Best place to buy quality “hobby” paints?

[SfanGoch]

28 minutes ago, Dave G. said:

Something to consider before calling someone cheap or even yourself cheap is it's getting very expensive to live. And a lot of folks in retirement and in other situations have a fixed income. It gets very legit to look for less expensive options in all areas of life and even depart from certain activities. In some cases it could make the difference in persuing the hobby at all. We don't want to lose fellow hobbyists.

As the saying goes, "Walk a mile in my shoes." Being a resident of NYC, I have to deal with the highest cost of living in the country. Being from Ma., you know exactly what a toll this takes on ones day-to-day expenses. Ever pay 55 bucks for a regular, run-of-the-mill haircut? Then, the dude expects a $20 tip on top of that.

[Ace-Garageguy]

56 minutes ago, Dave G. said:

Something to consider before calling someone cheap or even yourself cheap is it's getting very expensive to live. And a lot of folks in retirement and in other situations have a fixed income. It gets very legit to look for less expensive options in all areas of life and even depart from certain activities. In some cases it could make the difference in persuing the hobby at all. We don't want to lose fellow hobbyists.

Entirely true, but the flip side is that using poor-or-inconsistent-performing products that may craze plastic, or require repeated stripping and re-dos to get even acceptable results introduces an entirely unnecessary frustration into the hobby (these are both frequent complaints from hardware-store or big-box general-application rattlecan users), and that's a good way to drive people away too.

[Ace-Garageguy]

27 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

...Ever pay 55 bucks for a regular, run-of-the-mill haircut? Then, the dude expects a $20 tip on top of that.

Why I learned to cut my own hair. Trust me, it's not that hard, and it'll only take three or four tries leaving you looking like this before you get the hang of it:

[bluestringer]

12 hours ago, Bills72sj said:

How is your adhesion with the acrylics? Do they come in scale appropriate metallic colors for car bodies?

As Dave has already said, you need to prime. I use Mr. Hobby Primer. Sometimes I will not prime small parts, but if you handle them much the paint will rub off. The craft paints have lots of metallic colors but the flake is way big. Tamiya has some metallic and it looks ok to me.

[CabDriver]

1 hour ago, SfanGoch said:

There are no local hobby shops in NYC; so, keeping one in business isn't even an afterthought.

BUT BUT BUT - Rudy's in Queens, and the Red Caboose and Jan's on the Upper East Side!!!! 

 

[bobthehobbyguy]

37 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Entirely true, but the flip side is that using poor-or-inconsistent-performing products that may craze plastic, or require repeated stripping and re-dos to get even acceptable results introduces an entirely unnecessary frustration into the hobby (these are both frequent complaints from hardware-store or big-box general-application rattlecan users), and that's a good way to drive people away too.

Yup this sums it up exactly.

 

Painting is a process. You can't cut corners and get consistent results. 

First you have to be meticulous  in your prep work.

Second lay down your paint as smooth as possible using the right materials.

Third is the polishing process.

Would it make sense to cut corners on the prep work and not clean the plastic and get fish eyes. Are leave mold lines, injector pins, and sink marks because it takes to long.

[ctruss53]

1 hour ago, Dave G. said:

Something to consider before calling someone cheap or even yourself cheap is it's getting very expensive to live. And a lot of folks in retirement and in other situations have a fixed income. It gets very legit to look for less expensive options in all areas of life and even depart from certain activities. In some cases it could make the difference in persuing the hobby at all. We don't want to lose fellow hobbyists.

This is not a valid arguement.

The people buying Rustoleum and Krylon paints, are not cheap. They are settling for inferior products. Quality supplies cost what they are going to cost. A builder has to decide if they want the excellent results quality products will give them, or if they want to settle for less. And if a builder settles for inferior supplies, they simply cannot expect great results.

The same thing goes for anything really.

I WANT a luxury car, or a high performance car so I can enjoy my drive to work every day.  But I CHOOSE to buy slightly older vehicles so that I have money for other things.  That doesn't make me cheap.  I am choosing to save money on my transportation because I can't afford the car I want AND fund my hobbies and save for retirement.

[StevenGuthmiller]

4 minutes ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

Yup this sums it up exactly.

 

Painting is a process. You can't cut corners and get consistent results. 

First you have to be meticulous  in your prep work.

Second lay down your paint as smooth as possible using the right materials.

Third is the polishing process.

Would it make sense to cut corners on the prep work and not clean the plastic and get fish eyes. Are leave mold lines, injector pins, and sink marks because it takes to long.

Correct.

If you can't afford this hobby, it might be a good idea to look for something else to occupy your time.

Good luck finding a cheaper hobby.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

In my opinion, part of the problem might be that some of us feel like we need to pump out builds as quickly as possible, which when you consider it, means that you're spending a lot more on the hobby.

I've been building about one model a year for some time, so expense is absolutely minimal.

I know that one per year is a little extreme for many, but I'm still spending time in my shop enjoying the hobby just the same.

 

Slow down, add a little more detail, (without spending gobs of cash on aftermarket stuff) enjoy the ride.

Even if you build one every few months, your paint bill drops dramatically from feeling as if you need to finish one every other week.

And your quality will very likely improve exponentially.

 

If you build 4 models a year, and use MCW paints, you'll only spend $30.00 on paint for the year.

Some guys spend more than that on green fees every weekend playing golf!

 

 

 

Steve

Edited May 4, 2023 by StevenGuthmiller

[SfanGoch]

1 hour ago, CabDriver said:

BUT BUT BUT - Rudy's in Queens, and the Red Caboose and Jan's on the Upper East Side!!!! 

 

Gee Jim, you've really been gone too long. Jan's closed in 2021 after the real owner, Collette Hutchins, passed away. Neither Rudy's or Red Caboose carry any meaningful variety of paints. Rudy's is cool in a model kit museum kind of way. He doesn't seem to stock anything made after 1996. You'd have to dig through decades of dust in Red Caboose just to see what's buried under it.

[Dave G.]

4 hours ago, ctruss53 said:

This is not a valid arguement.

The people buying Rustoleum and Krylon paints, are not cheap. They are settling for inferior products. Quality supplies cost what they are going to cost. A builder has to decide if they want the excellent results quality products will give them, or if they want to settle for less. And if a builder settles for inferior supplies, they simply cannot expect great results.

The same thing goes for anything really.

I WANT a luxury car, or a high performance car so I can enjoy my drive to work every day.  But I CHOOSE to buy slightly older vehicles so that I have money for other things.  That doesn't make me cheap.  I am choosing to save money on my transportation because I can't afford the car I want AND fund my hobbies and save for retirement.

It's not an argument just a thought. I don't come here to argue.

[ctruss53]

That is argument. 

[peteski]

 

[CabDriver]

9 hours ago, SfanGoch said:

Gee Jim, you've really been gone too long. Jan's closed in 2021 after the real owner, Collette Hutchins, passed away. Neither Rudy's or Red Caboose carry any meaningful variety of paints. Rudy's is cool in a model kit museum kind of way. He doesn't seem to stock anything made after 1996. You'd have to dig through decades of dust in Red Caboose just to see what's buried under it.

You’re not wrong about Red Caboose.  😂

We lived a few mins walk from Jan’s for a coupla years and I used to stop in there pretty regularly.  Sad that it’s gone, but not surprising I guess…

[Bills72sj]

12 hours ago, Dave G. said:

Something to consider before calling someone cheap or even yourself cheap is it's getting very expensive to live. And a lot of folks in retirement and in other situations have a fixed income. It gets very legit to look for less expensive options in all areas of life and even depart from certain activities. In some cases it could make the difference in persuing the hobby at all. We don't want to lose fellow hobbyists.

I hear you. Raising 3 boys and keeping an AWESOME wife on one blue collar income was hard. Once I had many fewer mouths to feed, I could step up my hobby spending. If/when I get to retire (5 more years to go), I have plenty of kits and paints to last a lifetime. The key will be if GOD keeps me healthy,

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, peteski said:

 

You're a man after my own heart Peter!

 

 

 

Steve

[stitchdup]

if you have a dungeons and dragon/warhammer game type store they carry tools and paints. The vast majority of the paints are satin finish but duplicolour primer (uk formula acrylic, i'm not sure if the usa stuff is the same) works well with it and it thins and lays nicely with tamiya thinners. They are available in a lot of metallic and flesh colours but vehicle specific colours are not part of their lines. Their weathering products are good too and very similar to vallejo or ak paints. They also have textured bases that are handy for rust under paint or corroded metals. The best i could describe the colour range is aliens meets star trek shades with battle/corrosion damage.

[Bugatti Fan]

Zero paints available from Hiroboy UK.        Best I have used.

Airbrush.    They go on flat.    Have to clear gloss afterwards.  Have matching car colours available like Vaillant Green for example specifically aimed at car modellers.  Look at the range on their website.   There must be a USA distributor also I would imagine.

[stitchdup]

11 minutes ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Zero paints available from Hiroboy UK.        Best I have used.

Airbrush.    They go on flat.    Have to clear gloss afterwards.  Have matching car colours available like Vaillant Green for example specifically aimed at car modellers.  Look at the range on their website.   There must be a USA distributor also I would imagine.

i think zero are only available from hiroboy, and i'm pretty sure they are the same owners too

[Dave G.]

9 hours ago, ctruss53 said:

That is argument. 

🙂 That's a thought.

[Dave G.]

7 hours ago, peteski said:

 

Too much !!!😁

[Ace-Garageguy]

On 5/4/2023 at 12:13 PM, bobthehobbyguy said:

 

Would it make sense to cut corners on the prep work and not clean the plastic and get fish eyes. Are Or leave mold lines, injector ejector pins, and sink marks because it takes to too long.

Don't look now, but that's pretty prevalent on a large percentage of builds presented here.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Thanks for translating for me Bill. Between being half awake(was working on my first cup coffee I'm not functioning before two normally ) and spellcheck helping(not)6 that post was out there.

[Ace-Garageguy]

9 minutes ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

...Between being half awake(was working on my first cup coffee I'm not functioning before two normally ) and spellcheck helping(not)6 that post was out there.

I know the feeling well, which is why I end up editing most of my own posts when I go back and read 'em.  

Edited May 5, 2023 by Ace-Garageguy

[Bugatti Fan]

This thread makes interesting reading with many differing viewpoints about paints. I mentioned Zero Paints from Hiroboy in the UK, but forgot to mention Alclad's translucent custom colours to go over metallic base costs of silver, gold, copper or brass effect paints. The UK Alclad Company (as was before the name was copyrighted as a trademark by the US company) used to take demo pieces around to the model shows that looked really good for custom car modellers. I don't know if the US company carries those translucent colours of not.

What comes across from many comments is how this or that paint performs. But one has to bear in mind that art and craft acrylics are designed for a completely different market altogether. It is not that their quality is inferior in any way to dedicated modelling paints, it is just that they are formulated to do a different job. But having said that, experimenting with them can yield some surprisingly good results depending on what end result you are looking for. Have a look at what masterpieces figure modellers turn out painted in artists acrylics and oil paints. Oils take forever to dry out but that quality enables much subtle shading and blending to be achieved. Horses for courses as far as paint selection goes.

I go along with the rule that everything has to be prepped and primed. The basics need to be adhered to. Any paint job depends on this whether on a model, a full size vehicle or a household decorating job. You simply cannot skimp on this.

Joe in NYC mentioned the demise of model shops there. I seem to remember a model shop named Polks who advertised extensively in many modelling magazines being NY based. Maybe I got that wrong, but Joe probably might know.