review Mr. Paint Water-Based Acrylic Paint

[LSP_Kevin]

Howdy folks,

 

I've just published my review of the new water-based range of acrylic paints from MRP (Mr. Paint):

 

Mr. Paint Water-Based Acrylic Paint

 

 

Now, you'll read about a particular issue I had with these paints, and I'd love to get some feedback in this thread on that issue from anyone else who's used them. Did you have similar problems, or was everything fine?

 

Thanks to Mr. Paint for the review samples.

 

Enjoy!

 

Kev

[ade rowlands]

Interesting. I may have to get some of these for brush painting small touch ups to any Mr Paint lacquer I've used with the airbrush. I've always had issues trying to colourmatch when using another brand to correct my frequent paint brush errors when adding detail to cockpits and the like.

[LSP_Kevin]

Interesting. I may have to get some of these for brush painting small touch ups to any Mr Paint lacquer I've used with the airbrush. I've always had issues trying to colourmatch when using another brand to correct my frequent paint brush errors when adding detail to cockpits and the like.

 

I did see the touch-up angle mentioned on Facebook as the main reason these paints were developed, but there's no official statement to that effect from Mr. Paint. If I'd had more time up my sleeve, I would have done some brush-painting tests too, but anecdotally, I reckon they'd be too thin to work well with a brush. They're not as thin as the MRP lacquers, but thin enough to airbrush handsomely without requiring any further dilution.

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

On our Facebook page, Marian Cihoň has the following to say about these paints:
 

I am just about to finish my first model using MRP Aqua so let's say I have some experience with them.
 
The first rule of using them is - do not thin them. This kind of acrylic paint will break down if overthinned and you'll get splatter. MRPs are truly airbrush ready (not like Vallejo Air, almost airbrush ready) so they work straight out of the bottle.
 
And secondly - they, being acrylics, cannot be treated as lacquers when spraying small. Acrylics dry fast and if you do not want excessive tip dry or stopping, they need a bit of a help. My advice is this - 1. remove the needle cap, have a q-tip moistened with airbrush cleaner ready, 2. Add a bit of acrylic paint retarder to the paint. I use Tamiya retarder, but you may use any other brand or make your own. Doesn't matter. ~10% will do. You won't overthin the paint and you will get rid of tip dry almost instantly.

But of course they will never perform as lacquers. It's impossible to do. They are not hot as lacquers to self clean the needle/nozzle, they can't be thinned as much as lacquers and so on.

Roughly 15PSI, 0.23 needle/nozzle, no problems.
 

This raises an interesting point for me: when I take the nozzle cap off my Iwata HP-C Plus, I only get air - no medium. I noticed it when I was testing these paints, and I just tried it again now with distilled water, with the same result. Is this normal for this airbrush, or does it have a problem? If so, what could that problem be?

 

Kev

[ade rowlands]

I did see the touch-up angle mentioned on Facebook as the main reason these paints were developed, but there's no official statement to that effect from Mr. Paint. If I'd had more time up my sleeve, I would have done some brush-painting tests too, but anecdotally, I reckon they'd be too thin to work well with a brush. They're not as thin as the MRP lacquers, but thin enough to airbrush handsomely without requiring any further dilution.

 

Kev

Had a look on their website, may just wait for them to expand the range before I order any. If they are thin enough from the bottle to airbrush they may well be too thin to brush then. Oh well. Edited November 16, 2017 by ade rowlands

[LSP_Kevin]

Had a look on their website, may just wait for them to expand the range before I order any.

 

I was lucky in that two of the five colours they sent me are valid for my current Corsair build! I used the Zinc-Chromate Yellow (MRP-A010 Zinc-Chromate Primer) on the inner wings as part of the chipping process:

 

 

I just automatically thinned the paint to a 50/50 ratio, and it was then that I first noticed that this paint doesn't like to be thinned. It all worked out in the end, though, and I think the colour itself is quite effective:

 

 

It sounds like I might have an issue with my airbrush, however.

 

Kev

[BarryWilliams]

Had a look on their website, may just wait for them to expand the range before I order any. If they are thin enough from the bottle to airbrush they may well be too thin to brush then. Oh well.

I would not rule out using a brush with them as some people swear by VMA for brushing. For touching up the MRP laquer paints though they should work well if they colour match.  They will not degrade the underlying solvent MRP and, if touching up aibrushed paint with a brush, a thin paint is usually best anyway.   Touching up is usually needed over small areas so even if they do not work for brush painting larger areas, touching up is likely to be fine.

 

I have found that you can use the laquers to touch up in small places with a brush if you allow some of the solvent to evaporate in a dish thickening the paint a little.  Then be careful not to 'brush' as such, just dap it onto the spot that needs touching up and it is fine.  I have done that many times but it is only good for very small blemishes/spots.

[ade rowlands]

I would not rule out using a brush with them as some people swear by VMA for brushing. For touching up the MRP laquer paints though they should work well if they colour match.  They will not degrade the underlying solvent MRP and, if touching up aibrushed paint with a brush, a thin paint is usually best anyway.   Touching up is usually needed over small areas so even if they do not work for brush painting larger areas, touching up is likely to be fine.

 

I have found that you can use the laquers to touch up in small places with a brush if you allow some of the solvent to evaporate in a dish thickening the paint a little.  Then be careful not to 'brush' as such, just dap it onto the spot that needs touching up and it is fine.  I have done that many times but it is only good for very small blemishes/spots.

Hopefully they will colourmatch just fine but you never know, it's probbaly not as simple as the same pigments just suspended in a different medium. For me the most frequent areas that require touching up are cockpit areas where I've gone to paint some wires or anything that's a different colour to the cockpit main colour and managed to get paint in places I wasn't wanting to. I'll likely order some next time I need to order from them.

[Shawn M]

good review thank you

[mozart]

Thanks for the in-depth review Kev.  I love MRP acrylic paints, think I'll stick with them.

Max

[Out2gtcha]

Great review Kev

[alaninaustria]

Looks like a nice product - might have to check it out!!