Best Paint To Use On Your Xmod

[bondo]

here is a list of the best paints to use when painting your xmod.
the question"what paint should i use" get asked an awful lot, this should help clear up alot about paint.
most of this is personal opinion but its the opinion of someone who spends alot of time with paint.
if you want great looking results..NEVER USE A BRUSH OR PAINT MARKER to paint the body.
brushes should only be used for details and the paint markers arepretty much useless in my opinion.

AIRBRUSH:from best to worst
if you have access to one or have the money this is the ULTIMATE way to go.
1. Tamiya acrylic paints. these come ready to spray and are available in any color you can think of. if you can think of a color they dont have you can easily mix two colors to create it. it is water soluable so cleanup is easy.

2.boyd alkyd enamels. these are extremely durable. not as many color options as testors or tamiya.
they are solution soluable and in most cases need to be thinned before spray.

3.testors enamels. if your going to use testors i reccomend the model master series of paint. solution soluable and needs thinning. reasonable durability.
the regular testors paint is fine for handpainting details but it lacks when sprayed.

4.spraypaint. you can collect paint from a rattlecan and use it in your airbrush for a better spray because you can control the airflow/spray pattern.
if you do this keep in mind that these paints are chemically designed to create pressure when agitated. make sure there is some sort of vent on your cup or bowl.

rattlecans(spraypaint): from best to worst.
rattlecans are cheap and easy to access.
the trade is you lose the ability to controll the air/paint flow and spray pattern.in most cases when you use a ratllecan your paint will end up being thicker then it needs to be resulting in a loss of detail. you can still turn out a **** good looking paintjob with a rattlecan but remember that it would look even better if applied by an airbrush.

1.tamiya enamel. again, best color selection. durable. and easy to get quality results with.

2.testors enamel. durable,decent color selection,and quality results can be acheived with a bit of practice.

3.dupli-color enamel. huge color selection with a few "trick" paints(metalcast,mirage effects,crackleing) durable when fully cured,adjustable nozzle, easy to use with practice.

4.plasti-kote. same as dupli-color.

5. house of kolor shimrin kandies. decent color selection,a bit softer then the dupli-color, high metallic flake content. being a kandy you need more coats to get full color coverage.

6. krylon "fusion" this paint forms a chemical bond to the plastic using an etching agent. its durable but colors are limited with no metallics.

thats about all i would suggest to use on xmod and model bodies.
just about any other brand/type of spraypaint is made to be all pourpose and may have too much hardner or etching agents.
stay away from the rustoleums and engine paints.

i hope this helps people when they go to look for paints.

cheers,
bondo