Lifecolor paints?

[sapperastro]

Hello all,

 

I have noticed that a shop not to far from me has started stocking lifecolor paint, and so the question; How do these go? Has anyone painted with brushed extensively using this paint? And how do they go in an airbrush?

 

Thanks

[lasermonkey]

I used to think that Lifecolor paints were amongst the best acrylics I have tried. Although they don't like to be the first coat (it's best to prime first) I found them to give probably the smoothest finish of any paint I have used. They self-level exceptionally well.

 

I thinned them with distilled water with a drop or two of Liquitex Slo-Dry acrylic retarder to prevent nozzle clogging. Thin to the consistency of semi-skimmed milk and you can't go wrong. Whatever you do, don't thin with isopropyl alcohol as you'll end up with a horrible, gummy mess.

 

So why did I change my mind? I lost over a hundred pots of Lifecolor paint when they solidified in their containers after a few years. I know I'm not alone in losing a whole load of them. I have plenty of older Aeromaster and Polly Scale acrylics that are still fine. It put me right off buying any more. It's something that may be worth bearing in mind if you're thinking of investing in them.

 

Cheers,

Mark.

[sapperastro]

Hmm, not so good. Would you know if they have the same container as when you had yours? I have seen more than one brand over the years have to change their container due to such issues.

 

And do they actually have a website? I cannot seem to find theirs.

Edited June 4, 2018 by sapperastro

[JPuente54]

17 minutes ago, sapperastro said:

Hmm, not so good. Would you know if they have the same container as when you had yours? I have seen more than one brand over the years have to change their container due to such issues.

 

And do they actually have a website? I cannot seem to find theirs.

sapperastro, try www.astromodel.it, you should find them there.

HTH

Joe

[sapperastro]

Thanks for that Joe.

[Procopius]

I detest Lifecolor. I know @Cookenbacher has had some great experiences for me, but they've never worked well for me and I avoid them if at all possible.

[CedB]

I tried them after Cookie's recommendation and like them, especially as their colour matching for WWII RAF is said to be really good.

Like Mark I found them easy to spray and self-levelling. Just checked my pots (plastic screw top) and they seem to be fine.

But if PC hates them...

[Max Headroom]

Good paints and for a short while were readily available in my neck of the woods. They were the first of the acrylics that I tried and I found that they brushed very well and a revelation to me, the Dark Earth didn’t darken (unlike Humbrol at the time) when varnished.

 

Trevor

[Procopius]

4 hours ago, CedB said:

But if PC hates them...

I'm just one man, of course... 

[fewr9fkr9595]

I didn’t get on with them either. 

Thats was with armour though a few years back. Sold on since and not bothered collecting aircraft shades... 

[Mike]

I like 'em, although I paint mainly with the airbrush.  They go on nicely, and have a good range of colours in useful sets.  You need a little less thinner than you think you need, and I usually use Ultimate's thinner with them (and almost everything else), with no real dramas.  Paint is a very individual thing, as you can already see from some of the replies that don't like 'em.  I use them a lot for detail painting, and that usually takes 2 coats to cover the primer or previously airbrushed main colour, but they do go down well.  You can always tell when you've over-thinned them as you start to get lots of spiders when you airbrush.  Just add a bit of paint til it stops doing that, and make sure your airbrush is clean before you start (which is the same with most brands).

 

They're not the most robust of paints, but what acrylic is?  I usually do my main painting then airbrush a coat or two of Klear over it to protect it during the rest of the build

[Giorgio N]

I use them very often and overall I like them.

The formula changed a bit over the years and older batches were IMHO better for brushing, while later batches don't cover as well as they used to. At the same time this has partly cured the problem of paint drying in the container. A few years ago this problem was so bad that even shops used to check them before selling to avoid complaints from the customers !

They have always had a reputation of "tricky paints" for airbrushing, due mainly to their tendency to dry very quickly on the tip. Adding a couple drops of retarder in the mix solves the problem. Still, I spray them without problems but others modellers I know never managed to use them succesfully.

Accuracy wise some colours are very good, others less so. Speaking of RAF colours only, I like their dark earth and medium sea grey, I don't like the dark green and the ocean grey. Speaking about the single pots here, never bought their sets. On the other hands they have pretty good paints for Italian aircrafts (not too surprising since they are an Italian company) and some Luftwaffe fanatics swear by their RLM 70 and 71. Some of their FS matched colours are also pretty good and they have some lesser known but useful ones.

[LotusArenco]

I’ll echo lasermonkey in my response. I found them wonderful to use both airbrushing and brush painting.

I had a bit of a modelling hiatus for a few years and found every single one of them had dried up. I’d possibly expect this of pots I’d opened and used, but some of the dried up ones had never been opened. 

 

Mart

[Graeme H]

Similar experience to others, I had not used any and when I went to do so, they had dried up

[fewr9fkr9595]

Perhaps this drying up is down to the jar design. From what I remember its a hard black plastic cap and hard clear plastic jar/bottle. Not necessarily air tight? 

Think about it - all other types of jar have that softer plastic insert in the lid which can comform and seal on closing.

Also eye dropper type bottles - the nib is soft and can squeeze up against inside the cap and seal off better? I have vallejos almost ten years old now and fine. Some tamiyas that are twenty...

 

Or am I going too far out with this idea? 

[Mike]

21 minutes ago, Tony Oliver said:

Or am I going too far out with this idea?

Yeah, a bit...

 

I've got lidderally 'undreds of Lifecolor pots - pretty much all the sets they ever made, plus a few more, and the only one that has ever gone funny on me was their gold.  It arrived as thick lumpy goo and got worse from there.  If you check out my review here you'll see that I've had some since 2008 (10 years), and I've yet to find another one that's gone dry other than those few that I've emptied. 

[lasermonkey]

Ah, the Lifecolor paints I had that dried up were  bought before 2008. I stocked  up with them when my local model shop had to replace the Aeromaster range which had just been discontinued and switched to Lifecolor.

 

The last ones I bought were in the 5xx range and are still good. I think that they must have changed the formula at some point. Still, after having wasted a not inconsiderable amount of money on them, I'm reluctant to throw any more in their direction. Once bitten, and all that!

[sapperastro]

Haha, I bought 4 pots today, and the 'Light Stone' has a big gooey ball in the centre of the pot. Does this sound familiar? The other colours are actually quite good. Going to try a brush out later tonight.

[lasermonkey]

If you're brush painting, it might be worth investing in some acrylic flow aid to help it brush out. I found that in the absence of flow aid, water with a teeny bit of washing up liquid mixed into it did pretty much the same job.

As with all new paints, it's best to experiment on something other than your latest creation!

[sapperastro]

Thanks Laser, I do the same, with either W&N flow aid, or water and dishwashing liquid when stingy.

 

The gooey ball defies any attempt to stir it back to usability unfortunately. The rest appear to be quite good so far. Very smooth with a few coats, but I haven't quite got it down to Revell Aqua/MM Acrylic levels of ability. Yet. Early days.

[Mike]

42 minutes ago, sapperastro said:

Haha, I bought 4 pots today, and the 'Light Stone' has a big gooey ball in the centre of the pot. Does this sound familiar? The other colours are actually quite good. Going to try a brush out later tonight.

I suspect that's an aberration, but gooey balls in the middle of your paint can either be cured by standing up and getting some clothes on, or adding a little thinners (Lifecolor or Ultimate, or even water) and mulching it.  Also, there's a Nail Polish Manly Paint Shaker you can get for around £20 from various places, here included   My hands & arms fatigue quite quickly if I'm shaking paints, so I rely on this bad(ish) boy quite a bit.  Add a glass or stainless steel BB into the mix and you should get some results.  It is however cheaper to take it back to where you bought it and swap it, or just buy a new pot in the short term

[cruiserguy]

Hi Sapperastro,

 

I agree with Giorgio. The early paints brushed beautifully, but I think less so now. They airbrush well, but use Lifecolor's own thinners or at a push Ulitmate or Vallejo to thin them. I've never had them solidify in the pot though.

 

Sincerely,

 

Will.

[sapperastro]

Hey will,

 

My current verdict brush wise is that they are very finicky about the surface to be painted on. Even with a CD cover primed with Tamiya surface primer, they tend to resist covering intially and pool up. They do flatten very well though, even with this happening. It is probably because they are incredibly thin from the pot, so I am going to let some sit in a lid for a couple of minutes before brushing them out. This should thicken it up a little and we can see how it goes on after that. I would say trying to paint over plastic directly would be something unthinkable though.

[Max Headroom]

This is the Tamiya Buffalo I hand brushed with Lifecolor. I don’t recall an undercoat as the ‘bare metal’ showing through as wear and tear is the kit plastic.

 

 

 

Trevor

 

 

 

[sapperastro]

Guess I will have to wash some plastic thoroughly and see.