Paints Comparisons

• VP – very poor
• P – poor
• A -average
• G – good
• VG – very good

All paints were tried with and without sealer (clear coat) on top. Only where this made a significant difference is it noted.

Acrylic Model Paints
Paint	Brushability	Fully Dries on Hard Plastic?	Fully Dries on Soft Plastic?	Suitable for Joints?	Suitable for Other Surfaces?	Comments
PollyScale	G	Y	Y	N	Y	goes on very thin and smooth.
Tamiya	VG	Y	Y	N	Y	dries very fast, so can’t brush over same area more than once until fully dry.Retardants available if you want it to dry slower, though. Least chipping of any acrylic paint so far, but still not good enough forjoints.
ModelMaster Acrylic	VG	Y	Y	N	Y	Goes on very nice. Very close in quality to Tamiya, but since this one doesn’tdry as fast I prefer ModelMaster Acrylic.
Games Workshop (Citadel)	G	Y	Y	possibly (see comments)	Y	Doesn’t go on quite as smooth as some of the other acrylics, leaves more brushmarks. Seems like it would be good for non-articulated miniatures, which is what it was designed foranyway.Without clear coat, chipped off worse than the other high-quality acrylics. With sealer, did quite well. Some chipping around the edges but it didn’t get worse with repeated motion of the joint.Sometimes the paint is too thick, depending on the color, and leaves a lot of brush marks.
Country Colors	P	Y	Y	N	N	Brushes on somewhat unevenly, not very smooth.
Apple Barrel	A	Y	Y	N	Y	Brushes on smoother than the other “discount brand” (Country Colors), but not as nice as the higher-end hobby paints.
Parma Faskolor	P	Y	Y	N	Y	This is a paint made for plastic RC race cars, and is designed to be more flexible than modeling paints (which are made to be hard).Feels thick on the brush, but goes on very thin. Required 2-3 coats of blue to cover up the color of a light gray plastic. Most of the other acrylics did this with only a single coat, maybe two.After about 10-15 bends of the joint, half of the paint was chipped off. Didn’t notice any difference between this “flexible” paint and regular “hard” paint.
Enamel Model Paints
Paint	Brushability	Fully Dries on Hard Plastic?	Fully Dries on Soft Plastic?	Suitable for Joints?	Suitable for Other Surfaces?	Comments
Testors	P	N	N	N	N	goes on a little thick and sticky, not nearly as smooth as the other enamels.Even a single coat is sometimes too much.
Floquil	VG	N	N	N	N	Goes on thin but with complete coverage, very smooth.
ModelMaster Enamel	VG	Y	N	Y	Possibly, depending on type of plastic	Goes on very nice, very similar to Floquil in terms of brushability andquality. In some tests, dried fully on hard plastic, unlike other enamels. Requires further testing to confirm.
ModelMaster Enamel (on top of a clear coat layer)	VG	Y	Y	Y	Y	Goes on very nice, very similar to Floquil in terms of brushability andquality. In some tests, dried fully on hard plastic, unlike other enamels. Requires further testing to confirm.
Micelllaneous Paints
Paint	Brushability	Fully Dries on Hard Plastic?	Fully Dries on Soft Plastic?	Suitable for Joints?	Suitable for Other Surfaces?	Comments
Sharpie Marker	N/A					Easy to apply, but need a fine point to get into tight spots. Limited on color options, since you can’t custom mix your own colors.Some say that over time, ink will soak into the plastic and change in color (i.e. , black will start looking slightly purple). Putting a clear coat washed away the marker ink, even after it had dried.
Krylon Fusion Spray Paint	N/A	Y	N	Y	Y	This is a spray paint, so it obviously can’t be brushed. Since you can’t custom mix colors, you’re also limited in your color choices. However, it bonds to plastic better than any other paint. Good for joints, if you let it dry fully (7 days to be fully chip resistant, although dry enough to handle after 1 hour).Goes on smooth, since it is a spray paint.
Acrylic Primers
Paint	Brushability	Fully Dries on Hard Plastic?	Fully Dries on Soft Plastic?	Suitable for Joints?	Suitable for Other Surfaces?	Comments
Enamel Primers
Paint	Brushability	Fully Dries on Hard Plastic?	Fully Dries on Soft Plastic?	Suitable for Joints?	Suitable for Other Surfaces?	Comments
Mr. Surfacer 1000	G	Y	Y	N	Y	goes on very well, a little too thick for joints. Comes in 3 grades of thickness (this one is medium), also a surfacer. For some reason, dries fully unlike most enamel paints.