Looking for some advice on a good match to FS12197 International Orange.
I’ve got a couple of upcoming projects (an F3D and T-2) that need sections painting with this, but I’m finding it difficult to pin down the colour. I’ve tried a few paints I do have but they just don’t look right. I’ve got Revells enamel luminous red and orange, Humbrols 209 fluorescent orange and Vallejo’s Modelair fluorescent red.
Is this paint a day-glo or luminous finish or just regular gloss? No two photos I’ve seen seem to look like the same colour, especially photos of the T-2. It can vary from red-orange to red. Only seen one colour photo of the F3D in the finish and it is day-glo! Wondering if it was a completely different colour to what was used later on the T-2?
As a retired Navy SAR Corpsman I can tell you that all are close. Unless you are a purist or building an off the line from the factory squeaky clean version this paint was always different shades due to weathering and different batch variations from the manufacturers.
A little light weathering and you really can’t go wrong.
Thanks guys. I’m going to have an experiment over the weekend and paint some colour chips to compare. Might even try a couple of mixes. I suppose my best bet might be to pick a shade I like the look of from photos and go with that.
@keavdog thanks for that, good to know that their is a paint made. Will have to look if I can find anywhere over here selling it.
Thet look great! I’ve found a couple of sources in the UK for the MRP paints, which is good m
I’ve also seen that they do a US Navy Insignia Red. Wonder if this is another good one to get as well?
I’m not going to discourage you from getting more MRP. I went all in on MRP a while ago. It replaced Model Master as my primary paint for air brushing, my other paints are mainly for hand painting details. If you aren’t aware, MRP is designed for airbrushes and too thin for a paint brush. I think MRP-002 is the red I used in the Skyhawk slat crush zone and intake lips, it’s not at all a fluorescent red.
FYI, the white used for those trainers is Tamiya’s Liquid Surface Primer in the little square jars. It has better coverage than any white I found and is the easiest white I’ve ever found to spray. It also serves as the primer coat. The US Navy switched to untinted white ages ago (60s at least), even before they reclassified the color “Insignia White” as 17925 instead of 17875 that is normally called out in kit instructions. Any time I paint the MRP Orange I want white as an undercoat. The orange is kind of translucent and looks dull over darker paint.
Thanks for that. Very useful. I haven’t seen that particular Tamiya paint. My LHS stocks the usual round jars and the new LP ones. Personally I tend not to use Tamiya as I’ve little success with them. Either brushing or airbrush. They just dry up too quickly and clogged everything up. Vallejo is my go to as it works straight away. Other people have experienced the opposite with both brands. Probably how I’m using it.
I do however like rattle can white primer. Works perfectly.
How do MRP paints behave! Are they a water based acrylic or do they need their own brand of thinners and cleaners like Tamiya do?
I’ve done some testing today with the reds and oranges I have, so I’ll post that in a little while. Think a couple might be promising for what I need.
MRP is a lacquer and already thinned for the airbrush. I’ve never needed to thin it more for airbrushing, but it’s compatible with Mr. Color Levelling Thinner. The bottles are 30ml instead of the 10ml most paint comes in to account for it being pre-thinned. I thin everything with MCLT, MRP, Tamiya, Hataka, AKRC it one reason I’ve seen MCLT referred to as Unicorn Tears. It works with almost anything.
The Tamiya white I use is a primer and not technically a paint color, so wouldn’t be in their paint rack with the other colors it would be stocked alongside their other products. And when I said “little square jars” I meant like the ones for their green cap Tamiya Extra Thin cement or their panel line accent colors. For brushing Tamiya I wet my brush in their acrylic paint retarder before brushing.
I tried Vallejo at one point and threw them all in the trash. I had used a red that seemed to reactivate and run everywhere when I got it wet applying decals and this is after it had “dried” for several weeks. Trashed the kit, it’s the reason I don’t have a T-45 with my other US Navy trainers.
Yeah they don’t stock that. There seems to be a lot of Tamiya products that aren’t available over here in the UK. The panel line stuff isn’t available either.
Strangely I’ve joked that the best place for Tamiya paint is the bin! Weird how we all seem to have different experiences with all these paints. I have the same problems with Gunze.
I might have to give MRP a miss on that basis. If it’s the same as Tamiya I’m not going to get on with it. I just can’t get that makeup of paint to work for me and cleaning up after is a pain in the rear end. Cellulose thinner is not something nice to work with and it’s the only thing I’ve found that seems to shift it. If MRP was water based I’d buy it in a heartbeat.
Yes that’s another good one I noticed. I originally bought that to use on an RAAF Roulettes MB-326. It’s a nice rich colour.
You’ll have to excuse my writing, biro was running out as I was doing it!
