF paints but Ammo of Mig also do an Israeli AF paint set for the modern desert scheme. I think being Spanish, Ammo might have their colours produced by Vallejo, which would make them similar to Vallejo Model color paints, except that they come with a ball bearing in the bottles (the bottles are identical to Vallejo bottles) to help mix the paint.

thanks

Mike

[Stew Dapple]

John,

I bought the Early Luftwaffe, RAF and Polish Air Force sets and have only used the first of these sets - to be honest I found them so unsatisfactory that it is extremely unlikely I will even open the boxes of the other sets. The paint quality was inconsistent and the colour matching... dubious at times. I definitely won't buy any more sets from this manufacturer, even though some seem to have got on okay with the RAF set at least here. I'll leave it to you to draw your own opinions from it, it's your money after all

Cheers,

Stew

[Procopius]

Anyone used or can recommend alternatives? possibly enamels?

I've used Lifecolor acrylics' line of French WWII air force colours on a D.520. I have, of course, no good photos, but it looked convincing to me.

[Stew Dapple]

Thanks for that PC, I was still on the lookout for some acrylic Armee de l'Air colours

Cheers,

Stew

[JohnT]

Thanks for all the responses Guys. It's always daunting moving to a new paint in case you experience a build you are chuffed with only to watch the paint go on like water with no apparent covering ability, shade way out from what's considered "normal", does not dry/too glossy/ not glossy enough. I am sure we all have lived that horror story at one time. The prices are not too horrific so I will try each - on a derelict model languishing in garage before screwing up a new build

Ah, sigh, good old Humbrol enamel tinlets, did what it said on the tin ! Most of the time anyway

[dfqweofekwpeweiop4]

I've used Lifecolor acrylics' line of French WWII air force colours on a D.520. I have, of course, no good photos, but it looked convincing to me.

I've not noticed these! What UA numbers are they and will the do a Battle of France Ms.406?

thanks

Mike

[Stew Dapple]

Thanks for all the responses Guys. It's always daunting moving to a new paint in case you experience a build you are chuffed with only to watch the paint go on like water with no apparent covering ability, shade way out from what's considered "normal", does not dry/too glossy/ not glossy enough. I am sure we all have lived that horror story at one time. The prices are not too horrific so I will try each - on a derelict model languishing in garage before screwing up a new build

Ah, sigh, good old Humbrol enamel tinlets, did what it said on the tin ! Most of the time anyway

Trying them out on a sacrificial subject is probably what I should have done - good luck John

I've not noticed these! What UA numbers are they and will the do a Battle of France Ms.406?

thanks

Mike

Mike, they for an MS406 I would choose:

French Light blue-grey LC-UA141

French Dark blue-grey LC-UA145

French Brown LC-UA143

French Kaki LC-UA142

with the proviso of course that I have not seen these paints in real life, only the colours as shown on my laptop, but if they are reasonably accurately matched to the original shades it will be right. For some reason there does not appear to be a 'box set' for these colours as there are for the other air forces, so that might explain why they had escaped your notice.

Cheers,

Stew

[Albeback52]

John,

I bought the Early Luftwaffe, RAF and Polish Air Force sets and have only used the first of these sets - to be honest I found them so unsatisfactory that it is extremely unlikely I will even open the boxes of the other sets. The paint quality was inconsistent and the colour matching... dubious at times. I definitely won't buy any more sets from this manufacturer, even though some seem to have got on okay with the RAF set at least here. I'll leave it to you to draw your own opinions from it, it's your money after all

Cheers,

Stew

Like you Stew, I was singular unimpressed with these. I bought both RAF sets. I have tried each of the colours in turn. on an old model (over a matt white undercoat). Next to useless in my view. Like coloured water with minimal colour density and minimal adhesion. Took four - five coats (depending on colour) to get an opaque finish. They didn't like sticking to the test model either!! After leaving them 24 hours to harden, I tried the masking tape test !! All but two of the colours lifted. I flatter myself that with over 40 years modelling under my belt, I know how to deal with paints. These suffer from the same issues that made me give up on Xtracrylix.

I have since binned all 10 bottles and will not be buying any more. Very poor quality but at least the monetary loss was not great. I cannot comment on colour accuracy as I do not bother over much about this. They looked about right !! I will stick to Humbrol and Revell Aqua from now - at least they are known quantities.

This is of course just my own personal experience. I will let others judge for themselves. Maybe I should have just bought one or two bottles to try but, too late now of course!! These paints are advertised as being suitable for brush or airbrush painting. Based on my experience, I judge them useless for brush painting. I do not own an airbrush so I cannot comment on their usefulness thus.

Allan

Edited April 12, 2015 by Albeback52

[dfqweofekwpeweiop4]

Trying them out on a sacrificial subject is probably what I should have done - good luck John

Mike, they for an MS406 I would choose:

French Light blue-grey LC-UA141

French Dark blue-grey LC-UA145

French Brown LC-UA143

French Kaki LC-UA142

with the proviso of course that I have not seen these paints in real life, only the colours as shown on my laptop, but if they are reasonably accurately matched to the original shades it will be right. For some reason there does not appear to be a 'box set' for these colours as there are for the other air forces, so that might explain why they had escaped your notice.

Cheers,

Stew

Thanks Stew, is the Kaki a Green colour? The instructions say Dark Blue Grey, Dark Brown and Dark Green camouflage over Light Blue, so that would make sense if the Kaki is a Dark Green colour. Any clues for the interior colour? The instructions say Blue Grey (different than the exterior colour though).

I've always fancied a model of a Ms.406 after seeing it display at Duxford and I've got the Azur kit to build now and handily the peewit mask for it.

thanks

Mike

Edited April 12, 2015 by Mikemx

[Stew Dapple]

Thanks Stew, is the Kaki a Green colour? The instructions say Dark Blue Grey, Dark Brown and Dark Green camouflage over Light Blue, so that would make sense if the Kaki is a Dark Green colour. Any clues for the interior colour? The instructions say Blue Grey (different than the exterior colour though).

I've always fancied a model of a Ms.406 after seeing it display at Duxford and I've got the Azur kit to build now and handily the peewit mask for it.

thanks

Mike

Hi Mike,

Yes, I can't remember the exact proportions but Kaki was made of something like 90% yellow and 10% black, and is a sort of olive-drab colour. To confuse matters the French also had several Dark Greens that were used (which is why the Bloch 152's green paintwork looks different to the Dewoitine D520's) but although there is a green in the Lifecolor range (LC-UA146) it's quite a light green and not right for a MS406 (in my opinion, for what it is worth) and I believe Kaki is the appropriate colour - possibly the instructions state dark green as a generic or translated phrase rather than an exactly defined colour?

The received wisdom that French fighter interiors were Bleu de Nuit (a very dark blue-grey) does not seem to apply to the MS406s or at least to most of them which seem to be, as you note, blue-grey... possibly the later-build ones were Bleu de Nuit but I can't find a definitive answer to that. There is some useful information and a colour picture of a blue-grey internal component (albeit not from an MS406) here - your colour-match guess would be at least as good as mine here, but yes, bluer and lighter than the uppersurface camouflage blue-grey.

Cheers,

Stew