MCW *Enamel* Paints

[1972coronet]

I happened into Pegasus hobby store this past Saturday , and I picked up a bottle of MCW's Curious Yellow enamel ( 5.00 $ ! Quite reasonable ). 

Now, I have one of those Prevail sprayers which I'm going to employ ( I don't have the facilities to use an airbrush - noisy compressors and such in an apartment setting = no go ). My question is, Which reducer / thinner ( or both, if necessary ) is best for these enamels ? 
I had my eyes set on Mr. Color Leveling Thinner -- is that a good product for this instance ? 
I love Mr. Hobby and Tamiya, as both are just the best I've used over the years. 

Any input and recommendations (and ad hominem attacks ) is are am welcomed.

[StevenGuthmiller]

All that I can talk you is that I thinned a custom mix of MCW enamels to do the interior in my ‘64 Bonneville with plain old lacquer thinner, and it worked just fine.

I had a little left over, but I haven’t checked to see what kind of shape it’s in now.

Enamels can be really quirky once thinned, and will some times gel up depending on the thinning medium.

 

 

 

Steve

[Mothersworry]

MCW "enamels" are automotive paints, synthetic I believe...they are not Testors type hobby paints. Mineral spirts or similar enamel thinners will not work to reduce the paint for airbrushing.

I have used lacquer thinner to reduce the paint and had no problems. Mr Color thinners should also work well. Keep in mind that using lacquer thinner will "heat up" the paint and could possibly attack the plastic without a good primer/sealer first applied to the model.

MCW also has their own reducer.

[1972coronet]

I bought their enamel reducer , directly from MCW's site. 

Silly question : Do I need to purchase their hardener as well ? Or will the reducer 'cover' the catalysation as well ? 

Thanks again .

[Rodent]

John, I would direct these questions to MCW. Their site seems to be almost completely lacking in product use information. I have never purchased from them, but are their paints supposed to be ready to spray or ??

[1972coronet]

5 minutes ago, Rodent said:

John, I would direct these questions to MCW. Their site seems to be almost completely lacking in product use information. I have never purchased from them, but are their paints supposed to be ready to spray or ??

Other 'an a phone number ( OMG, that is sooooooo 20th Century ! ) there's no other contact info - and their FAQ 'page' is empty (?!?). 

IIRC, their lacquers are ready-to-shoot, but not their enamels. 

[Perspect Scale Modelworks]

5 minutes ago, 1972coronet said:

Other 'an a phone number ( OMG, that is sooooooo 20th Century ! ) there's no other contact info - and their FAQ 'page' is empty (?!?). 

IIRC, their lacquers are ready-to-shoot, but not their enamels. 

He's pretty good about answering phone calls.  I've talked with him a few times.

[1972coronet]

29 minutes ago, Perspective Customs said:

He's pretty good about answering phone calls.  I've talked with him a few times.

That is good to know, thank you. I just have an aversion to making 'business' calls (haha). But, I'll enquire to him sooner rather 'an later.

[Nicholas]

i  use mr hobby leveling thinner,it has a retarder to self level and slow dry times down a bit but still drys fast and never have any issues shooting from my air brush,just this last week i experimented with store bought lacquer thinner and it works just as good but dries a little quicker, i use to use the mcw hardner for their paints, but since using the store bought lacquer i dont use the hardner as much now ,i got the tip from watching old donn yost videos

Edited April 23, 2024 by Nicholas

[Mothersworry]

MCW has on their website a section called "Downloads and order form", in the page you will find detailed info on using MCW products.

I have on several occasions called MCW to ask specific questions and they have always been very helpful.

[1972coronet]

1 hour ago, Mothersworry said:

MCW has on their website a section called "Downloads and order form", in the page you will find detailed info on using MCW products.

I saw that , but its ambiguous title lead me away (haha).  

Thanks again.

[Monty]

See if this helps

 

[BDSchindler]

I have some of their airbrush paints but I have not used them as of yet.

Now I also purchased some of their "Brushable" enamel paints as I was assured they were equal to if not better than Model Master brush paints.  Semi-Gloss black, Flat Black, Silver and a couple of others.

After using them with a brush, I found them to be too thin over primer to be "brushed on" and too thick to be airbrushed without thinning.  They are not, in my opinion, NOT brushable paints.  So I won't be purchasing any more of their "brushable" enamels.  BUT, that has been MY experience.

There are other options readily available.