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.
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.
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.
That is too funny. When I did a set of Eagle E7s back in 1985 or so I could not find a proper color in Scale Coat, Scale Coat II, or Railroad Floquil. I just started looking for blues - ended up in the fantasy section and found something like “doppleganger blue” or “basalisk blue”. It was a so close to the paint chip I had, I bought it. To my amazement, when it dried on the model it was a perfect match.
I have been using Tamyia (s?) paints recently and I think they have better pigments than most. They are water based and when you thin them with their own thinner, they give great results.
Note that the predominate color is white, one of the hardest colors to paint.
I also use their masking tape, and, again, it is superior to using your standard masking tape. It will actually mold to the contours of your locos and you can easily press it into indents. It sticks well, but not enough to peel anything off.
I always seal my paint with Future floor polish before and after decaling.
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…
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.
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.[:D] 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.
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.
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!
