Well, I have searched for this topic and found nothing here. Does anyone have any informaion or used Rapido's Proto Paint? Anyone used it?
Thanks,
oldline1
I saw large display of Mission Model paint at Modeltrainstuff.com this weekend. The couple bottles I looked at were $7.25/oz To be fair, looking at their website, most are in the $5 range and a few military colors can be had for $3
Proto-paint MSRP is $7.95 Scalecoat 2 is $5.95 I'm not sure I'm willing to pay 30% more just for acrylic paint.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Hi there. I have used many colors from that make and find them to be top notch. It is pre-mixed for airbrushing, which I prefer. I also use it with a brush for touch-ups, although two coats might be required. The cost is low in the grand scheme of things... I may use 1/3 of a bottle to cover a car. Compared to couplers and other accessories, paint is definitely a low cost item on the parts list, even at 7$ a bottle. Besides, I haven't found a better acrylic for grimy black - it is very close to Polly scale for that color.
Simon
I've used it and I like it.
It is made by the same company that used to make Polly Scale. After Testors cancelled the line, the paint company approached Dan Darnell at George's Trains in Canada and asked if he'd like to sell their paint. Dan thought it was a good idea to save the paint line and started making plans. In the middle of all this, Dan hired on at Rapido Trains. He took the paint idea with him and talked Jason Schron into making it happen. Part of the problem was they had no glass bottles. They had to go to France to find anyone willing to make a "short" run of tens of thousands of 1 oz. glass bottles.
Dan had the paint company make a few changes to the Polly formula: 1). a more pleasing smell, 2). dries glossy instead of dead flat (weathering colors are still flat), and 3). thinned the mix to make it truly airbrush ready out of the bottle (I always had to thin Polly to airbrush).
The thinner mix does make hand brushing a bit of a chore for full coverage. You really have to lay it on thick, but it dries well, not leaving big globs or anything. Airbrusing is easy, just don't thin it first or it will run.The colors are generally right out of the old Polly Scale catalog with some new additions. Personally, I like the "Flat Haze" for freight cars; it's sort of like a mix between dead flat and satin.
Paul3 It is made by the same company that used to make Polly Scale.
It is made by the same company that used to make Polly Scale.
Well, that would explain why the grimy black is so close to the original Polly scale!
PAUL3...........thanks for the interesting history and endorsement. Just what I was looking for.
Very interesting. Thanks for the background. I have a question/observation. Was Dan an employee or owner of George's Trains.
If an employee and the offer was to sell the paint through George's and then he left George's to do it. I think he is liable to be sued by George's.
Just a thought.
jdr3366,George's Trains gave Dan their blessing with the paint.
Remember it wasn't just "selling paint through George's", it was taking over the paint line with a large initial investment. It wasn't just buying hundreds of gallons of paint; the paint company didn't even have any 1 oz glass bottles as they were supplied by Testors. Rapido had to source tens of thousands of glass bottles (and labels!) before they could even begin to sell any paint. George's wasn't interested; Rapido was. So don't worry about Dan, he's covered.
Folks should give Rapido Proto Paint a try. Not everyone will like it (it's gloss...outrage!), but you can't please everyone. Personally, I like not having to gloss coat my models for decaling.