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Getting hold of XtraColour (or XtraCrylic?)


alhenderson

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Hope this is the right place for this query...  I have a 1:72 Fujimi F-4 I'm going to do as an RAF camo bird.  I wanted to get hold of some Xtracolour to paint it in, but that seems really difficult to get hold of.  Hannants website (the abomination that it is!!) says that they are sold out of RAF Dark Green (X001) which I think is one of the three I need. I have seen comments about shipping being expensive for this stuff as it's deemed hazardous, or something.  I have seen mention of Xtracrylic which seems to be a water based equivalent.  Are these any good?  They don't seem to appear on Hannants website either, mind you..

 

Any hints on where I could get hold of the gloss paints for RAF camo?

 

Cheers,

Al.

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They don't appear as your spelling it wrong  hhttps://www.hannants.co.uk/manufacturer/xtracrylix, as for the being any good, they are my go too brand. a small number of retailers stock it as well, the main one being wonderlandmodels. 

4 minutes ago, alhenderson said:

Hope this is the right place for this query...  I have a 1:72 Fujimi F-4 I'm going to do as an RAF camo bird.  I wanted to get hold of some Xtracolour to paint it in, but that seems really difficult to get hold of.  Hannants website (the abomination that it is!!) says that they are sold out of RAF Dark Green (X001) which I think is one of the three I need. I have seen comments about shipping being expensive for this stuff as it's deemed hazardous, or something.  I have seen mention of Xtracrylic which seems to be a water based equivalent.  Are these any good?  They don't seem to appear on Hannants website either, mind you..

 

Any hints on where I could get hold of the gloss paints for RAF camo?

 

Cheers,

Al.

 

Edited by PhantomBigStu
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3 minutes ago, PhantomBigStu said:

They don't appear as your spelling it wrong  https://www.hannants.co.uk/manufacturer/xtracryli, as for the being any good, they are my go to brand.

 

That'd explain it.  I tried to navigate through the Hannants website looking for paints, but damned if I could find them!  Thanks :-)

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9 minutes ago, PhantomBigStu said:

But if you have your heart on enamels, I recommend enamels from here https://www.sovereignhobbies.co.uk/

 

More than happy to go for Acrylics - easier cleaning of brushes and less chance of me getting turps all over the furniture/carpet :-)

 

Al.

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18 hours ago, Darth Vader said:

Xtracolor. . Love , my favourite.  Xtracrylix. . Hate , cannot  for the life of me get that crap to spray. Humbrol 163 dark green should be readily  available 

But that would be matt though, right?  Don't like putting decals on matt paint, and gloss varnish always gave the thing a yellowish tinge when I did it (which was a looong time ago, to be fair).

 

Al.

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9 minutes ago, alhenderson said:

But that would be matt though, right?  Don't like putting decals on matt paint, and gloss varnish always gave the thing a yellowish tinge when I did it (which was a looong time ago, to be fair).

 

Al.

 

not a problem, plenty of stuff to do the job of glossing the paint up which isn't yellowish, klear/pledge, revell aqua gloss (what I use) alcad gloss etc etc

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22 hours ago, JPuente54 said:

It also keeps one from incurring the wrath of one's significant other.

Quite!  I got an almost sympathetic look when the kit turned up.  Maybe she thinks if this is a mid-life crisis it's better than filling the garage with motorbike parts :-)

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I don't find Xtracolour drying fast enough for me, I kinda hate it now

 

The Sovereign paints are well worth considering if you want enamels any time though

 

But the scent is (I was going to say smell, but) is quite intrusive if you have sensitive noses around you

 

A problem I have these days, my missus is very ANTI me paining with enamels nowadays

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I use Xtracyrlix a lot and at first I had problems with it going through an airbrush, even using the thinners. I then read somewhere about using flow improver and deionised water to thin and have no problems for about the last ten years. 

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  • 6 months later...

Was that the reason behind Wonderland dropping it, I heard it wasn't selling due to postage charges being applied which were quite frankly ridiculous.

 

I've started getting my Xtracolor from here https://www.aero-spezial-modellbauversand.de/Paints/Xtracolor:::1_2.html?language=en

 

Postage from Germany is over half of what Wonderland were charging to send from Edinburgh to Inverness as they maintained it had to come by courier as Royal Mail wouldn't accept it due to it being a hazardous substance , strange how Royal Mail still deliver it to me today but with a German postage label on the package.

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I only use Xtracrylix and those Revell blue pots, but I'm such a slow builder that I have the luxury of getting them at Telford and that will see me through the year with a bit of forward planning.

 

Steve.

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I use Xtracrylics - The only source open to me that I have found so far is Hannants.  I buy a few pots when ordering kits and get Hannants to throw them in the Kit box to cut down on the postage fees..

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14 hours ago, scotthldr said:

Was that the reason behind Wonderland dropping it, I heard it wasn't selling due to postage charges being applied which were quite frankly ridiculous.

 

I've started getting my Xtracolor from here https://www.aero-spezial-modellbauversand.de/Paints/Xtracolor:::1_2.html?language=en

 

Postage from Germany is over half of what Wonderland were charging to send from Edinburgh to Inverness as they maintained it had to come by courier as Royal Mail wouldn't accept it due to it being a hazardous substance , strange how Royal Mail still deliver it to me today but with a German postage label on the package.

 

It's very likely being done illegally.

 

The EU sets the rules. In the UK we work under the very real threat of massive fines or even jail time if we send flammable liquids through regular post, whilst the rest of Europe just turns a blind eye as usual.

 

Frankly, it hacks me right off when I pay half the true postage cost and what's left is deemed "ridiculous" only for inflammable nail polish in fragile glass jars to be perfectly ok and the rest of the world have a competitive edge on us because they just ignore the rules and nothing is scrutinized properly when it enters the UK - then after all that folk bemoan the lack of physical model shops in the UK.

 

For a business owners' point of view, you couldn't make this nonsense up.

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On 30/04/2018 at 21:37, Graham said:

Wonderland don't sell Xtracolor anymore as they could not get re-supplied so dropped them.

 

Graham

Hannants themselves ramped down production especially of the less popular colours because of the postal charges and the general move to acrylics.

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All this activity on this topic has got me feeling guilty!  A good 6 months after receiving the kit, I've yet to start it ☹️  An unexpected (in a good way!) house move has put everything else back.  Sadly, the only painting I may be doing in the near future will not be using Xtracolor, or indeed such small brushes..

 

Appreciate everyone's input, though.  Maybe I should buy the paints, might guilt myself into starting!

 

Al.

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On 02/05/2018 at 10:02, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

 

It's very likely being done illegally.

 

The EU sets the rules. In the UK we work under the very real threat of massive fines or even jail time if we send flammable liquids through regular post, whilst the rest of Europe just turns a blind eye as usual.

 

Frankly, it hacks me right off when I pay half the true postage cost and what's left is deemed "ridiculous" only for inflammable nail polish in fragile glass jars to be perfectly ok and the rest of the world have a competitive edge on us because they just ignore the rules and nothing is scrutinized properly when it enters the UK - then after all that folk bemoan the lack of physical model shops in the UK.

 

For a business owners' point of view, you couldn't make this nonsense up.

Maybe, in that case Jamie, we ought to have our paints packaged the way Airfix used to in the early sixties in small nail varnish type glass jars

 

Might evade some of these draconian EU cra-rules if we could...

 

 

😱

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I thought that political comments weren't allowed?  This is nothing to do with the EU, and not without some, if limited, just cause.   It was imposed by airlines because of some recorded incidents with metallics.  As RM generally transfers mail around the country by air, it's hands were rather tied.  And if it is regarded as unsafe for aircraft, it's difficult to declare that it's OK for any other form of transport.  I strongly suspect that a fear of inflated insurance claims would have influenced their decision. 

 

As for inspecting every parcel that comes into the country (or just travels within it), what's that going to add to the cost of posting parcels?

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24 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

I thought that political comments weren't allowed?  This is nothing to do with the EU, and not without some, if limited, just cause.   It was imposed by airlines because of some recorded incidents with metallics.  As RM generally transfers mail around the country by air, it's hands were rather tied.  And if it is regarded as unsafe for aircraft, it's difficult to declare that it's OK for any other form of transport.  I strongly suspect that a fear of inflated insurance claims would have influenced their decision. 

 

As for inspecting every parcel that comes into the country (or just travels within it), what's that going to add to the cost of posting parcels?

 

You're right Graham, the reasons why things are the way they are are clear and have a basis. It's just very frustrating that if I or Alclad or Hannants or Phoenix Precision Paint did it, there's a strong likelihood that we'd get a large fine like Amazon got slapped with for ignoring the rules. It's very hard to compete with someone who's cheating and ultimately most customers simply don't care about the risk because it's not they who are exposed to the punishment if the packages are caught.

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