Life Colour Paints

[Steve147]

As I'm in a gap between building models, I decided to check all of my paints (Revell, Humbrol, Tamiya, Aqueos Gunze, A-Mig, Vallejo and Life Colour), to see which were starting to thicken up and therefore have to thin down (or replace).  The A-Mig & Vallejo are fine and I do have thinners for Revell/Humbrol enamel, Tamiya, Aqueous Gunze and LP paints, so no problem.  The Life Colour paints I purchased along with the 1/700 IBG boats and have really only used the Hull Red and White since (cannot find a comparison in other makes for the others).  The rest of the paints are starting to thicken up a bit.  I can't find any Life Colour thinners as such.

Is  there a thinners for Life Colour paints or I can I just use water?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mark Harmsworth]

Here:

https://graphicair.co.uk/product/lifecolor-thinner-250ml/

[Mike]

51 minutes ago, Steve147 said:

Is  there a thinners for Life Colour paints or I can I just use water?

There are thinners, and their UK importers http://www.airbrushes.com carry a stock.  You can also use water.

 

Also, it might be your spelling of colour the correct way that's perhaps causing issues?  Who knows?

[Steve147]

@Mike

I've used airbrushes before (that's who I got the original paint sets from).  I'll have a look and see.

15 hours ago, Mike said:

Also, it might be your spelling of colour the correct way that's perhaps causing issues? 

Yes. Of course it's now 'color'.  Being of an age when it was 'colour', I'm a bit reluctant to change, lol. ( being a retired chemist, I still think it should be 'sulphur' and not 'sulfur'). 

many thanks.

 

[Mike]

49 minutes ago, Steve147 said:

Yes. Of course it's now 'color'.  Being of an age when it was 'colour', I'm a bit reluctant to change, lol. ( being a retired chemist, I still think it should be 'sulphur' and not 'sulfur'). 

It's still colour in the correct places, I'm guessing that the Italians either decided that the American spelling was going to appeal to more people, or they just didn't notice It don't make no nevermind either way, but there it is

[Francisco Javier Chaves]

I've been using tap water for cleaning this Paint with good results.

What I reccomend is checking Life color paint bottles every two or there months.

They have a tendency to dry in the bottles even with lids well closed.

Excellent Paint.

Edited April 5, 2023 by Francisco Javier Chaves

[Filbert]

I bought the kit of 6 paints mainly blues from the USM & USMC range for my Corsair. I simply couldn't get on with them at all and regret wasting 20 quid. I found it impossible to get a nice consistent spray pattern as it constantly blocked the nozzles, .2 and .4mm. I used their proprietary thinner, tried distilled water, warm water, different pressures, nothing seemed to work so I gave up and mixed my own from my Tamiya collection which go on a treat in comparison.

 

I am now at the gloss clear coat stage prior to decaling. For this I'm trying Vallejo 70.510 and I am not overly impressed with this either. There must be a better way than covering a nice paint job in gloss clear coat to reduce silvering on the decals, then only to go over it again with either satin or matt for the correct finish.  If there are any other successful methods I would love to hear bout them. I am using the oil paint wash method for weathering and staining etc, which I can apply safely with Tamiya acrylic's prior to any varnishing.

 

 

[Mike]

13 minutes ago, Filbert said:

I bought the kit of 6 paints mainly blues from the USM & USMC range for my Corsair. I simply couldn't get on with them at all and regret wasting 20 quid.

Paint seems to be a very personal thing, and what's great for one can be awful for others.  I've had issues on occasion with spraying Lifecolor, usually because I've messed up the thinning, or failed to stir things up properly.  LC can give the impression that it never separates, but it's always a good idea to give it a darned good agitation before chucking it in an airbrush.  Even a 0.4mm needle is still pretty easy to clog if you think about it.  On that side of things, you could try adding a drop of flow improver if you try again.  W&N's Galleria seems to be universally loved for use with acrylics.

[Casey]

2 hours ago, Filbert said:

There must be a better way than covering a nice paint job in gloss clear coat to reduce silvering on the decals, then only to go over it again with either satin or matt for the correct finish.

How about not doing all that at all? Silvering happens because of trapped air under decal, so there are options like:

• Make sure the surface is smooth. It is possible to obtain paints that are matt and smooth.
• Use gloss dip (like Pledge) for decals themselves. Some people swear by this method.

I use first method and it works fine, like this:

 

 

The crosses are not cut out, they have carrier film all on them. They were laid directly on matt paint. Paint was self-made using professional artist pigments with a really good matt medium though, sprayed on Sotar 20/20, diluted with Vallejo airbrush thinner with small amount of flow improver.

 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by Casey

[Filbert]

The ones I am really struggling with are the small decals such as the many warning labels that have lettering  on a translucent backing. I have experimented by applying some to a random piece of high gloss plastic the silvering is still evident at certain angles to light.

 

To add to the problem the Tamiya ones are quite thick and they stand out like a sore thumb. I am thinking I will simply omit them because to my eyes they will ruin what is otherwise a superb model. Very frustrating.

[sapperastro]

Micro Sol and Micro Set. All your problems will vanish (usually).