Revell Aqua

[Vinnie]

Hello. After much deliberation and studying the forum, I have chosen Revell Aqua on my return to model making. There certainly seems to be a mine of information on here and I am a little confused. I will be brush painting my Lancaster. Will I need to thin the paint and if so is water ok or does the proprietary brand do a better job? I have also read that some paint jobs have been finished with lacquer or varnish. Any advice here, please.

 

Thanks

[Max Headroom]

First of all welcome back to the dark side!

 

Revell Aqua is good if a bit gloopy. I find that wetting a brush with ordinary water helps. I did have a pot that went really thick and I added some of their own thinners and that retrieved the pot.

 

Trevor

[fewr9fkr9595]

Yeah the lids clip onto the main body and make a good 'reservoir' to thin the paint down in to your desired consistency while working with them. Their aqua mix thinners or water (cold out of the kettle - cheap distilled) both work fine. 

 

As with all acrylics, they work best over a matt primed surface as opposed to glossy plastic. 

 

I went back to basics on an old tool airfix spitfire without my airbrush. Rattle can primer then brushed with aqua colors 👍🏼

[fingers]

Revell Aqua is good solid paint and good value for money. When brushing I thin mine with distilled water with 10% flow improver which seems to help.

The one thing is that the range is limited so you will have the choice of making up mixes, being a little off with the colour or having some bits of another brand (I have Revell aqua, Vallejo and some Lifeclour all of which are good paint).

IMO buy some basics (black, white etc) then add what you need model to model.

 

Dave

[johnd]

It's good paint and good value as it needs a bit of thinning so goes a long way. The only issue is that to match colours you have to mix, something I dislike. You're ok with the Lanc though. What are you using for the green? 36168?

 

John.

[Vinnie]

Thanks for the advice. I did wonder about whether to use primer. I certainly will now. John, if you mean the camouflage green, I planned on using dark green matt 39. 

[Steve Noble]

It's not bad paint, I've used it a few times and it's acceptable. But I wouldn't say it's the best paint for brushing. The award for that would have to go to Vallejo Model Color. Simply the easiest paint to brush paint with in my honest opinion.

[Vinnie]

Thanks for that Steve. I had originally planned to go with Humbrol enamel but after reading so many poor reviews I decided to opt for Revell Aqua because of reasonable reviews and the fact it's a Revell model with the paint recommendations in the box. I've already ordered the paint but, I will look at Vallejo for my main project.

[LotusArenco]

On 12/10/2016 at 3:20 PM, Max Headroom said:

Revell Aqua is good if a bit gloopy.

That’s my experience with it. Needs a good stir and thinning a bit. I had no problems brush painting and chucking it through an airbrush for a Luftwaffe Phantom a long while back (Revells RAL colours seem to be a decent match). I would suggest using their own thinners if you can get it, if you have a Hobbycraft nearby, they might stock it.

 

If thinning with water pop down the petrol station or supermarket/Halfords and pick up a bottle of de-ionised water. A lot of folk will say you don’t need it, and that tap water is fine, but there is a difference and it’s very cheap. £1.15 from Tesco, £3.50 for 5 litres in Halfords. We used to use it for acrylics back when I worked for Winsor&Newton.

 

Mart

[Vinnie]

Thanks for that. I also used to work for Winsor&Newton, and spookily lived about 2 miles from RAF Northolt. Do I know you.

[LotusArenco]

lol, small world. Chargehand then Engineering. My username is a throwback to my Wealdstone days.

[johnd]

22 hours ago, Vinnie said:

Thanks for the advice. I did wonder about whether to use primer. I certainly will now. John, if you mean the camouflage green, I planned on using dark green matt 39. 

Have a look at 68, may be a better match.

 

John.

[Vinnie]

Hi John. Yes, you are right. I've taken a closer look and 68 aka 36168 is also described as RAF green. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Albeback52]

Use Revell Aqua most of the time. As noted above, they can be very thick but, I just thin them with ordinary tap water. Works fine. They brush on easily and give a very smooth finish. Certainly encountered no problems with them. The pot lid is awfully handy too. I just dispense paint into that & mix/thin as required. Discovered it is a good idea to rinse it out as well before you put it back on the paint pot!!

 

Allan

 

ps not had any real issues with Humbrol either

[Caerbannog]

I started to use Revell Aqua for painting cockpits and other interior bits, because it is easy to get here and I like that they are odourless and water solouble. For most of exterior painting I still use mostly Enamels and my airbrush, because I feel i am a lousy brush painter.

I also use normal water - but noticed that one of my oldest Aqua bottles started to smell mouldy. Apart from the annoying smell it still works as nice as in the beginning. It is almost empty anyway.

 

René