Mr Hobby Aqueous vs Mr Color

[Dee1234]

Hi 

 

I am new to Airbrushing and wanted to airbrush some plane models such as the F16 , F18, F14 from Hasegawa and Tamiya.

I will prime with Tamiya primer and have a 3M Respirator with Organic Filters.

 

I was wondering which out of Mr hobby Aqueous which is a solvent based acrylic or the Mr Color (lacquer) is better or more suitable, I want to use the Mr Color Levelling Thinner with the paints.

I understand the Aqueous is less toxic but the lacquer based paint is more durable?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Dee

 

[Rabbit Leader]

Dee, 

Welcome to airbrushing and all I can say is that I wish I'd come across these Gunze range of paints a lot sooner than I did. Mr Colour Leveliing thinner works exceptionally well with either the Mr Color (Lacquer) or Mr Hobby (Acrylic) paints. The Lacquers are very durable and unless I'm using a solid bright colour such as yellow, I rearly need to prime before hand. I used to avoid any Acyrlic based paints due to their inherent inability to bind to the plastic or not strip after masking (Vallejo!), however I've had no problems with either issue when using Mr. Hobby paints. When using these acrylics, I would still recommend that you prime before you paint and can also recommend this same company's Mr. Surfacer series of products for this purpose.

 

I hope I've answered your question? 

Cheers.. Dave

 

[Dee1234]

Thanks for your reply Dave but i still am not sure if i should get the hobby aqueous acrylics or the mr color lacquer ones?

 

I also have some tamiya acrylics and model master i am using on other models such as the clear uss enterprise and tamiya f117 but need the mr color or mr hobby as they have specific fs colors for the main body of the f14 16 18s. I can use the tamiya acrylics on any other parts of the f14 16 18 as well as i already have the colors required

Edited November 29, 2018 by Dee1234

[colin]

All the paints you mention can be thinned with Mr Levelling thinner, if your using this to thin you may as well just buy the Mr Colour as the Aqueous, although they can be thinned with Mr LT they were marketed to use the ipa based thinners like Tamiya X-20A

You will definitely need a spray booth with Mr Levelling thinner though, your mask will be ok for you but everybody else in the house won't like you for using it

[bmwh548]

If you're set on using the Self Leveling Thinner (which is a great product) I don't see the point in getting the water based range. Get the Mr. Color paints, they're brilliant. They dry pretty quick, the finish is incredible, good pigments... Not to mention the GX range, been using the gloss varnishes, I'm in love with the way those turn out after they're properly cured. And I second the idea of a spray booth, the thinner will stink up the house.

[Dee1234]

Ok thanks will get mr color . Not got a spray booth but maybe i can airbrush outside if the weather is good in some sort of mdf enclosure or box

Edited November 29, 2018 by Dee1234

[dnl42]

Mr Color is just wonderful stuff. Beautifully smooth and resilient finish. While you need good skills to use it, the rewards are quite high.

 

Lacquer paints are the thinnest coating,  so make sure the surface is smooth. Thin with Mr Leveling Thinner to consistency of 1% milk. Spray close-in, say 5mm to 50mm. Mist on light coats for coverage. Since it dries so quickly, this is only a single session, even for a small 1/144 model.  Use grazing light to ensure it hits the surface slightly wet. Only apply a heavier wet gloss coat when you have full coverage.

 

I use thinned Mr Surfacer as my primer in the same way. Doesn't obscure fine detail but will cover slight surface scratches.

 

Again. It's really worth the effort!

[Steve Noble]

Mr Color all the way. The aqueous are still good paints, but the lacquer paints are in a different league..

[Calum]

Another vote for the lacquers 

[Plasto]

Either or.. If you can get the lacquers then get and use those. Both the Tamiya acrylic and Gunze aqueous thin and spray well with lacquer thinner as does the Tamiya enamel. 

 

HTH 

[Duncan B]

Another vote for Mr Color Lacquers with the self levelling thinners. The Aqueous colours are ok too and I have used both on the same model before but prefer the Lacquers.

 

Duncan B

[Homerlovesbeer]

I solely use Mr Hobby aqueous paints and love them. I use their special aqueous thinner in a 50/50 ratio with excellent results.

 

http://www.mr-hobby.com/en/itemDetail.php?iId=85

 

 

The Mr Color paints are also very good as are the Mr Metal paints which I use and love.

Edited December 4, 2018 by Homerlovesbeer

[Bo hermansen]

On ‎11‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 9:20 PM, Dee1234 said:

 

I was wondering which out of Mr hobby Aqueous which is a solvent based acrylic or the Mr Color (lacquer) is better or more suitable, I want to use the Mr Color Levelling Thinner with the paints.

I understand the Aqueous is less toxic but the lacquer based paint is more durable?

 

 

 

Hi Dee

 

Gunze's Mr Hobby is not solvent based, they sell as an "Acrylic" paint, but in reality its a oil paint that has been made Water soluble, so with Mr Hobby, you can use Mr Hobby acrylic thinner, Water or

any other generic acrylic thinner, BUT you can also use Mr COLOR (lacquer) thinner and most lacquer thinners on the market. The same goes for Tamiya's "acrylic paints".

You CANNOT do it the other way around, MR Color paint will seperate if you use Mr hobby thinner or Tamiya acrylic thinner.

Mr Hobby is rather kind and nice to your lungs and brain if you use acrylic thinner.... if you use lacquer thinner; not so much (use charcoal mask)

 

Bo

[Corvi]

I am Aqueous paint Gunze user 

I thin with both 70% and 91% Isopropyl Alcohol and get  excellent results.  You can use Tamiya Acrylic materials with the Gunze Aqueous line....including clears and the X-20A if one  needs a specific thinner.  I never found a need to use for Gunze Leveling Thinner or Tamiya Thinner 

The Gunze Aqueous line also mixes with the Tamiya Acrylic line...for color mixing.  The Gunze Aqueous line has FS color lines for aircraft and RLM colors too.    

 

Just my opinion!?!?   

 

Steve, 

[Alan P]

Just stocked up on Mr Color (lacquer) from Kent Models, if anyone's interested. They've got loads! 

 

I've used both varieties but like @dnl42 and @Duncan B the lacquers are just brilliant to work with using the Mr Color Leveling Thinner. There also isn't a better colour match for modern FS greys out there, they capture the bluish hues of 36620 and 36375 the best of anyone in my opinion.

 

EDIT: sorry just realised how old this thread is! Old news by now.

[Dunc2610]

As someone who's relatively new to airbrushing, I've gone with mostly Aqueous, I have a few Mr Colour where there wasn't an available Aqueous colour and use the self levelling thinner with both. I pre mix in a plastic shot glass to make sure I get the right 'skimmed milk' consistency and away you go. I wouldn't say it's dead easy, but it certainly isn't hard. I have a duff model I use to spray test prior to actually going for it on the model I'm making proper to ensure all is setup right. 

 

At the moment I have a cardboard box with three flaps folded out and taped in place and the top flap folded back and use that as a booth whilst spraying next to an open window and its the smell/fumes are ok. 

[colin]

8 hours ago, Alan P said:

Just stocked up on Mr Color (lacquer) from Kent Models, if anyone's interested. They've got loads! 

 

I'.

Not at those prices thanks, 3.69 for a 10ml bottle

[Alan P]

2 hours ago, colin said:

Not at those prices thanks, 3.69 for a 10ml bottle

Yeah, things cost money, it's amazing isn't it.

[Filler]

On 2/4/2022 at 8:44 AM, Alan P said:

Just stocked up on Mr Color (lacquer) from Kent Models, if anyone's interested. They've got loads! 

 

I've used both varieties but like @dnl42 and @Duncan B the lacquers are just brilliant to work with using the Mr Color Leveling Thinner. There also isn't a better colour match for modern FS greys out there, they capture the bluish hues of 36620 and 36375 the best of anyone in my opinion.

 

EDIT: sorry just realised how old this thread is! Old news by now.

 

Hello Alan. I am trying to paint a CF-18 at the moment and I seem to have a bit of a problem. The lower surfaces are very widely reported as FS36375 which is 308 in GSIs ranges. This is the first time I've used Mr Color as I'd used Aqueous till now. Without doubt it sprayed beautifully, but it it looks rather blue. I was pointed here by @Wings unlevel and I am interested to note that you say that Gunze have captured the bluishness well. I'm a bit flumoxed because compared to any reference photo it just looks to dark and blue. Can I ask where have you used 308? 

 

On the subject of price, I have bought from Kent Models and they are very good and I got a Procon airbrush at an amazing price, but their price for Mr Color does seem a little steep. I usually by paints from Air-Craft.net and they only want £2.15 a jar.

[Alan P]

1 minute ago, Filler said:

 

Hello Alan. I am trying to paint a CF-18 at the moment and I seem to have a bit of a problem. The lower surfaces are very widely reported as FS36375 which is 308 in GSIs ranges. This is the first time I've used Mr Color as I'd used Aqueous till now. Without doubt it sprayed beautifully, but it it looks rather blue. I was pointed here by @Wings unlevel and I am interested to note that you say that Gunze have captured the bluishness well. I'm a bit flumoxed because compared to any reference photo it just looks to dark and blue. Can I ask where have you used 308? 

 

On the subject of price, I have bought from Kent Models and they are very good and I got a Procon airbrush at an amazing price, but their price for Mr Color does seem a little steep. I usually by paints from Air-Craft.net and they only want £2.15 a jar.

I just replied in your build thread 👍

 

I do think your H308 looks a lot darker than my C308 in your photo though 🤔

[colin]

On 2/4/2022 at 7:26 PM, Alan P said:

Yeah, things cost money, it's amazing isn't it.

Yes Amazing you can get the same thing for £1:99 too 😄