New Modelflex formula

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I have not seen it posted anywhere, but Modelflex seems to have reformulated their products. I recently bought several of their latest batch. Here is what I found:

1. The paint it much thicker than before. It needs a 4-paint, 3-Tamiya thinner reduction for gravity fed airbrushes at 27 PSI. I also used 8 drops of paint retarder.

2. Pigment grain seems to be much smaller with more bulk going to the carrier. The end result is a VERY thin surface, even in areas you think were too thick.

3. Paint dries to a medium-high gloss much like the old Accu-Paint. In fact, after thinning, the paint feels and acts like Accu-Paint, only with water clean up and no odor.

4. Color profiles have changed a bit. The Conrail blue shifted a half shade to yellow/green and a touch darker. Its not inaccurate, but may not chip-match previous paint jobs.

Overall I am pretty impressed with the formula. If you were unhappy with Modelflex before, I suggest you give it a try. Especially if you are an old Accu-Paint fan. It's now one of the cheaper paints out there and paints much nicer than Testor's Acryl.

[central.vermont]

Daniel,

How can you tell between the new and old if buying in a shop or at a show. Is there anything on the bottles that states it's a "New Formula"?

Jon

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Unfortunately no, these were on back order from Badger at Walthers and just came in. That is the only reason why I know these were brand new. My last Modelflex order was 5 years ago, so the reformulation may not be brand new.

One thing I have learned is that people settle on paints like they do with cameras: one brand for life. So I can understand if no one noticed the reformulation if they were not looking for it. I may have missed it myself if it wasn't for experimenting with different paints and air levels for a few new airbrushes I recently purchased.

[bman]

Thanks for the info.  I just received 3 of the Tuscan Oxide Red and a bunch of freight cars to spray.  Haven't cracked them open to notice if it's thicker.  I've quite a few cars to paint so I hope the color is not too far off.  Painted some years ago with the same color and the plan was to paint some newly found train show finds to match. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Oooh, that's good news. I never liked the stuff before because I do a lot of brush work, and it always seemed a bit too thin for that. This sounds like an improvement on that front.