Paint deal? Whaddaya think? Opinions needed.

[realgone58]

Been thinking of something interesting for a while now, and I'd like to see what you guys think. I build mostly replica stock, so naturally, that means most of my paint colors are not readily available on the shelf anywhere. A couple of years ago, I had a 1:1 '72 Dodge Polara. The car was Dark Tan metallic (Chestnut metallic in the Plymouth camp). I went to my local auto body supply shop and had them mix up the color (from the factory color chart) in a 12 oz spray can so I could shoot my rims. (I ran stock steelies with dog dish caps and trim rings on the Polara). Nice laquer, even coverage, two coats and done! Didn't even need clear. What to do with my second can? Shoot a kit!!! Came out great over my favorite primer, polished out well, and again, no clear really needed, unless you build a custom or hot rod show car I guess. Anyway, I wanted to order more colors for more kits I plan to build stock. $20 something bucks a can. But you could do about three kits with one can. I really do not want more than one kit in the same color. What I am saying is that we could possibly create a section of the forum for leftover paint that we'll never use again. It's better than letting it sit around and get old. Perhaps we could trade a few bucks for someones half or three quarter of a can? If you figure $20 bucks for a kit, (even more for vintage stuff) and $20 bucks for the body color.........that's a lot of dough we could offset, and we could also use up the paint before it goes bad and has to be disposed of. So, what do you guys think? A paint trade section? I still have a half a can of '72 Dodge/Plymouth Chestnut metallic available, and will be ordering a few cans of other colors for more builds I have planned. Even though they are factory colors, the possibilities are endless. Dragsters, hot rods, kustoms, bikes, etc. Oh, and by the way, for anyone doing a '69 muscle Mopar, Model Master one coat laquer Mystic Emerald is a dead ringer for factory F6 Bright Green metallic.

[Guest]

I don't think you would have many takers on trading spray cans of paint. For one thing,it's impossible to tell exactly how much paint is left in a spray can and another would be the shipping cost. By the time you pay for shipping,you've already pretty much paid for the paint. Except of course, the twenty plus dollars cans of paint.

I suggest you give MCW Automotive finishes a try. You can get exactly the amount of paint you need without having much leftover. Plus, they specialize in factory stock colors. Personally,I've never used their paints because I rarely build factory stock and when I do, I can usually find a color I want from Model Masters or Dupli Color. I've heard nothing but good things about their paints.

[Ace-Garageguy]

At first it sounds like a good idea, but even if there was a way to determine how much paint remained in a can (by weight perhaps?) there is often an internal valve clog that renders the can useless for spraying.

The biggest potential problem is shipping though. Some postal officials will surely consider half-empty spray cans as hazardous, and the cost of even the cheapest shipping method will soon almost add up to the cost of a new can, as Plowboy said. I recently received some vintage 1:1 parts that were shipped with a couple of cans of engine paint. One had exploded, apparently from exposure to the low pressure in the cargo hold of an airplane.

Edited August 18, 2012 by Ace-Garageguy

[Jantrix]

If you are going to stay with the spray cans I think you are screwed. But any of our serious air brush guys here can point out a place to get factory paints for air brushes where you can buy measured amounts so there isn't so much waste.

[MrObsessive]

If you are going to stay with the spray cans I think you are screwed. But any of our serious air brush guys here can point out a place to get factory paints for air brushes where you can buy measured amounts so there isn't so much waste.

One such place online I can think of is Paintscratch. They specialize in hard to find colors as well, and they can do their paints in a variety of sizes including touch-up bottles. I've used them in the past, and found their paints to be quite nice. MCW's paints are not bad, but I make mistakes in painting at times, and would like to have more on hand than the 2 oz bottles that he gives you. Paintscratch's touch-up bottles aren't thinned so a bottle might do a couple or three cars.

I've also found MCW's paint to be a little bit too thinned for my liking, but that's just me.

I agree with the others about trading paint though..........it sounds touchy, and the shipping would be more trouble than it's worth for half empty cans.

Edited August 18, 2012 by MrObsessive

[crazyjim]

Can you even use USPS to send paint, Al? They always ask me if there's anything hazardous in the package.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Can you even use USPS to send paint, Al? They always ask me if there's anything hazardous in the package.

You can always say "no", but I have no idea what kind of trouble you could get into if you shipped a can by USPS and it did pop. I'm sure they'd be less than impressed.

[Harry P.]

No way we'd even consider adding a "Used Paint" section here, for obvious reasons.

[Custom Mike]

The only shipper I've found that will handle aerosol cans is FedEx, and it cost me $25 to ship a can, and the paint was only $13! Not exactly cost effective to be sure. This could work with guys that are local to you, but not cross country, simply due to cost of shipping.

[realgone58]

Ok, yoos guys talked me out of it. I guess a can could blow up in the mail.............not cool. It would have to be a local thing I guess. They do sell spray paint on ebay however, so they must ship it somehow, but I'm not trying it. I disagree about not having enough paint to spray a kit, as I could get three kits out of one of the big cans if I wanted to. Also, I've never had any problems with clogging. Airbrush is just not for me. I tried once, can't thin the stuff right and can't get used to spraying with it. I've been using cans for 25 years. MCW gets almost as much money for his little tiny cans as my local auto body supply gets for the big ones. I've used MCW before and nearly ran out of paint on one kit. Too expensive for the little amount you get. Oh well, it was an idea, but I'm glad you brought the shipping thing to my attention.