house of kolor

[usmc_moose]

i want to use house of kolor spray cans on my next project is there anything i should be aware of before i use them. and will regualr tamiya primer work for a good primer with the house of kolor paints.

[CadillacPat]

Moose,

There is only one instance where Aerosol Paint cans have been labled with the name House of Kolor.

These paints (not really House Of Kolor Paints) were sold through WalMart a few years back by a company licensed to use the HOK name.

They are not House Of Kolor automotive paints and only use HOK pigments for their chemical makeup.

The Aerosols we are speaking of were designed especially for quick drying time and adhesion to plastic.

I have seen them used for decent paintjobs but they are most certainly not HOK paints.

At the same time these paints hit the stands I was being sponsored by HOK to produce a BuildOff using their products.

Besides all the goodies HOK sent me to show, give away and discuss, they also sent these Aerosol Paints and the 1 oz. bottle sizes.

The Execs at HOK expressed a lot of distaste for the licensing of these two products and the years since have proven their fears.

Nearly everyone confused these Aerosol Paints as being real HOK paint and still today I see forum posts about them.

Now, all that being said, yes you can use them over the Tamiya Primer you have.

The paints, both Aerosol and Bottle Liquid, are enamels.

Thereis a company named Black Gold in Arlington Texas that at one time repackaged (so they say) HOK under their own name of Black Gold.

I tried their products years ago but found their bottled paints dried up quickly and their Aerosols gave iffy results from can to can.

Today at swap meets you can see the Black Gold being clearanced for pennies on the dollar.

CadillacPat

Edited April 18, 2012 by CadillacPat

[Dr. Cranky]

If you want the real stuff you can also go to:

http://www.coastairbrush.com/

You will find it in 2oz or 4oz, pre mixed bottles. Ready to go.

[Mike Kucaba]

You can go to almost any paint supply store for professionals in any large city and buy real HOK paint. And FWIW,I also see real HOK paint on clearance racks at my local paint supply store.(Space Age paint in Mesa). The other paint that was described is a type of enamel and I have shot it on some test spoons. It was packaged and sold by VALSPAR,the parent company of HOK. Their faux pas was to not include the proper reducer in the packaging,and probably trying to make a killing capitalizing on the HOK name.

[CadillacPat]

If you want the real stuff you can also go to:

http://www.coastairbrush.com/

You will find it in 2oz or 4oz, pre mixed bottles. Ready to go.

When House Of Kolor is not supplying me with what I need for projects I buy from Coast AirBrush or directly from HOK in Picayune Mississippi.

Coast AirBrush is the only company authorized by HOK to repour their paint into smaller quantities.

Hence the 4 oz. bottles we have seen for the last 5 years.

Premixed quantities are not made up by the folks at HOK, so they are premixed by someone else and several places online advertise these sales.

You can go to almost any paint supply store for professionals in any large city and buy real HOK paint. And FWIW,I also see real HOK paint on clearance racks at my local paint supply store.(Space Age paint in Mesa). The other paint that was described is a type of enamel and I have shot it on some test spoons. It was packaged and sold by VALSPAR,the parent company of HOK. Their faux pas was to not include the proper reducer in the packaging,and probably trying to make a killing capitalizing on the HOK name.

You can order HOK through most any paint shop.

The huge amount of Basecoat Colors and Candies make it impossible for every shop to keep everything on hand, but you can usually order it.

Once again to clear up even more confusion about the paint discussed in the Post topic,

Valspar and HOK did not package or distribute that "hobby" attempt at an HOK labeled paint. Nor did Valspar package or distribute any of the other products in that failed marketing attempt, i.e., plastic airbrush, bottled paint, diecast models, or other assundries.

The Execs at HOK killed the whole deal even before the items arrived on WalMarts shelf.

The items did arrive, just as WalMart was removing their entire section of Models and Model building accessories.

All this stuff lingered on the shelf about a whole month before it went straight to Clearance.

I've got boxes of all this stuff that I've never used.

CadillacPat

[Greg Wann]

http://www.tcpglobal.com/HokPaint/?gclid=CJaMubuH650CFRQeDQodG0S_Qg

Here is a place I have purchased ready to airbrush 4 ounce bottles from. I had no problems with them.

[Dr. Cranky]

Pat, you bring up a good point about paying attention to how these paints are pre mixed. I find that I still have to add a bit more reducer to get the right consistency, not all the time, mind you, but some of the time.

[CadillacPat]

Pat, you bring up a good point about paying attention to how these paints are pre mixed. I find that I still have to add a bit more reducer to get the right consistency, not all the time, mind you, but some of the time.

You bet Dr. Cranky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Coast AirBrush is the most reputable Paint Supplier out there.

Still, mixing our own paint gives us ultimate control over our projects.

I belong to a few AirBrush sites and am Mod on The AirBrush Forum where we discuss HOK almost daily.

The subject of premixed paint comes up and critiques and opinions vary widely.

CadillacPat

[Dr. Cranky]

I hang out at the Kustom Kulture Lounge every once in a while. Some great info exchanged there.

[RobRus]

I don't want to veer this off topic but I am curious and HOK paint.

You say they are enamels? I left working in body shops in the mid 80's but kept doing some custom paint beyond that. I recall HOK paint back then but I thought it was laquer. I used mainly Metalflake Candy colors and was very happy with them so had no need to try them out (and still have about 8 quarts of it that is still good).

Is this the same HOK that produces automotive custom paint today?

I was going to try it because the wide variety of colors they offer, but if it is enamel then I am not sure I want to. I have sprayed my share of enamel and it just doesn't give the results I like.

[CadillacPat]

House Of Kolor, founded in 1956, is the brainchild of John Kosmoski, world famous custom car painter.

Kosmoski sold HOK to Valspar a few years back.

For my money, HOK when used properly, outperforms any other paint out there.

Even when used improperly HOK is a very forgiving and user friendly product.

Key word here--------urethane enamel.

[espo]

Eric, As with any paint that you may have not used before, try some scrape or spruce first to make sure that would not damage the plastic. I had a bad experiance with what I belive may be the HOK spray cans you may be looking at. I had perchased the paints at "wally world" and it turned out to be very "HOT" and ruined the body I was painting eventhough it had been primered. Good Luck

[RobRus]

Key word here--------urethane enamel.

Thanks for the reply Pat, I will stick to laquer then, I seem to get the results I am looking for and as long as I don't see problems from the laquer/styrene combination I am cool. I like the fact it is dry to touch and dust free in seconds.

[RobRus]

Eric, espo is correct, try it on a plastic spoon or a scrap.

I am using automotive laquer with a very fast thinner (can you say melt plastic?)

I was having problems with Dupli-Color and Tamiya primers so I asked in another thread.

Dr Cranky suggested using PlastiKote so I gave it a try. It layed down nice and stayed down so you may want to give that a try if you have problems.

[crazyjim]

Coast Airbrush has told me that they are the only people to be able to sell reduced HOK paint. Before I Coast (thank you Dr. Cranky) I used to buy reduced HOK paint from TCP Global. So what's the real story?

And by the way, I'm now using an IWATA Eclipse airbrush and the paint cap with hose screws right onto the Coast AB bottles. Very convenient.

Edited April 18, 2012 by crazyjim

[CadillacPat]

Coast Airbrush has told me that they are the only people to be able to sell reduced HOK paint. Before I Coast (thank you Dr. Cranky) I used to buy reduced HOK paint from TCP Global. So what's the real story?

Real simple, TCP, and countless other places saying they sell pre-reduced HOK, are not authorized.

You can get it pre-mixed at a lot of places.

All the more reason to expect a wide swing in the quality of the product.

And by the way, I'm now using an IWATA Eclipse airbrush and the paint cap with hose screws right onto the Coast AB bottles. Very convenient.

Congratulations on moving up to an AirBrush. You'll love it.

CadillacPat

[crazyjim]

Thanks for the info, Pat. Coast is significantly less expensive on many HOK paints than TCP.

The Iwata is my second AB, Pat. I was using Paasche H series (as recommended by the Old Man, Donn Yost) for about a year. I think the Iwata atomizes the paint better than the Paasche.

[Dr. Cranky]

Well, I find that I get consistent results with HOK and my Iwata Eclipse. After a while, whatever system you are familiar with, begins to give you consistently good results. Which is good for all who use their airbrushes.

[Mooneyzs]

Another good source to get HOK paints be it their Airbrush size line (4oz & 2oz sizes) as well as quarts and anything you can think of from house of color is:

http://www.smartshoppersinc.com/HouseOfKolor/color_chart_hok.html

This is the place where I buy my HOK paints and the price is much better than local shops in my opinion. It is packaged from HOK and not poured out like some of the other companies do. The only draw back with their airbrush line is that they don't have every color they make in it. so some colors you may have to buy it in quarts. I have heard of stories where people that pour them out in a different containers and labeled by that company, that they cut the paint to be able to sell more of it. Basically they reduce the paint to make it go farther. Now I don't know anyone personally its happened too but I know it made me a little leary after hearing that. It is just my opinion and I am sure people have had great products from these people as well.

[CadillacPat]

I started with and used a Paasche H for 5 years. Even did fades and tapejobs.

One day a friend came over to show me his Anthem 155 and Iwata and the next day I went out and bought both guns.

The step up to precision double action guns was a quantum leap.

The Paasche H was a great gun for a first AirBrush. You use it long enough and you teach yourself how to make it work like a double action.

But,

There's no denying the superior performance and benefits of the Badger Anthem and Iwata.

CadillacPat

[Mercman]

Eric, espo is correct, try it on a plastic spoon or a scrap.

I am using automotive laquer with a very fast thinner (can you say melt plastic?)

I was having problems with Dupli-Color and Tamiya primers so I asked in another thread.

Dr Cranky suggested using PlastiKote so I gave it a try. It layed down nice and stayed down so you may want to give that a try if you have problems.

I would recommend VHT primer. This stuff is used for painting headers. Never had any problem with it, shot, and laid down smooth. Couple of light coats , and any paint you use should be good. Do the spoon test though first just to be sure.

[Mike Kucaba]

"Valspar and HOK did not package or distribute that "hobby" attempt at an HOK labeled paint. Nor did Valspar package or distribute any of the other products in that failed marketing attempt, i.e., plastic airbrush, bottled paint, diecast models, or other assundries."

Printed on the bottom of the box of Kustom Kolors(I assume that's what we are discussing) is:

2005 The Valspar Corporation. All rights reserved.Manufactured & Printed in the U.S.A.

Manufactured by:

VALSPAR

210 Crosby St. Picayune,MS 39466

[tabsscale1]

I buy all my HOK paint from a supplier that sells it from BlackGold. I just buy the one once bottles and mix it myself. Usally get it for around $4 a bottle. Blackgold also sells it prmixed and in aersol cans, Here is their web addy.

http://www.blackgoldweb.com/

[CadillacPat]

"Valspar and HOK did not package or distribute that "hobby" attempt at an HOK labeled paint. Nor did Valspar package or distribute any of the other products in that failed marketing attempt, i.e., plastic airbrush, bottled paint, diecast models, or other assundries."

Printed on the bottom of the box of Kustom Kolors(I assume that's what we are discussing) is:

2005 The Valspar Corporation. All rights reserved.Manufactured & Printed in the U.S.A.

Manufactured by:

VALSPAR

210 Crosby St. Picayune,MS 39466

I know Mike,

I have 2 or 3 boxes of the different products that made up that marketing attempt.

But,

It was not made, mixed or anything by House Of Kolor.

The Valspar name was licensed for this use.

CadillacPat

[Mooneyzs]

I just wanted to show the HOK Airbrush size paints I get. I forgot to post a pic of them earlier. the small 3 bottle in front are 2oz the rest are 4oz and then the reducers are in Quarts. These all get mixed 2:1 2 parts paint to one part reducer.