Model Paint vs Hardware Store Paint

[mojorising]

Is there a difference between the enamel paint sold for models vs the enamel paint sold in hardware stores?

 

I know there is a huge price difference by volume (!) but would regular hardware store enamel paint work just as well for simple colours like black/white/red

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Yes ive used rattlecan paint from hardware stores. Trick to it is multiple light coats to build the color up and preserve detail. 

[mojorising]

Thanks for the tip Corsair.

 

So you actually use spray paint straight from the can?

 

So If I get the right shade I can even avoid having to get a spray gun?

 

Interesting.

 

I guess paint shade mixing will be impossible without a spray gun set-up.

 

(sorry mods - just realised i think this should be in the paint sub-forum)

[Alex Gordon]

I've used Berger gloss and undercoat several times,airbrushed and hairy sticked,with no problems and good results.The same stuff as I've used on skirting boards and doors,same tins in fact.I haven't fully explored emulsion paint yet but my local hardware shop will mix shades to order and have a paint chip scanning facility for colour matching.

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

Differences could be as simple as selection of enamel binder and pigment extenders for the intended application.

 

Enamels can by definition be oil based or alkyd resin. Oil by definition can be rather short molecules, long molecules, and either straight or aromatic. Enamel binders are blends of oil fractions but are chosen by application. Shorter molecules are more volatile, dry faster and adhere better but to the point of acting like solvents on other oil based products such as some plastics. Good for metal, bad for plastics. Long molecule lengths are quite thick liquids and are gentle on plastics but take forever to dry.

 

Model enamels are chosen to provide a good balance of drying times, adhesion and not melting the plastics we use. Not all formulations end up being of the same cost per unit volume either. As one might imagine the same purpose of components can cost more or less depending on several factors.

 

Similarly the pigment extenders we chose are chosen for the application too.

 

On the cost/volume equation it may interest people to know that a container is a container is a container. They all cost a similar amount regardless of size because the raw material weight isn't the dominating factor - the processing into a usable product is. Likewise cost to fill a container is similar irrespective of size. Lastly, in model enamel typical sizes the container usually costs more than the paint inside it excluding costs to fill said container. Still modellers tend not to want large volumes for economy because in the main they use so little of the vast majority of colours.

 

Domestic enamels therefore may work just fine for some modelling applications but when they do it's happy coincidence rather than by design. As with acrylics, there is still a range of properties a paint classified as enamel can have.

 

Hope this helps

[mojorising]

Gosh...

 

Thankyou for that erudite post Jamie.

 

There is more useful info in that post than I was able to find out with half an hour on the inter-googles!