After being encouraged to try it again, I am finally and permanently done with Modelflex paints. I've used it for airbrushing at least 5 times, and have never gotten better than a decent result. But today was the last straw. I had the painted sections of my brass 4-4-0 completely masked off, and I was all ready to put the last color on: Modelflex Light Tuscan Oxide Red. When I put it on like any other good paint, the color separated from the liquid, and it ended up purple. So I slowly covered it with dust-like coatings. Once it finally looked pretty good and was dry, I peeled the tape off. The paint had leached into the tape and into areas up to an inch away from where it was supposed to go! The engine can be saved with a little touch up because it's not too bad, but the tender will have to be stripped and repainted completely!
I know some of you have done fine with this brand, but I can't get anything done right with it. I'm only going to use brands like Scalecoat from now on, because they've never failed me. If anyone feels like encouraging me to try Modelflex again, please hesitate to do so.
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Sorry you're having trouble, I've never had an issue with modelflex, other then when I accidently contaminated a jar, and turned it into a giant blue superball, and as they are the only ones with Eagle colors, over the years I have gone thru a lot of it.
RiverEagle: A giant blue superball? How did that happen?
As for the OP, I hope no other brands start to disappoint you---you'd be out of paint in short order
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
I went to do a "quick" touch-up, and by mistake grabbed a brush normally used for enamals, and recently cleaned with paint thinner. Within minutes, the paint curdled and looked like blue cottage cheese. By the next day, all the liquid had seperated out leaving a solid jar shaped rubber slug.
river_eagle as they are the only ones with Eagle colors,
Future floor polish????
Gord
Brought to you by the letters C.P.R. as well as D&H!
K1a - all the way
I've had very good luck with Vallejo paints. I used to think Tamiya was good; this stuff is ten times better for brushing, and airbrushes very well.
CP5415Future floor polish?
Nah!! It's the only paint that can be sprayed on plaster castings 1 coat no primer. Again I don't understand why it blows bubbles in the jar while I'm spraying but other than that it works great. I was much more impressed with SMP Accupaint but it appears to have gone the way of Vidal Sassoon Shampoo.....
Mine doesn't move.......it's at the station!!!
http://www.trucolorpaint.com/swatches.html I am told this is what was formerly Accupaint.
It sounds the like the OP didn't stir the paint thoroughly, it's not enough to just shake the bottle. I haven't had any more or less issues with Modelflex than I have with any other acrylic paint in the 10 years I've been using it.
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
A tip someone mentioned in a seminar was to mask the area of the model off, then spray a light coat of flat finish. That seals in the tape and prevents the next coat of color to bleed under (unless there is a really gaping opening under the tape).
Using a flat clearcoat to seal a line is what I do when I need a good straight line. All tape is not created the same either. I use automotive trim tape and then mask to that. The trim tape has a better edge and takes any curves better. Just make sure to put a couple light coats of dullcote on and let it dry.
I thought I would give Modeflex a try a while back so I picked up a couple of bottles form a guy here in town. Opened the first bottle to give it a stir and it had the consistency of mud.I used my little electric stirrer form Micromark and it seemed I would have had better results using an outboard motor. Finally thinned it with 70% Isopropyl alcohol and it sprayed but the finish was lest then acceptable. Moved on to the next bottle and it was the proper consistency but after spraying it again just not happy with it. I figured two strikes was enough and gave the rest of what I bought to a friend. I was speaking with a guy from the club and he claims that the place where I bought it from is notorious for having old stock when it comes to paint. Now I've been painting and using an airbrush professionally for over 30 years and have never had a problem with an "old" batch of paint. Not saying I haven't gotten bad paint every now and then sure it happens so maybe this was what the O/P experienced. I will say that when it comes to paint. It's not as simple as paint is paint and they are all the same. Nothing can be farther from the truth but I have had excellent results with certain brands of paint that other guys in the business have used and hated.
Hey he has the right to his opinion and if he hates the stuff he hates, he's been tainted by a bad experience end of story.
I've never tried sealing the masking tape before with a clear coat (haven't heard of it until now). That may have helped my situation, but the coating of Modelflex where it was supposed to be was still only OK. The paint was mixed completely before I used it. When I had put the Scalecoat II "Brunswick Green" on earlier, it went on in one coat, and the results were simply fantastic. I seem to do well with thicker airbrushing mixes than Modelflex, but if some of you have had better results, than good for you. Everyone should always use what works best for them. My best airbrush results have happened when the paint was about the thickness of blood (best comparison I can think of at the moment), and Modelflex is more like water.
EDIT: These are my Modelflex airbrushing results:Mantua 0-6-0 - engine black. Turned out OK, but not great.Railpower SD90 chassis - UP gray. Turned out very good. Paint was slightly thicker than usual for some reason.Bowser 4-4-4-4 - Brunswick green. Turned out very good, but with slightly inconsistant shine. Didn't hold decals well after Solvaset.Cary E6 - Primer and SF silver. Primer looked great. Silver went on OK. Low strength masking tape peeled the primer right off.Westside 4-4-0 - Light oxide red. Well, you know.
Right on, Darth! I've tried ModelFluke several times - it is not a 'proper stirring' issue or any other 'process' issue mentioned above. It is just lousy paint, period. Doesn't adhere well, flakes off, etc etc, as you say. It is rather easy to make a conclusive judgement when other paints (Floquil - both kinds, scalecoat, even Testor enamel) are so decidedly superior.
I have, a few times, tried ModelFlake when I could not readily find the precise color I wanted and was experimenting. What I learned was - better to mix any of the *real* paints than fool around with inferior products.
End of story.
Darth:
I've never tried Modelflex, but I have heard--and I don't know whether or not this is true--but it isn't really made for metal or brass, even after priming the material. Evidently it works well on plastic, but there's something about the acrylic mixture that just wants to peel off of metal surfaces, even when they've been properly prepped and primed.
Even one of the guys at my LHS told me to stay away from it if I were going to be painting brass.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
There have been bad batches of that paint from time to time, but if you are getting a bleed of 1" then you are doing something wrong and the fact that it separated means it was not stirred enough, you can't shake Modelflex but have to stir it!
twhite Darth: I've never tried Modelflex, but I have heard--and I don't know whether or not this is true--but it isn't really made for metal or brass, even after priming the material. Evidently it works well on plastic, but there's something about the acrylic mixture that just wants to peel off of metal surfaces, even when they've been properly prepped and primed. Even one of the guys at my LHS told me to stay away from it if I were going to be painting brass. Tom
The E7 in my first pic is a Cary metal shell, and was painted with modelflex approx. 8 years ago.
before primer
finished pair
UP unit
jrcBozeRight on, Darth! I've tried ModelFluke several times - it is not a 'proper stirring' issue or any other 'process' issue mentioned above. It is just lousy paint, period. Doesn't adhere well, flakes off, etc etc, as you say. It is rather easy to make a conclusive judgement when other paints (Floquil - both kinds, scalecoat, even Testor enamel) are so decidedly superior.
mmm--if it such lousy paint as some are saying it is then why is it some of the people here are showing success with it?
I've used it a few times and also have not experienced the disasters some of you have so-----?
Must be a new phase---ModelFlex Bashing---
The only paint I use is Polly Scale....no odor and its water based.
Dennis Blank Jr.
CEO,COO,CFO,CMO,Bossman,Slavedriver,Engineer,Trackforeman,Grunt. Birdsboro & Reading Railroad
river eagle, your E units look very good. You seem to do well with Modelflex, so you should continue using it. We all have our own preferences, so I'll continue with thicker brands.
One of the first threads I started here was about problems I was having with Modelflex paint. I've found that unless I use it on unsealed wood, I have to prime first, and even with good surface prep and primer it often doesn't go on well.
I've pretty much used Darth's suggestion and just about stopped using it. The problem was when I got back in the hobby a couple years ago, I bought a bunch of it. You live and learn, now I buy Scalecoat or other paint, but no more Modelflex. I envy you guys who have good luck with it.
Jeff
I know this will probably seem a bit hokie, but I have good results using Modelflex - with a brush. I've painted a number of Heavy Weight passenger cars using Seaboard Air Line Pullman Green 16 185 - an acrylic. A nice solid color with no brush marks is the result and I'm happy with that.
I've been putting off trying out an airbrush so I can't really comment on any paint applied in this way.
Bruce.
I'm also a big fan of Krylon "Fusion" paint for plastics.
The only downside, limited color choices.
I think I've found the perfect replacement to the Modelflex paint! I looked at every single railroad color from every brand my LHS carries, and none of them were quite right (too dark, too bold, etc.). So I looked at the Model Master enamel shelf, and came across the color "Rot". It was an almost perfect match to the red on the steam engines they had there! The only difference is that it's about 0.1% more pale. Plus, I already like Model Master paints. So we'll see how well the painting goes this time!