Matt aerosols...

[spangle82]

Hi - I need a light grey aerosol to finish the topsides of my MTB. 'Ford Polar Grey' is exactly right, but being a car paint is gloss and it has ot be matt. Normal matt grey primer is a bit too dark. 'Coastal Craft History Vol 1' which seems to be the bible (though is all Vosper not Thornycroft) has the colour as '507B' - does that mean anything to anyone? Thanks!

[C.A.R.]

Is there any obvious reason you can't just use the exact colour you want then apply a Matt lacquer?!

[spangle82]

I did think of that but wasnt sure how good it would look. Does it really turn gloss in to matt, pow? 507B sounds like a pantone number to me, if so not much use for paint...

[dr_gn]

Google search turns up loads of info on RN colour codes and sources for paints:

https://www.scalewarship.com/store/index.php?route...

[spangle82]

dr_gn said:

Google search turns up loads of info on RN colour codes and sources for paints:

https://www.scalewarship.com/store/index.php?route...

Aha thankyou dr_gn! Just need an aerosol version.

[sausage76]

Have you tried a paint place that makes up what colour and type you want?

I use these guys https://www.jawel.co.uk/

They will get a colour match and also make it into an aerosol and make it a matt finish if that's what you want.

[spangle82]

Brilliant, I will call them. Thank you 'sausage'

[V8FGO]

Sovereignhobbies specialise in RN colours, these are enamel matt finish.


https://www.sovereignhobbies.co.uk/collections/roy...

[spangle82]

V8FGO said:

Sovereignhobbies specialise in RN colours, these are enamel matt finish.


https://www.sovereignhobbies.co.uk/collections/roy...

Thank you V8FGO though I fear not aerosols. This beastie is 3' long

[dr_gn]

spangle82 said:

V8FGO said:

Sovereignhobbies specialise in RN colours, these are enamel matt finish.


https://www.sovereignhobbies.co.uk/collections/roy...

Thank you V8FGO though I fear not aerosols. This beastie is 3' long

If you're not doing any detail painting, you could buy a cheap airbrush?

[spangle82]

dr_gn said:

If you're not doing any detail painting, you could buy a cheap airbrush?

Well, I've never used one before, and I don't have a compressor, and I hear a second-hand one is £100, and I'd never need it again. So a rattle can for £5-10 seems more sensible as I'm not a dedicated modelmaker.

That said, Scale Warship were very helpful and told me the recipe for the colour is as follows:

Pattern 409 White Lead 21lbs
Pattern 704 Zinc White 56lbs
Pattern 689 Marine Dryers 3,1/2lbs
Linseed Oil Raw 12 pints
Linseed Oil Boiled 8 pints
Turpentine Sub 2 pints (1 part spirit of turpentine to 3 parts white spirit)
Pattern 370 Blue Black Paste (1 tin) 7lbs
1 gallon Dark Grey Enamel Patt 11 of similar shade to be added to each 100wt. Add turpentine sub to tin of Blue/Black to ensure full removal.

That could be a bit tricky, so my current plan is to by a pot of the stuff for £2.63, then send it to the aerosol people to match!

[dr_gn]

spangle82 said:

dr_gn said:

If you're not doing any detail painting, you could buy a cheap airbrush?

Well, I've never used one before, and I don't have a compressor, and I hear a second-hand one is £100, and I'd never need it again. So a rattle can for £5-10 seems more sensible as I'm not a dedicated modelmaker.

That said, Scale Warship were very helpful and told me the recipe for the colour is as follows:

Pattern 409 White Lead 21lbs
Pattern 704 Zinc White 56lbs
Pattern 689 Marine Dryers 3,1/2lbs
Linseed Oil Raw 12 pints
Linseed Oil Boiled 8 pints
Turpentine Sub 2 pints (1 part spirit of turpentine to 3 parts white spirit)
Pattern 370 Blue Black Paste (1 tin) 7lbs
1 gallon Dark Grey Enamel Patt 11 of similar shade to be added to each 100wt. Add turpentine sub to tin of Blue/Black to ensure full removal.

That could be a bit tricky, so my current plan is to by a pot of the stuff for £2.63, then send it to the aerosol people to match!

You can actually buy an airbrush and compressor off EBay for about £10...

OK it'll be a bit flaky, but there are others out there that you can get for not very much money, and maybe use a compressed air can or tyre adapter to power it.

Of course IF you can get a spray can of the right colour, that would probably be cheaper.

[Brigand]

Halfords sell large cans of matt and satin varnishes, they're all I use on all my kits to finish them and the only issue I found with the matt one is if you put too-heavy a coat on in one go it can leave a silvering effect, so just use a few light coats to avoid this.

[The_Jackal]

Yeah just for future reference, a full airbrush setup on ebay amazon is about 70-80 quid.
That will be all you need for a pro finish, anything more is just buying nice things cos you want nice things.
It really is a useful tool if you are a serious modeller, which sounds like you are if your kit is 3 foot long.

[spangle82]

Well Ive decided to bite the bullet and learn new things and get an airbrush...

What is your expert view on this one please (bearing in mind it might only be used for this one job, not pro use):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gocheer-Airbrush-Complete...

[dr_gn]

spangle82 said:

Well Ive decided to bite the bullet and learn new things and get an airbrush...

What is your expert view on this one please (bearing in mind it might only be used for this one job, not pro use):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gocheer-Airbrush-Complete...

Cheap airbrushes seem to either work fine or they don’t. Reviews seem good. For the money it looks ok.

[spangle82]

Thanks Doc (hope its OK to call you doc!)

Saved by the bell, just as I was about to go for it I remembered a friend who makes model tanks. Phoned him and hes all set up to airbrush acrylic paint, and happy for me to borrow it, hooray! The paint is on its way from Scale Warship who were very helpful so all I need to do is take the boat round and have a lesson

Which just shows that if you think about something for long enough you will find the best answer, and of course with the help of this forum

[dr_gn]

spangle82 said:

Thanks Doc (hope its OK to call you doc!)

Saved by the bell, just as I was about to go for it I remembered a friend who makes model tanks. Phoned him and hes all set up to airbrush acrylic paint, and happy for me to borrow it, hooray! The paint is on its way from Scale Warship who were very helpful so all I need to do is take the boat round and have a lesson

Which just shows that if you think about something for long enough you will find the best answer, and of course with the help of this forum

Sorted. Let's see some photos when its complete.

[spangle82]

Sorry for the delay - I did the airbrushing about a week ago and am pondering my next move.

The paint in the pot was exactly right, it matched the hull sides I painted years ago perfectly. I added about 20% thinners as the man advised (because the nozzle was 0.3mm) and started. However it was constantly clogging so when the first load was empty I added some more thinners and the second batch sprayed on very well. It seemed slightly darker than the hull sides but it wasnt dry yet and in my experience paint goes lighter when it dries.

The next day I took off all the bits of masking tape covering various windows and portholes and admired my work. But the colour was still darker/bluer than it had been in the pot, in fact exactly the colour of the £7.99 spraycan primer from a shop! Do thinners change the colour?

Im trying to decide whether to live with it, and perhaps airbrush the hull sides to match the top, but Id really like to get the top right. Not sure how to get the correct grey though, so a bit stumped.

[dr_gn]

spangle82 said:

Sorry for the delay - I did the airbrushing about a week ago and am pondering my next move.

The paint in the pot was exactly right, it matched the hull sides I painted years ago perfectly. I added about 20% thinners as the man advised (because the nozzle was 0.3mm) and started. However it was constantly clogging so when the first load was empty I added some more thinners and the second batch sprayed on very well. It seemed slightly darker than the hull sides but it wasnt dry yet and in my experience paint goes lighter when it dries.

The next day I took off all the bits of masking tape covering various windows and portholes and admired my work. But the colour was still darker/bluer than it had been in the pot, in fact exactly the colour of the £7.99 spraycan primer from a shop! Do thinners change the colour?

Im trying to decide whether to live with it, and perhaps airbrush the hull sides to match the top, but Id really like to get the top right. Not sure how to get the correct grey though, so a bit stumped.

Remind me - was it acrylic paint?