Help with a Model Store decision

[Greg Kimsey]

Hi fellas, as many of you know I have a small hobby shop. Our main meat and potato sales are for fine art materials, but I have a small-ish corner of the store for a model shop. I want to bring in another line of paint, but am up in the air as to which to bring in. I want to replace my enamel selection for sure. What I have is good for the sign painter & art world, but not for the modeling world. The brand is Alpha 6, and they are a big deal in the automotive industry, but I have found that their product does not sell at all in the model shop.
The brands of enamel I have access to are:
Humbrol
Revell of Germany
Testors square bottles
Honestly, I don't love the tiny paint-can system that Humbrol and Revell use, but it's not a deal breaker as the paints are good. Too bad that Model Master went tits up or my decision would be easy. I have a pretty good personal stash of MM, but they are now precious! The Testors square bottles come in a surprisingly large variety of colors, and I do carry their basic art supply world selection of about 40 colors, but they are tiny as you know, and good luck reading the labels even with a magnifying glass! I am leaning toward Humbrol since I have two sources for them and only one for Revell.

The other paints I carry are:
Vallejo Model Color
Vallejo Model Air Military
Alclad II full range
Tamiya Mini's full range, which I LOVE, but the selection is very limited.
Golden High Flow airbrush (fabulous for figure painting)
Createx Airbrush
Vallejo rattle cans
Tamiya rattle cans, TS line
Vallejo Metal Color
Vallejo Textures and Washes

I am hoping to enhance the Tamiya hybrid paint type offering. I think Vallejo has a great range of straight up acrylic paint colors and am happy with them as my acrylic offering. I have access to the following brands:
AK Interactive
Mission Models
Tru-Color (but mostly train colors from my supplier, with some military colors, but still, a lot of color choices)
Mr. Hobby/ Gunze
MIG Ammo, which I will not be getting, but it is available.

I looked at Mission Models website, and it seems like it might be a good fit. Opinions on that? Their thinner seems fairly proprietary and no other thinner besides distilled water will work, but that can be propaganda, I just don't know. AK has a great reputation, and they have a million or so colors. I carry the Gauzy clear gloss finishes in that brand, but that is all. Mr. Hobby paints seem good but nobody here can read the labels at all, so I think I will stick to their primers and finishes which are absolutely top notch.

So, I am trying to keep this short. I don't want to add any jewels to my longest post crown LOL.
To conclude:
Enamel choices: Humbrol or Revell? I have no preference. Do you?
Other brand not enamel choices: AK Interactive, Mission Models, Tru-Color, or Mr. Hobby. I am leaning either AK or Mission.

That is all....

 

[Barney]

My LHS carries AK and Gunze, so I use those, plus Hataka Orange line. I like the Hataka paints as they thin easily, spray well, dry fast, and clean up easily. The AK metallic are very nice!

 

[Rhino]

I am a poor one to offer advise on paint. I spray 3-4 drops at a time, so I still have plenty of ancient enamel and lacquer paint on hand. There's always "the next best thing" coming down the pipeline. I use Tamiya. Their products are above reproach.

Have you considered an American small businessman as a supplier?
Jeff Herne operates Scale Colors in Wisconasin. His products both brush and spray well.

ScaleColors – Scale Colors Acrylic Model Paint

scalecolors.com

If you tell him I sent you he might not remember me.
He makes 3D printed tracks for armor models too!

 

[Greg Kimsey]

My LHS carries AK and Gunze, so I use those, plus Hataka Orange line. I like the Hataka paints as they thin easily, spray well, dry fast, and clean up easily. The AK metallic are very nice!

I have access to AK and Gunze, but not Hataka. I appreciate the response very much about the metallic colors. I have heard that they are very good as well. Thanks!

 

[Heavens Eagle]

While tiny, the little Testors bottles still have some good usage. I have found their Zinc Chromate Yellow has only ever been available in the tiny bottle. I have also found that a decent thinner for Testors paints is Xylene. It can damage plastics if put on too wet, but if done as I normally do, I have never had any trouble.
For most of my natural metal applications, I use Alclad and prefer the large bottles of Gloss and Flat black for my black colors. As these spray nicely right from the bottle it is a win. I have found that Mr. Gunze Retarder works well as a thinner on the black paints. I use it with the Gloss black as a thinner only wet mist after spray on the gloss that levels it down and can give that glass smooth coating if doing an Alclad metal finish.

 

[Greg Kimsey]

I am a poor one to offer advise on paint. I spray 3-4 drops at a time, so I still have plenty of ancient enamel and lacquer paint on hand. There's always "the next best thing" coming down the pipeline. I use Tamiya. Their products are above reproach.

Have you considered an American small businessman as a supplier?
Jeff Herne operates Scale Colors in Wisconasin. His products both brush and spray well.

ScaleColors – Scale Colors Acrylic Model Paint

scalecolors.com

If you tell him I sent you he might not remember me.
He makes 3D printed tracks for armor models too!

Contacted and waiting on a reply. Thanks!!

 

[Greg Kimsey]

While tiny, the little Testors bottles still have some good usage. I have found their Zinc Chromate Yellow has only ever been available in the tiny bottle. I have also found that a decent thinner for Testors paints is Xylene. It can damage plastics if put on too wet, but if done as I normally do, I have never had any trouble.
For most of my natural metal applications, I use Alclad and prefer the large bottles of Gloss and Flat black for my black colors. As these spray nicely right from the bottle it is a win. I have found that Mr. Gunze Retarder works well as a thinner on the black paints. I use it with the Gloss black as a thinner only wet mist after spray on the gloss that levels it down and can give that glass smooth coating if doing an Alclad metal finish.

I do sell a lot of the Testors square bottles, but only have the 40 colors, and it is mostly to people who are touching up a birdhouse or metal sign. I will contact my supplier about adding to that line because there are a lot of colors I could add. I do LOVE Alclad II products. I use the crap out of their black micro filler, but am ambivalent about the black gloss, because it never seems to dry and remains sticky feeling for days. I may be doing something wrong. Maybe I should contact Tony at A2 about that. I don't have the Gunze retarder, but I do have the Mr Leveler which I do use and love. Thank you for the great info!

 

[paddy]

As long as you avoid Mig/ Ammo you will be fine with me. Bloody awful stuff and now i find its shelf life is not so great either.
Any paint that needs endless you-tube video's to show you how to use it i think has lost its way, i mean its just paint , why make its so bloody complicated ...

Tamiya is great and ultra user friendly
MRP is superb but for spaying only
Humbrol is a great fall back if nothing else available. and widely used for all hobbies not just model making as a great versatile enamel

 

[Greg Kimsey]

As long as you avoid Mig/ Ammo you will be fine with me. Bloody awful stuff and now i find its shelf life is not so great either.

Any paint that needs endless you-tube video's to show you how to use it i think has lost its way, i mean its just paint , why make its so bloody complicated ...

Tamiya is great and ultra user friendly
MRP is superb but for spaying only
Humbrol is a great fall back if nothing else available. and widely used for all hobbies not just model making as a great versatile enamel

I would avoid Mig for the simple fact that he is stealing Alclad II paint and labels. They didn't even bother to change the paint numbers, and have the audacity to print "The Original Alclad II" right on the bottle. It is utterly criminal, and Tony at Alclad his lawyers on it, but with Mig being in Spain, I am not sure what can be done, except maybe make it illegal to sell them in the US.
I do agree about Tamiya. I just love that paint. I wish I didn't have to mix colors to get a common FS color as often as I do; such as Light Ghost Gray, seriously? Expand the color line Tamiya please. I WILL buy it.
From my research, it looks like AK Interactive is an Acrylic Lacquer, the same as Tamiya. Not sure. Maybe get their Air selection for military planes. Any way, I gotta run it by the boss lady.
Testors makes 100 colors in the small bottles. I carry 40, so Gail would like to expand that line. We sell a lot of Testors. I have asked my supplier if there is a rack to accommodate the entire color line. I am leaning toward Humbrol if we have to bring in a new line.

 

[Impisi]

I don't use any enamel anymore, i can't stand the odors anymore, but for historic reason I'd go the Humbrol way.
I only use real acrylics, Tamiya and Gunze for me aren't real Acrylics. I use a lot Vallejo (all kinds of Vallejo) and as a second go it is lifecolor (https://www.astromodelstore.com/brand/lifecolor). I do have some bottles AK and Mig and 1 tube of this AK metal color but I mostly avoid both of them.

The only non acrylic paint I use is oil color in tubes thinned with an odorless thinner

 

[paddy]

Alclad is a difficult one. Most people know it as a metallic paint ie Alclad Chrome.
It used to be made by Alclad in Norfolk England but its now made in the US. The old Alclad spray enamels seem to be marketed by the Norfolk firm but its now called HR Hobbies, there doesn't seem to be any mention of Alclad in the UK anymore.

HR Hobbies – Modelling Supplies

Modelling Supplies

www.hrhobbies.co.uk

I thought the US/Alclad was now made by MIG ?

 

[moon puppy]

I got nothing but once I get back in the swing of things I know where I'm getting my stuff.

 

[jknaus]

I love Tamiya paint and Vallejo paint. I have tried AK and it sucked, but the new 3rd Gen sems to be not so bad. I was totally for Ammo of Mig paint when it first came out , but soon found it to be absolute crap. Their QA is terrible and customer support was good for the first trouble call and evaporated after that. Mission models paint seems pretty good but is hard for me to get. All this to say you already have the paint I would buy. Unfortunately buying from the States is too expensive now and postage has become insane costing the same or more than the product. Good luck with your decision and future sales.
James

 

[Greg Kimsey]

I don't use any enamel anymore, i can't stand the odors anymore, but for historic reason I'd go the Humbrol way.
I only use real acrylics, Tamiya and Gunze for me aren't real Acrylics. I use a lot Vallejo (all kinds of Vallejo) and as a second go it is lifecolor (https://www.astromodelstore.com/brand/lifecolor). I do have some bottles AK and Mig and 1 tube of this AK metal color but I mostly avoid both of them.

The only non acrylic paint I use is oil color in tubes thinned with an odorless thinner

I sell a crapton of Vallejo, to modelers and fine artists. I like your reasoning on Humbrol, excellent point. I did not realize Gunze was supposed to be acrylic, I thought it was straight up lacquer. Thanks for that and thanks for the advice!

 

[Greg Kimsey]

I thought the US/Alclad was now made by MIG ?

Not legally, no. It is outright piracy right down to the same bottles and logo and paint numbers, because he thinks he can get away with it. Tony at Alclad is a cool guy. He is quick to answer emails if you contact him with a question. Needless to say, he is not a fan of Mig Jimenez. I love the Alclad products a lot. I also really like the Vallejo Metals line. I think it is alcohol based and it airbrushes beautifully without thinning in any way, is low odor (or none), and is quite shiny. So I have customers covered who want lacquer or non lacquer. I use both.

 

[Greg Kimsey]

I love Tamiya paint and Vallejo paint. I have tried AK and it sucked, but the new 3rd Gen sems to be not so bad. I was totally for Ammo of Mig paint when it first came out , but soon found it to be absolute crap. Their QA is terrible and customer support was good for the first trouble call and evaporated after that. Mission models paint seems pretty good but is hard for me to get. All this to say you already have the paint I would buy. Unfortunately buying from the States is too expensive now and postage has become insane costing the same or more than the product. Good luck with your decision and future sales.
James

Thank you! If Tamiya would expand their bottled line to match their spray can line it would be amazing. They DO have the colors in spray cans. I am not sure what the deal is there. I understand about shipping! It is a huge deal anymore, and is ridiculous how much it costs to ship items. We tried selling things on Amazon for a while, but someone from Australia bought a book for $50 and Amazon only allowed $15 for shipping (they set the rates and you have no choice but to obey). It cost us $75 to ship the book using the cheapest way. We lost our ass on that and quit selling on Amazon. I really don't understand how people can sell on Amazon and make a penny. That is just a shipping horror story and don't want this to turn into an Amazon bash. Having said that, we sell Prismacolor pencils in our store. A lady came in wanting a set of 24. MSRP is $50. I discounted to $30 and she said she could get it for $18 with free shipping on Amazon. I did not believe her and looked it up. Yep! The same set was $18 on Amazon. Our wholesale cost is $23.85. I just don't understand it. Anyway, that is my Amazon horror story! My bad...back to the topic. I wish I could ship to you! I would do it in a second.

 

[Rhino]

I haven't sold on Amazon. Almost every other platform. eBay, Bonanza, Mercari and then Hobby Swap.
Then I put on my big boy pants and started the GoDaddy website.
I have a bunch of Humbrol enamel paint tinlets here.

Perhaps a deal could be struck when you arrive for the Don Downsize event?

 

[Heavens Eagle]

As to the Gloss black Alclad not drying, I have not really had any trouble with it. What I do is thoroughly mix/shake the bottle and then spray it directly with no thinning. I have had it orange peel slightly and be a little pebbly on the surface of the model. Once done with spraying the black I will then spray a light wet mist of Mr Leveling Thinner on the Gloss black. You don't want too much and you only want the surface to smooth out. I have done this with Testors MM gloss blue and it worked the same. I then pretty much set it aside for a couple of days anyway to dry thoroughly. Never had any "sticky" problems with it.
Tamiya paints are good though I don't use them much.
I have and use Humbrol paints and have tins from the 80's that are still good. Never had a tin go bad. I use Xylene to thin the Humbrol paints as well without any trouble at all. I use a mixing wire to mix all my "regular" paints like Testors, Humbrol, and those type paints. I try not to shake those bottles as the paint on the cardboard seals eventually damage them and they won't seal properly anymore.

 

[Greg Kimsey]

As to the Gloss black Alclad not drying, I have not really had any trouble with it. What I do is thoroughly mix/shake the bottle and then spray it directly with no thinning. I have had it orange peel slightly and be a little pebbly on the surface of the model. Once done with spraying the black I will then spray a light wet mist of Mr Leveling Thinner on the Gloss black. You don't want too much and you only want the surface to smooth out. I have done this with Testors MM gloss blue and it worked the same. I then pretty much set it aside for a couple of days anyway to dry thoroughly. Never had any "sticky" problems with it.
Tamiya paints are good though I don't use them much.
I have and use Humbrol paints and have tins from the 80's that are still good. Never had a tin go bad. I use Xylene to thin the Humbrol paints as well without any trouble at all. I use a mixing wire to mix all my "regular" paints like Testors, Humbrol, and those type paints. I try not to shake those bottles as the paint on the cardboard seals eventually damage them and they won't seal properly anymore.

I do shake the bottle, plus I have a medical centrifugal spinner (like to mix a vial of blood or whatever) that I use to thoroughly mix the bottle. Looks like a little tornado in the bottle. Pretty cool. Each bottle gets a little bead or two, like for fishing flies, to aid in mixing. The Mr Leveler mist makes sense. I like that and had just forgotten about it. The Humbrol longevity is good to know. All of this is helping!

 

[Rhino]

Frank Miller applies his Alclad NMF over Future. He builds a lot of USAF jets in bare metal. I consider him an expert in this area.
Our Joe Lotz sprays Mission Models paint and came away with a Gold and a Bronze award at the San Marcos IPMS National convention. So many paint brands and everyone finds their favorite.
I do not envy your task, King Greg!