MCW Finishes

[Nicholas]

i love MCW paints,i only use enamels so can't comment on the lacquers,i never have been any good with paint lobs  except out of testors rattle cans,since i switched to mcw enamels out of my airbrush,painting is fun again!!as hard as i try i cant seem to screw up using their paints,lol as for primers, i use acrylic(MIG_AMMO_wich is stylinrez brand and auto parts store can primer,and sometimes no primer!...never screwed up a basecoat doing it that way,i also use mcw enamel gloss,1k type clear,and recently bough mcw 2k clear but have not used it yet.mcw moved back down south the last couple of months so waitng for them to fulfill all orders may take some time as i waited for over a month for  them to catch up. try using hobby nut models as they carry the mcw line of paints and have a bunch in stock as i bought from them many times in the last 6 months

[bluestringer]

11 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Just as a “for instance” I ordered a bottle of Alclad paint through Amazon about a week ago, that’s shipping from Hobbylinc, and it hasn’t even shipped yet.

And that is a “pull it off the shelf and ship it” situation.

Even Amazon and Hobbylinc can be a little slow sometimes. 😉

 

 

Steve

I'm about 250 miles from Hobbylinc, and once my order ships, which takes a few days, I get it within 2 days. But with Hobbylinc you can at least follow the process through your order status page.

[bluestringer]

2 hours ago, Nicholas said:

i love MCW paints,i only use enamels so can't comment on the lacquers,i never have been any good with paint lobs  except out of testors rattle cans,since i switched to mcw enamels out of my airbrush,painting is fun again!!as hard as i try i cant seem to screw up using their paints,lol as for primers, i use acrylic(MIG_AMMO_wich is stylinrez brand and auto parts store can primer,and sometimes no primer!...never screwed up a basecoat doing it that way,i also use mcw enamel gloss,1k type clear,and recently bough mcw 2k clear but have not used it yet.mcw moved back down south the last couple of months so waitng for them to fulfill all orders may take some time as i waited for over a month for  them to catch up. try using hobby nut models as they carry the mcw line of paints and have a bunch in stock as i bought from them many times in the last 6 months

Hobbynut Models did not have the Aztec Bronze I needed. It's only available in lacquer, Hobbynut only carries the enamels.

[Dpate]

21 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Well, if it was more than a few years ago, you couldn't even order on line.

You had to print an order form from the site and mail it in.

 

I don't even know how they could have gotten a tracking number to you, unless it was via email.

I don't recall ever getting an email from MCW.

Maybe I've just been unlucky.....or lucky, depending on how you look at it.

 

 

 

Steve

 

Na wasn't that long ago i haven't been in the hobby that long. I did get a tracking # through fedex or ups though it was one of the two.  I remember when i ordered grabber orange from them twice, and each time i was able to track it via the tracking # through email.  So this situation is kind of weird lol.

[StevenGuthmiller]

35 minutes ago, Dpate said:

Na wasn't that long ago i haven't been in the hobby that long. I did get a tracking # through fedex or ups though it was one of the two.  I remember when i ordered grabber orange from them twice, and each time i was able to track it via the tracking # through email.  So this situation is kind of weird lol.

Hmmm, I don’t remember ever getting anything from them through FedEx, and I’m almost certain never through UPS.

Pretty sure my orders always came regular USPS.

 

 

 

Steve

[Dpate]

17 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Hmmm, I don’t remember ever getting anything from them through FedEx, and I’m almost certain never through UPS.

Pretty sure my orders always came regular USPS.

 

 

 

Steve

Yeah it might of been USPS, but it's still weird.  Almost makes me wanna do a order again just to see lol. Now that i think about it the tracking # was all numbers so I'm sure it was USPS.  I always did my orders through PAYPAL through them, but I'm not sure if that explains why i had got tracking #'s. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

30 minutes ago, Dpate said:

Yeah it might of been USPS, but it's still weird.  Almost makes me wanna do a order again just to see lol. Now that i think about it the tracking # was all numbers so I'm sure it was USPS.  I always did my orders through PAYPAL through them, but I'm not sure if that explains why i had got tracking #'s. 

Who knows.

But in the end, I’m confident that Jame’s paint will arrive in relatively short order.

There are a handful of aftermarket providers that I get my materials from that I always have absolute confidence in.

Among them, Fireball Modelworks, M.A.D. and MCW.

 

 

Steve

[Jade garage]

I have used MCW paints for years and have been satisfied with it always. If you want correct colors for a specific year and manufacturer,they are right on. The metallics I like because the flakes are scaled down which makes it look to scale. The primers are real nice for a bond coat before the color.It is not like a filler primer that would hide features. When I paint real cars I always stay with the same product line for the job, that way I knew everything was compatible.

[slusher]

Hard to beat Tamiya primer!

[ctruss53]

On 5/2/2023 at 7:37 AM, Jade garage said:

I have used MCW paints for years and have been satisfied with it always. If you want correct colors for a specific year and manufacturer,they are right on. The metallics I like because the flakes are scaled down which makes it look to scale. The primers are real nice for a bond coat before the color.It is not like a filler primer that would hide features. When I paint real cars I always stay with the same product line for the job, that way I knew everything was compatible.

I have tried the MCW primer. It can build up and crack. Well at least it did when I was using it, but I'm sure it was 99.9% user error. I couldn't see it was applied, I kept applying it, and next thing I knew it was too thick. Having said that, I know it is a high quality product. And I want to give it another shot.

I use Tamiya and Mr Hobby primers in spray cans now. They work perfectly every time. And I have not found a paint that they disagree with. Tamiya and Mr Hobby primers are lacquer, and I have applied many different brands of acrylics and lacquers over those primers. It always works.

[bluestringer]

I got the paint a couple of days ago and painted my 66 Impala replica with it. I am not impressed. It came out rough, not smooth at all, and it's streaky, blotchy. I will need to wet sand and see if I can get it smoothed out and try adding a couple more coats. It's also not as glossy as I would have thought. I can maybe fix that with a clear.  I've never had to sand a body I painted with Tamiya Acrylics. I should have tried to find a Tamiya color that was close to the original.  Also the bottle leaked badly when I was shaking it, never could get it on tight enough to stop it leaking.

[Perspective Customs]

I wish I could comment on the quality of MCW paint but each time I ask if they have or can mix a specific color, they don't reply to my emails (business must be that good). So I've been using Scale Finishes for airbrushing and Tamiya for spraying.

[kurth]

3 hours ago, bluestringer said:

I got the paint a couple of days ago and painted my 66 Impala replica with it. I am not impressed. It came out rough, not smooth at all, and it's streaky, blotchy. I will need to wet sand and see if I can get it smoothed out and try adding a couple more coats. It's also not as glossy as I would have thought. I can maybe fix that with a clear.  I've never had to sand a body I painted with Tamiya Acrylics. I should have tried to find a Tamiya color that was close to the original.  Also the bottle leaked badly when I was shaking it, never could get it on tight enough to stop it leaking.

That is very strange . Can you show us a picture? I have had really good luck with MCW Lacquer so I am curious about what happened to you.  Not being able to tighten the bottle cap enough is also very unusual. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

3 hours ago, bluestringer said:

I got the paint a couple of days ago and painted my 66 Impala replica with it. I am not impressed. It came out rough, not smooth at all, and it's streaky, blotchy. I will need to wet sand and see if I can get it smoothed out and try adding a couple more coats. It's also not as glossy as I would have thought. I can maybe fix that with a clear.  I've never had to sand a body I painted with Tamiya Acrylics. I should have tried to find a Tamiya color that was close to the original.  Also the bottle leaked badly when I was shaking it, never could get it on tight enough to stop it leaking.

 

I can understand the "not drying shiny" part, as these are modern acrylic lacquer automotive paints, and although it says "gloss" on the bottle, I never plan on trying to get by without clear coat.

Can't tell you what the spraying problem is, but my guess is user error.

Not to give you a hard time James, but I've been using MCW paint for decades, and it has always sprayed nice.

Check your air pressure, needle size, spraying distance, etc.

"Streaky" or "blotchy" is without a doubt an application issue.

A larger needle size is always best when spraying bodies for the widest pattern possible especially if you're using metallics, and with MCW's much finer metallic particles, it's particularly important.

Primer could be an issue too.

It's a hot paint, and can have a tendency to dissolve the primer to the point of it "bleeding" through the paint if applied to heavily.

A good "primer sealer" is a good idea.

Also, I hope you're not using Tamiya primer under it.

I believe that MCW recently began recommending that Tamiya primer not be used with their paints, apparently due to a Tamiya formula change. 

 

As far as a jar sealing correctly goes, there's always the possibility that there could be a seal problem with the jar.

MCW doesn't make the jars.

But that said, of the probably 50 bottles of paint that I've bought from them over the years, I've only had one bottle of black vinyl top texture leak.

I have bottles of paint from MCW that I've had for over 20 years that still look like the day that I bought them, and all of them have been opened at some point.

But keep in mind, that once the jar has been opened, there's the possibility that it can destroy the seal thereafter, and that's true for all paints.

Most times they won't necessarily leak, but the paint can dry out very quickly.

 

 

 

Steve

[bluestringer]

1 hour ago, kurth said:

That is very strange . Can you show us a picture? I have had really good luck with MCW Lacquer so I am curious about what happened to you.  Not being able to tighten the bottle cap enough is also very unusual. 

You can't really see it in photos, it's more of a feel, like it's gritty. And it's not dust, I had it covered during drying.

[bluestringer]

54 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

 

I can understand the "not drying shiny" part, as these are modern acrylic lacquer automotive paints, and although it says "gloss" on the bottle, I never plan on trying to get by without clear coat.

Can't tell you what the spraying problem is, but my guess is user error.

Not to give you a hard time James, but I've been using MCW paint for decades, and it has always sprayed nice.

Check your air pressure, needle size, spraying distance, etc.

"Streaky" or "blotchy" is without a doubt an application issue.

A larger needle size is always best when spraying bodies for the widest pattern possible especially if you're using metallics, and with MCW's much finer metallic particles, it's particularly important.

Primer could be an issue too.

It's a hot paint, and can have a tendency to dissolve the primer to the point of it "bleeding" through the paint if applied to heavily.

A good "primer sealer" is a good idea.

Also, I hope you're not using Tamiya primer under it.

I believe that MCW recently began recommending that Tamiya primer not be used with their paints, apparently due to a Tamiya formula change. 

 

As far as a jar sealing correctly goes, there's always the possibility that there could be a seal problem with the jar.

MCW doesn't make the jars.

But that said, of the probably 50 bottles of paint that I've bought from them over the years, I've only had one bottle of black vinyl top texture leak.

I have bottles of paint from MCW that I've had for over 20 years that still look like the day that I bought them, and all of them have been opened at some point.

But keep in mind, that once the jar has been opened, there's the possibility that it can destroy the seal thereafter, and that's true for all paints.

Most times they won't necessarily leak, but the paint can dry out very quickly.

 

 

 

Steve

Steve I can understand you may think it's user error, but I've painted many bodies with Tamiya paint and never had this problem, so I will disagree with that. My paint jobs always have been smooth, never this rough. It feels like sandpaper and no it's not dust, body was covered during drying. I know I can gloss it with clear, that's not a problem. The color is a metallic, but I've sprayed metallic before with my airbrush which has a .3 needle, and have not had this problem. The primer I used was Mr. Hobby, it's good stuff, came out smooth as glass, don't think it was the problem. The lid on the jar has no type of sealing device, just metal against glass, that never works.

[Dave G.]

21 minutes ago, bluestringer said:

You can't really see it in photos, it's more of a feel, like it's gritty. And it's not dust, I had it covered during drying.

James they use a fast thinner in the acrylic lacquer car colors, for what reason I have 0 clue. But you gotta stay in pretty close and try to shoot it wet, yet in thin multiple coats because it's hot. FWIW I'm not a fan of MCW lacquer either for several reasons I've mentioned in other threads and about hot lacquers in general actually, I'm sure would offend the fans of it to run through it yet again..  There is a lot to be said on this topic actually but I'll stop here.

Edited May 7 by Dave G.

[kurth]

I think Dave G already said it best, you have to get closer to the model and shoot it wet, which might be different than what you are used to. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, bluestringer said:

Steve I can understand you may think it's user error, but I've painted many bodies with Tamiya paint and never had this problem, so I will disagree with that. My paint jobs always have been smooth, never this rough. It feels like sandpaper and no it's not dust, body was covered during drying. I know I can gloss it with clear, that's not a problem. The color is a metallic, but I've sprayed metallic before with my airbrush which has a .3 needle, and have not had this problem. The primer I used was Mr. Hobby, it's good stuff, came out smooth as glass, don't think it was the problem. The lid on the jar has no type of sealing device, just metal against glass, that never works.

Well then James, I can't help you.

I would be very surprised if there would be anything wrong with the paint.

MCW is usually pretty good about quality control.

 

All I can tell you is that every paint acts a little differently.

Just because you have luck spraying one paint in a certain fashion, doesn't mean that all paints will universally react well to being applied the same way, and spraying from a spray can, whether it be Tamiya, or anything else, is an entirely different proposition than spraying with an air brush.

 

I can tell you for a fact however, that I have seen exactly the same effects that you have brought up in this thread with MCW paints, as well as other lacquers from time to time I might add, (ie, a pebbly finish, and streaking or blotching) and it was never the paint itself.

It was all my technique without question.

I just modified my technique to rectify the problems, and all has gone well since.

 

Edit:

If your jar is metal on glass, that's a mistake.

MCW jars usually have a foil seal in the lid.

If not, the lid is defective.

Not normal from MCW by any stretch.

 

 

Steve

 

Edited May 7 by StevenGuthmiller

[bluestringer]

Ok, well I'm just bummed out because I wanted this to turn out good since it's a replica of my first car. That's why I went with the MCW, I wanted the original color. Not sure what I'm going to do with it. I've heard wet sanding a metallic is not the way to go. But I think I will try to sand out some of the roughness and shoot another couple of coats. I'll try to get closer and put it on wet, maybe that was the problem. This is my first time using lacquer so I admit I don't know much about it. I think from now on I'll stick with acrylics.

 

The lid does not have a foil seal, so don't know what happened there. I know they had just made a move and were backlogged on paint orders, maybe a mistake was made.

[Dpate]

3 minutes ago, bluestringer said:

Ok, well I'm just bummed out because I wanted this to turn out good since it's a replica of my first car. That's why I went with the MCW, I wanted the original color. Not sure what I'm going to do with it. I've heard wet sanding a metallic is not the way to go. But I think I will try to sand out some of the roughness and shoot another couple of coats. I'll try to get closer and put it on wet, maybe that was the problem. This is my first time using lacquer so I admit I don't know much about it. I think from now on I'll stick with acrylics.

 

The lid does not have a foil seal, so don't know what happened there. I know they had just made a move and were backlogged on paint orders, maybe a mistake was made.

MCW is an automotive paint, and Tamiya TS & LP is not. Yes both lacquer, but different techniques use to spray both. Not saying you don’t know what you’re doing as I had issues with one of there interior colors. Could be a bad batch? Did you test it again on a test piece or spoon to see if same thing would happen? I know MCW uses low quality thinner too, but I think you should try first couple mist coats, and do the rest light wet coats. Did your order come with instructions?

[StevenGuthmiller]

19 minutes ago, bluestringer said:

Ok, well I'm just bummed out because I wanted this to turn out good since it's a replica of my first car. That's why I went with the MCW, I wanted the original color. Not sure what I'm going to do with it. I've heard wet sanding a metallic is not the way to go. But I think I will try to sand out some of the roughness and shoot another couple of coats. I'll try to get closer and put it on wet, maybe that was the problem. This is my first time using lacquer so I admit I don't know much about it. I think from now on I'll stick with acrylics.

 

The lid does not have a foil seal, so don't know what happened there. I know they had just made a move and were backlogged on paint orders, maybe a mistake was made.

I will confess James, that back when MCW first changed hands to the current owners, I did get a bad batch of paint.

I chalked it up to the fact that they were new to the game, and made a mistake with the reducing.

The paint was too thin. (not enough pigment and too much reducer).

 

It didn't make the paint unusable, but it was harder to work with.

I suppose that with the back log of orders due to the move, there is a possibility that a mistake could have been made.

If that is the case, contact them and request a remedy.

They're human too, and can make mistakes.

 

In the meantime, you could try this.

Turn up your air pressure to around 30 psi and give it a light coat from a little further back with your airbrushes paint flow opened up pretty much all of the way, but in order for this to work, you need to have a spray pattern that's probably at least 2 inches wide, and you need to do full and complete passes beyond the body on both ends, as straightly, steadily and evenly as possible.

This won't help with the grainy texture, but if you do it right, it should even out the color.

The graininess, as long as it's not extreme, can be addressed with some clear and some polishing after.

 

This is the model that I was working on when I discovered the bad paint, but with some adjustment, it still came out fine.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Dave G.]

11 hours ago, bluestringer said:

Ok, well I'm just bummed out because I wanted this to turn out good since it's a replica of my first car. That's why I went with the MCW, I wanted the original color. Not sure what I'm going to do with it. I've heard wet sanding a metallic is not the way to go. But I think I will try to sand out some of the roughness and shoot another couple of coats. I'll try to get closer and put it on wet, maybe that was the problem. This is my first time using lacquer so I admit I don't know much about it. I think from now on I'll stick with acrylics.

 

The lid does not have a foil seal, so don't know what happened there. I know they had just made a move and were backlogged on paint orders, maybe a mistake was made.

You can easily scuff that finish and add a couple more color coats before clearing. That's how I would handle your situation with that paint. But don't apply the new coats the same way, get them on there wetter. It's about impossible to run this stuff unless you just stall out on a pass and keep blasting. And now you have a base to lay it on to.

Edited May 8 by Dave G.

[ctruss53]

20 hours ago, bluestringer said:

I got the paint a couple of days ago and painted my 66 Impala replica with it. I am not impressed. It came out rough, not smooth at all, and it's streaky, blotchy. I will need to wet sand and see if I can get it smoothed out and try adding a couple more coats. It's also not as glossy as I would have thought. I can maybe fix that with a clear.  I've never had to sand a body I painted with Tamiya Acrylics. I should have tried to find a Tamiya color that was close to the original.  Also the bottle leaked badly when I was shaking it, never could get it on tight enough to stop it leaking.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with MCW paint. The leaky bottle is a frustrating thing.

As for your user experience, I have a few questions.

1. Did you buy a metallic paint? I ask because the very few times I have had issues with MCW paints, it was user error on my part, and they were metallic paints. I don't know what is different about the mix, but they require a little finese. This could explain the streaks.

2. How did you apply the paint? And over what primer? I ask becasue some MCW paints, especially the metallics require that finese I mentioned above. You have to build them up in light coats because if you lay that first coat on too thick it can craze the plastic, streak, or run. And this could cause all of the problems you describe.

And you are right about Tamiya acrylics. You would not have any issues with those paints. But the reason you would not have issues with Tamiya paints is because they are some of the most forgiving and versatile paints out there.  You can thin them with water, and you don't have to be exact about it either. I have used Tamiya acrylic paints successfully at nearly any ratio with water, all the way out to 60% water. And I have even accidentally sprayed them through an airbrush without even thining them. They are that forgiving.

I am saying all this because you have been using paint that is hard to screw up. Then you switched to MCW, a paint that can be finicky especially if you got a metallic. So not to be mean, but the results are probably due to the user.

I would grab some plastic spoons, try a couple different primers. And then practice using the MCW paint.  I like to build up the paint with several very light mist coats, then lay down a medium0heavy wet coat on the end to get a smoother finish. But it takes practice.

If you practice and give MCW an honest try, you will be very happy with the results. They mix up spot on classic OE colors.

[Dave G.]

You definitely can even up the metallic pattern so it's not streaking by backing away. However my way of doing that is to up pressure a bit and use a slower thinner in 1/1 paints. The problem with MCW is it's already thinned with fast thinner. Steve's idea may be be the one, as he said, put more distance between the brush and model but open things up, that meaning more pressure and more paint flow both.

I mentioned yesterday getting in closer but that may not work with metallic.