Small price comparison on HOK

[jayhkr]

Ok, all this talk about HOK paint made me start looking into them and getting a good price comparison going. I initially went on ebay, but quickly found that it's a ###### shoot. So I compared, what I believe were two popular websites out there. I compared the Kandy Kolor HOK from TCP Global and Coast Airbrush. Here's what I found.

TCP sells the 2oz bottles for $6.95 each but their shipping is really funny. If you buy just 1 bottle, shipping is only A BUCK, which makes it $7.95, but if you buy 2 the shipping SOARS to $11.55 making your total $25.45. 3 bottles - $33.00, 4 bottles - $40.41, 5 bottles - $47.76, 16 bottles - $128.02, 20 bottles - $157.16

Then I compared Coast Airbrush. Their shipping was a bit more streamlined and easier to follow (of course all these were estimated prices) Their cost on a 2oz bottle was a buck less at $5.95 but shipping on the first 16 bottles was $9.00. So 1 bottle was 14.95 (more than TCP) but 2 bottles was $20.90 almost a $5 dollar savings, 3 bottles $26.85 ($6 dollar savings) 4 bottles - $32.80 ($7.50 savings) 5 bottles - $38.75 ($9.00 savings) 16 bottles - $104.20 ($24 dollar savings), and 20 bottles - $129.71 ($27 dollar savings)

So if I decide to go with HOK, I will buy in bulk. However if you just need one color, TCP is the way to go. Just thought I'd through this out to anyone.

Of course if someone else has a cheaper find or knows a better place, post it up!

Next up are the Testor's 1/4oz bottles.

[MikeMc]

One HOK trick is to buy the paint non-reduced.....Yes you will need to reduce it, so pick up a quart of the proper speed reducer and now your savings will add up more as reduced and non reduced sell for the SAME price and reducer is a lot cheaper than paint!

I think that came from the good DR Cranky !

[Greg Busby]

I buy from Coast Airbrush and that is easier for me to do

[jayhkr]

So a question to Donn Yost: I know in your video you use MM Acrylic however how would you compare that with HOK? Just trying to find the best bang for my buck. Kind of modeling on a budget at the moment.

[CadillacPat]

Jay since you're new to House Of kolor products,

You say you are looking at HOK Kandy Kolor,

HOK Kandy Kolor consists of Urethane Candies and Intensifiers (toner)

Are these the products you are talking about or something else.

I see completely different prices for a 2oz. bottle of KK from Coast AirBrush

Just wondering if you are going to buy Candies as your first HOK paint.

Have you thought about trying Basecoats first?

Have you used Automotive paint (mixing and airbrushing) on Models before??

From experience, and wanting to mix and airbrush my own colors, I've stayed with HOK since '99.

HOK Paint can be reduced greatly for our scale work. You buy a 4oz. bottle and you essentially wind up making 12 ozs. or more out of it.

Color choices, user friendliness, quick drying, adhesion, durability and longevity are only a few of the things that help me make up my mind.

CadillacPat

[Monty]

So a question to Donn Yost: I know in your video you use MM Acrylic however how would you compare that with HOK? Just trying to find the best bang for my buck. Kind of modeling on a budget at the moment.

Actually, Donn uses MM enamels reduced with lacquer thinner. If you're interested in the results, Cranky has hosted pics of his work at least twice in the last couple months.

[Hedgehog]

Hi styrene addicts. All this talk about HoK makes me wanna paint with their color since they have very impressive arrange of color and tones. I wonder what kind of KoK reducer I should use. I almost forgot to mention I live in L.A CA.

[sportandmiah]

RU311

[Hedgehog]

Thank u sportandmiah...

[hooterville75]

Being new to the hobby, Ive found HOK website very user unfriendly. What is the actual type of paint we want to search if were looking to buy HOK paint to shoot through the airbrush ? I'm trying to experience every paint manufacturer possible before I pick a paint of preference. Thanks for any info you may be willing to give in attempt to obtain the type of paint I want to purchase through HOK for shooting through the airbrush.

[Guest G Holding]

Hate to break the news...BUT HOK is an automotive paint, not a hobby paint...even though it works great on plastic models. The web site is for professionals and has a wealth of info. Go get some HOK reduced and try it...I shoot both hobby paints and automotive grade...after many years of practice. Good paint work comes from lots of work, done the same way every time.

[hooterville75]

So basically I should experiment with the basic scale model paint manufacturers, IE Testors, Model Master, Vallejo, Tamiya etc and get some experience using those before jumping into something like HOK ? So far I've only used Testors with some Vallejo and Tamiya on the way. Was just hearing a lot of people talk about HOK but am in no way an experienced painter with an airbrush so I think Ill wait a bit to get into HOK. Thanks for the info GHolding. Much appreciated my friend.

[Guest G Holding]

Yup Deron. get used to working with the "standard" paints. After you get them working up to your needs, then expand to the "hotter" automotive paints. I used testors and tamiya for years, went to duplacolor, now I use the HOK. I would also tell you to look into Donn Yosts method. He uses testors/ modelmasters enamels...and lacquer thinner. Some of his colors are near to HOK. he likes to add pearls, and mix bottles.

[CadillacPat]

Okay, here's my approach and my advice to anyone wanting to break out of Rattlecanning.
You don't have to start at the bottom of the paint list if you want to AirBrush.
So,
IF you have a compressor, airbrush, regulator, watertrap, and replaceable filter Respirator - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - you're set.

It's just weird when someone asks about Airbrushing and mixing their own paints, someone comes in and answers them in detail, and then the person says they really don't have any of the necessary equipment and "anyway they are only thinking about it, maybe" ,for, "maybe sometime in the future".

Sure, you can use any kind of Rattlecan paint through your Airbrush and get fantastic results.
But, if someone is really and genuinely asking about mixing their own Automotive Paint and they have their Airbrush setup, then I advise them to jump right in.
That's what I did.
I got rid of my Paasche H gun I had used (with great success) for 5 years and moved up slightly to a double action Anthem 155 when I saw the results I was getting with House Of Kolor.
I gave away all my Testors, ModelMaster, Tamiya, all my waterbased, all my cheap Aerosols because I had found a system (House Of Kolor) that I could use for anything. I knew I would never go back to any other paint.
I formed an HOK Co-op and a dozen or so of us split a huge order over a thousand bucks.. To this day we all use HOK.

Enthusiasm will carry you through any slight difficulties in the new arena of Automotive Paints.
The user friendliness and the way Auto Paints lay down will please you the very first time you use them.
Great results will inspire you to go on.
HOK, PPG, ALSA, all will produce over the top results, all the while amazing you at how easy it is to use them.
This simple fact will spur users on to greater results and instill confidence when things could have gone in the opposite direction with paints that are not as user friendly.
Many Modelers get disgusted and dissatisfied with their first Airbrushing attempts and much of that can be attributed to products that are inferior or hard to use. Some of them quit and sell their equipment.
Getting real good results early in your Airbrushing career can instill a desire to do even better.

Of course House Of Kolor paint can be considered a Hobby Paint.
Hobbyists all over the world use it to their betterment.
Airbrush Artists and Hobbyists were the whole point behind the 4oz. bottles that were introduced in '05.

The HOK website is not for Pro's only. You don't have to start at the bottom you can easily start at the top and have an edge on getting better.

If you really want to do something, take a chance. That's how great things get discovered. That's how you get better.

Forums thrive on Members asking questions but I think people should state if they are ready or if they are just asking for grins.

You don't have to use standard paints for years. You can start at the top and be years ahead right in the beginning,
And,
It won't cost but a couple of bucks more than the cheap paints people use.

Don't buy off of Ebay and don't buy pre-reduced paints. You never know what you are getting.

CadillacPat

Edited April 25, 2013 by CadillacPat

[Jdurg]

The advice I would give is to practice, practice, practice! When I was building model cars back in the 1990's, I exclusively used Testors enamels as I thought that real automotive paints would be way too "hot" and dissolve the plastic parts. It wasn't until later in my first model car building section of my life that I tried out a Dupli-Color automotive touch up paint. Once I tried it and got some experience with using it, I was hooked. Now, EVERY model car I build is painted using automotive touch-up paints for the exterior, and interior paints for the.... well.... interior. (I recently discovered that the Dupli-Color vinyl/leather "dye paint" creates a PERFECT sheen for interior components. Only bad thing is that the color choices are very limited with this).

But practice is the best thing to do. Before you apply any automotive paints to your kit, test out the paint by spraying it on scrap parts or sprue from the kit. This way you'll know ahead of time if the paint will eat up the plastic. To play it safe, I ALWAYS put a coat or two of primer on the parts that are going to be painted with the auto paint just to make sure that the plastic will be protected prior to color paint going on. In addition, the primer always shows any flaws in the prep-work that I may not have been aware of. Always best to discover these BEFORE your first color basecoat goes on.

More advice is to always play it safe and use the same paint manufacturers primer as you will use for the color coats. This ensures that there is no compatibility issues, but be aware that this not always the case. (I have only experienced this once when the primer and color coat from Rust-O-Leum didn't get along well and resulted in a never drying paint finish that had to be removed and done over again.

I will state that automotive paints are incredible for use on the bodies of model car kits. As many, if not all, of them are lacquer paints, they dry VERY quickly and when cured are VERY hard. This prevents you from accidentally leaving a fingerprint in the paint due to it being too soft. On the downside, it also means that more work needs to be done to smooth out the finish as the harder paint coats make it a tad bit more difficult to smooth it out.

Still, the fast drying time, overall hardness, and great ability to cover the plastic makes it great for finishing as you can use any 1:1 car rubbing/polishing compound to really bring out a beautiful color.

After I discovered http://www.automotivetouchup.com when looking for a proper paint match for the 1996 Grand Sport Corvette Converitible I was building, I won't go back to any other brand of paint. They have a HUGE selection of paints available on their website, and if the specific color that you are looking for isn't listed there, you can contact them via phone or e-mail and they will mix up a batch for you. They offer small bottles, aerosol cans, and larger cans of paint for purchase. It's all a very well mixed type of paint that goes on with great coverage and dries quickly while still allowing the paint to level out and reduce orange peel. The only negative is that a simple 12 oz. aerosol can of color paint is approximately $20.00 and shipping is only done via ground shipping as the aerosol cans cannot be shipped via air. I've had two issues with the Gloss Clear Coat in the times that I've purchased from them, and the issues have been with the nozzle on the can malfunctioning and causing the gloss clear to shoot out of the top like a fountain. A quick call to the company and a replacement was shipped to me immediately, free of charge, both times.

Once you start using automotive paints for your model cars, trust me, you'll never go back to using Testors/Tamiya/etc. paints ever again.

[CadillacPat]

Quote: Once you start using automotive paints for your model cars, trust me, you'll never go back to using Testors/Tamiya/etc. paints ever again

That's right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CadillacPat

[Chas SCR]

Also to add to this is once going to Automotive paint stay with the same brand name for the base and clear as if you have troubles there is really no way of finding out what you did wrong or if it was some thing else happen. Primer normally does not have any troubles but mix matching between the likes of PPG/Du Pont or HOK/PPG and such but there is also a lot of them you can mix match as they worked more hand in hand now days. You can also get Planet Color from NAPA and they are also will work good with HOK stuff.