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 Post subject: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Tue May 24, 2011 8:47 pm 
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Hello all :wave_1: I usually am on the scratchbuild section, but I have a general question. Has anyone used these Lifecolor paints? How are they? Do colors come close to WW2 US Navy? Any opinions are appreciated! Thanks, Bill W. :thumbs_up_1:

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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Tue May 24, 2011 9:04 pm 
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I wish I had saved the text, with as often has come up. A short review was posted on SteelNavy with the conclusion that some colors were right on, but others were decidedly off.

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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Wed May 25, 2011 11:04 am 
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for the accuracy of the colours i really can't tell too much, but for the quality of the pigment and stuff i'm a fan of lifecolor.
i can earn a good finish both with brush and airbrush, they are good for washes and, not the last, they havea pretty nice smell.
i'm going to change all of my acryls with lifecolor ones, as i find them very good, despite someone consider them hard to spray.

just my 2 cents

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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Wed May 25, 2011 1:05 pm 
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Post subject: Re: Testors cancelled Polly Scale USN colors?

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 3:40 pm

There was a review of color fidelity on SteelNavy last week:

http://members.boardhost.com/Warship/ms ... 88588.html

Quote:

Lifecolor USN paints - first impressions

Posted by richard on March 8, 2011, 4:49:48

Good Afternoon Everyone,

This morning I took delivery of my first batch of Lifecolor USN paints from graphicair.co.uk . Here are my first impressions.

I used a 1/4-in flat brush and brushed the paint on to 8x5 cm cardstock primed with Rustoleum light grey enamel primer.

1. As usual with Lifecolor, the paint brushed and covered well. Clean up is easy too.

2. Accuracy - I checked them against S&S USN paint chips, on a bright but grey day in Scotland, and please remember judging colour by eye is subjective.

5-N - a little lighter than the S&S chip and not as "blue";
20B Deck Blue - a little lighter and "bluer" than S&S chip. In addition, I don't see any appreciable difference between this and Lifecolor's non-specular sea blue FS 35042;
5-S - not a close match to S&S chip, this is way off as it is too dark and not blue enough. It is closer to S&S Cavite Blue;
5-D - a good match;
5-O (blue) - a good match, but a little too dark.

Conclusion, these paints are not as accurate as Colourcoats, but for those of us who prefer acrylics, and are not too fussy over colour accuracy, with the exception of 5-S, they are worth a try.

Best Wishes,

Richard.



With a couple of follow ups:

http://members.boardhost.com/Warship/ms ... 98761.html

Quote:

Hi Everyone,

I forgot to add a comment about 5-L to the above post.

5-L light grey, this is a little lighter and less "blue" than the early 1941 S&S chip. It's a fair rather than good or exact match.

Best wishes,

Richard.



http://members.boardhost.com/Warship/ms ... 50763.html

Quote:

The only colour I would not use is Lifecolor 5-S, Sea Blue it's not even close to the S&S chip; it's more like Cavite Blue. I think the other colours are acceptable, but note Dave Griffith's point about 5-L in his post below.

In addition, I have a suspicion that Lifecolour have used some of their mimetic colour range and repackaged them as the USN camouflage series. The 20B Deck Blue looks suspiciously like their non-specular Dark Sea Blue, and 5-O, Ocean Grey (blue version) looks like their Intermediate Blue


Best Wishes,

Richard.


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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Thu May 26, 2011 7:10 am 
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FYI if you go to E-bay you will sometimes find the Testors acrylics for purchase (not bid) as well as Polly Scale. Plenty of the stuff still around out there. I am a brush painter so I like my acrylics. If you are patient you can amass quite a stash.
I use Polly Scale: 5-O,5-H and 20B. Testors: 5-S, 5-L (1941& 1943) 5-P, 5-D and all their deck stains. I use both Polly Scale and Testors for 5-N depending on the weathered look of my subject I wish to present (my personal taste). All my other pigments are mainly a combination of Polly Scale and Testors offerings.


Last edited by Timmy C on Thu May 26, 2011 12:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It's ok to say E-bay over here! :)


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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2011 11:46 am 
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Hi Bill,

I wrote the Steelnavy review for Lifecolor using the name I post on that board. After I wrote the Lifecolor review I came across a conversion chart drawn up by a member of the IPMS using Vallejo paints for RN, USN, KM, IJN, and RM equivalents. I brushed a few of the RN equivalents onto primed evergreen, and I think the matches are as good as you will get until someone does an acrylic line with the same attention to detail as WEM have shown in their Colourcoats range.

I have used both Lifecolor and Vallejo, and think both ranges are excellent. However, with this chart I think I am going to stick exclusively to Vallejo, even though I have a fair number of Lifecolor paints in my stash. I am sure a link to it is posted on the finewaterline.com tips and tricks page.

Best Wishes,

will1957 (aka richard)


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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2011 6:46 am 
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Is there any word if Lifecolor will be coming out with IJN colors ?

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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:40 am 
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Life color does not have a IJN set. Gunze, however, does. I think maybe two.
Eric

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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:24 pm 
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Thank you Eric.....I wish Gunze was easier to find in the US.

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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 10:03 pm 
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Euro and Asian paints seem to be getting much more common: Vallejo and it's sibling AK is popping up all over. Gunze's popularity in Asia explains why so many insructions give gunze colors in their charts and a full range can be found here.

Sprue Brothers, one of the fastest and best stocked model sites, carries a full range of Gunze paints and other Gunze stuff. http://www.spruebrothers.com/
Another source Hobby Wave specializes in miniatures and fantasy modeling. They are Gunze fanatics. http://www.hobbywave.com/

I think Sprue still carries Gunze's old Mr. Hobby line of acrylic paints. I've got some and they're very good - remind me of Model Master. The new Mr. Color, while acrylics technically, are suspended in very powerful solvents and really cry for lacquer thinner - which of course Gunze sells. (In my opinion armor guru Adam Wilder is spot on in his argument that Tamiya paint is in the same category and performs better with Tamiya lacquer thinner. I never use Tamiya acrylic thinner anymore except for some washes. It really is better. It's also a good reason, perhaps, to search for solid water based acrylics like Vallejo, Life Color and artists brands like Golden or Liquitex.) If you don't mind using lacquer thinner Gunze paints are absolutely top notch - they may not be quite tough enough, but they lay down beautifully with an airbrush and have lovely colors (which you can see via their colored caps.)

And just to prove that the best way to solve a modeling problem is to waste money, I've bought Life Color Navy & Deck Blue, as well as the Vallejo equivalents of those colors and the RAL hall of fame that I don't have. Not to mention the Formula 560 wonder glue mentioned on another thread. Hopefully I will soon be able to report on Revell Aqua Color because I've bought a few of those too. Wish I could buy new eyes and more nimble fingers. (Cheaper than a real boat: I know because my brother buys them.)

Eric

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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 8:51 pm 
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would someone please post the link to the vallejo conversion chart?


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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 9:03 pm 
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See the last post in the first thread in this section.

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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 12:05 pm 
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I ordered some of these for Baltic scheme for prinz eugen and bismarck projects that may or may not come to fruition, getting those colors for which there is no Tamiya equivalent.
I had some questions about thinning and what to use to create a satin eggshell finish. For tamiya, I typically take the base paint, add some of the flat base to the mix, and about 15-20 percent clear. Then I take that base, and add 60 percent two thirds.
Don't see any reason to add tamiya flat, that is just somethig peculiar to tamiya. What should I use to for the satin finish (or should one use it at 1:350 scale), and what should I use to thin it, and at what proportions. Thanks.


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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 10:32 pm 
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Lifecolor are water based acrylics and Tamiya are much closer to what most painters consider laquers. According to armor guru in chief Mig Jimenez, Tamiya and Gunze both tried to pass themselves off as "acrylics" (gunze used to have a water based line) so they could stay in the grade school market where they probably don't belong and stretched the term acrylic beyond normal meaning. There was some relabeling done by Tamiya a while back and for good reason. Tamiya is splendid paint but acts very differently than genuine water based acrylics. (I do not understand why some modelers insist acrylic thinner A-20 should be used with it: Jimenez and every other armor nut is absolutely right that Tamiya paint is much better sprayed thinnly with Tamiya or Gunze lacquer thinner. Both have been greatly civilized from the hardware store version of bulk lacquer thinner - indeed, that stuff is for cleaning airbrushes or clothes only. There's a "green version" that I have that doesn't attack plastic badly but for airbrushing stick to the name brands.)

I won't swear by this, but I have done a lot of modeling with artist acrylics which are very similar to Vallejo Model Color which is kin to Lifecolor. The easiest thing is to find Lifecolor clear gloss (lc73) and use a little or clear satin (lc77) and use more. Both are available at Pacific Coast Models http://www.pacmodels.com/index.php - I know a number of European places also stock the full range. If you go to an artist supply store a number of big paint companies like Golden or Liqutex, make acrylic "mediums" with which you can craft almost any kind of water based paint. What you'd want is satin or clear "medium" if you want to mix (it's milky white like Vallejo thinner but dries clear as a bell) or satin or clear "varnish" which you'd apply solo upon completion. Airbrush "medium" works very nicely as "thinner" for these types of paint. You do not want to use much water and some are sensitive to alcohol: experiment with a brush first. Another option is to check Revell Aqua Color: that's Euro only but widely available on eBay. I believe they have all the major KM RAL colors. Their RAL 7001 is called gray silk and is distinctly satin while RAL 7000 is gray matte and is flat. These are great water based acrylics: they lack slightly in coverage (use a little more if needed) but apply beautifully. A list is available http://www.revell.de/fileadmin/images/D ... lor_en.pdf .

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Last edited by Eric Bergerud on Fri Sep 28, 2012 12:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 11:15 pm 
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Eric Bergerud wrote:
Lifecolor are water based acrylics and Tamiya are much closer to what most painters consider acrylics. According to armor guru in chief Mig Jimenez, Tamiya and Gunze both tried to pass themselves off as "acrylics" (gunze used to have a water based line) so they could stay in the grade school market where they probably don't belong and stretched the term acrylic beyond normal meaning. There was some relabeling done by Tamiya a while back and for good reason. Tamiya is splendid paint but acts very differently than genuine water based acrylics. (I do not understand why some modelers insist acrylic thinner A-20 should be used with it: Jimenez and every other armor nut is absolutely right that Tamiya paint is much better sprayed thinnly with Tamiya or Gunze lacquer thinner. Both have been greatly civilized from the hardware store version of bulk lacquer thinner - indeed, that stuff is for cleaning airbrushes or clothes only. There's a "green version" that I have that doesn't attack plastic badly but for airbrushing stick to the name brands.)

I won't swear by this, but I have done a lot of modeling with artist acrylics which are very similar to Vallejo Model Color which is kin to Lifecolor. The easiest thing is to find Lifecolor clear gloss (lc73) and use a little or clear satin (lc77) and use more. Both are available at Pacific Coast Models http://www.pacmodels.com/index.php - I know a number of European places also stock the full range. If you go to an artist supply store a number of big paint companies like Golden or Liqutex, make acrylic "mediums" with which you can craft almost any kind of water based paint. What you'd want is satin or clear "medium" if you want to mix (it's milky white like Vallejo thinner but dries clear as a bell) or satin or clear "varnish" which you'd apply solo upon completion. Airbrush "medium" works very nicely as "thinner" for these types of paint. You do not want to use much water and some are sensitive to alcohol: experiment with a brush first. Another option is to check Revell Aqua Color: that's Euro only but widely available on eBay. I believe they have all the major KM RAL colors. Their RAL 7001 is called gray silk and is distinctly satin while RAL 7000 is gray matte and is flat. These are great water based acrylics: they lack slightly in coverage (use a little more if needed) but apply beautifully. A list is available http://www.revell.de/fileadmin/images/D ... lor_en.pdf .



Thanks a lot for your kind help.-I picked Life Color because they were the only one that had the unique color for German hull red. I think one of the hellgrau variants were only available in this.
I looked at the contents and I have to tell you, they look a little thick than what I concoct with Tamiya. How much water exactly shold I use, if any. Your tip about Golden Liquet satin or clear medium is just what I needed to know.
One other question, sine this paint does not go as far as the tamiya, how many pots of the main colors do I need for a cruiser and battleship. I looked at the hull of the Prinz Eugen and determined I would not likely use even half a pot of the tamiya once thinned and converted to the mixture I use. Not sure that is the case now.


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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 2:14 am 
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Thanks a lot for your kind help.-I picked Life Color because they were the only one that had the unique color for German hull red. I think one of the hellgrau variants were only available in this.
I looked at the contents and I have to tell you, they look a little thick than what I concoct with Tamiya. How much water exactly shold I use, if any. Your tip about Golden Liquet satin or clear medium is just what I needed to know.
One other question, sine this paint does not go as far as the tamiya, how many pots of the main colors do I need for a cruiser and battleship. I looked at the hull of the Prinz Eugen and determined I would not likely use even half a pot of the tamiya once thinned and converted to the mixture I use. Not sure that is the case now.[/quote]


It has always struck me that you need much less paint than you think. I have LifeColor but have rarely used them. (I've got LC Navy and Deck Blue which I will inflict on Trumpie's USS England for my next ship.) I used Revell satin gray on a 1/350 scale dreadnought and didn't come close to finishing the pot. As for ratios get some airbrush medium and mix it in with LC until you get a consistency you like. And try it out on scrap. Airbrush medium will initially give a kind of waxy finish, but any kind of wash or filter will eliminate that. You're going to want at least 2:1 paint: medium I'd guess. Should note that the same stuff works with all water acrylics and makes Vallejo Model Color into a splendid paint for airbrushing.

I will yield to wiser heads on this, but if Vallejo has it right on their conversion chart, the German red brown used on the hull should be very close to Tamiya XF09 or Revell 381 (RAL 8025). I'd never mix LC with another brand (especially a lacquer like Tamiya) but there's no reason you couldn't paint over it it needed or use Tamiya for one of the ships. I must admit that I did not find any Tamiya colors to be anything like a match for RAL 7001. You can use LC thinner to thin LC paints of course. When I use Vallejo Model Color I "thin" it with Golden "Airbrush Medium" and also employ "Airbrush Extender" when thinning it down significantly. (Golden recommends using Airbrush Medium about 1:1 with their fluids, although you wouldn't need that much with LC I'd think. If you want a very thin coat, like armor guys use, you'd want a mix like 2 parts paint: 2 part airbrush medium and 2-5 parts extender. It does work. If you used only water it would fall apart.) Use water only very sparingly. Golden's web site spends a lot of time explaining why paints act the way they do. What it boils down to is that if you use water to thin on a water based acrylic you break down the adhesion of the paint itself. The various mediums are all infused with a polymer that prevents this from happening. If you want to go the whole way, I'd strongly recommend getting GAC 200. (All of these products are standards in the art acrylic world and are made by several brands. Golden is the oldest and I think the best, although I really like a Canadian paint called Tri-Art.) GAC 200 is a hardener and works like a charm with water based acrylics. I put in a drop or two and it will make your paint a lot tougher and it will stand up very nicely to masking. You can use a few drops of water, but if you're going to do that you might as well add "Flow Aid" to your shopping list. If used properly (very heavily diluted - at least 10-1; perhaps 15-1 with water) it does aid leveling and slightly retards drying. One of the raps I've heard on LifeColor is that you get a rough finish when airbrushed. If so, the stuff is probably drying before it sets on the surface. The thinning mediums and flow aid will help this a lot as all retard drying a bit. As noted above you can use LC thinner. Might add that all of these mediums are huge overkill. Buy the smallest bottles possible and they'll last years if kept sealed properly, so they're much cheaper than modeling equivalents over time. Might add that when you get used to this stuff it is great with an airbrush: you won't get tip clog and it cleans splendidly if you blow it out right away. Regardless of brand you don't want acrylics to dry inside your airbrush. (If you do, it's time for a good bath in lacquer thinner for the nozzle and needle.) And, for what it's worth, you can drink a Golden Medium and probably not have an upset stomach. I wouldn't try that with Tamiya A-20.

Just to show that this stuff works the two ugly creatures below were both done entirely with Golden acrylics and mediums. The colors were all my own mix. The gun was given a satin treatment on the top of the vehicle and dead flat underneath. The Japanese waxed early war aircraft to it too was done with satin: can't remember if it got a blast of Future. For the final sealing you can use Future nicely for a satin look: mix it about 1 part Tamiya "flat base" to 4-5 parts Future. 1-3 gives something very close to flat.

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Image

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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 2:24 am 
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Vallejo conversion chart is at http://www.ipmsswamp.com/files/VallejoW ... alents.pdf .

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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 11:30 am 
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Thanks again.

There are different threads and resources. on this forum and elsewhere. There were threads on the Bismarck thread stating the tamiya color is no match, ditto with the RLM 7001.
It sounds like the pots i have will be enough.


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 Post subject: Re: Lifecolor Paints
PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 11:48 am 
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It is a really good chance to pain some rust on your model, but remember, do not make the brush too wet, just sweep it lightly.


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