Zero Paints - Mini review.
Over the years I have used various different types of paint for building/painting slotcars and scenic models/buildings etc. Up until recently the only way I obtained a particular colour was to go to Halfords and get a rattle can mixed to order or use one of their pre-mixed colours. The rattle can route worked OK, but was never ideal as the spray pattern was so large it forced me to spray outside in good weather.
I recently have struggled to get what I need from Halfords (they seem to reduce the number of colours they hold in stock for mixing and if you dont have a chassis number look at you rather oddly!). So I started looking for alternatives.
For several years I have used Vallejo paints for details etc. hand brushed and occasionally airbrushed sprayed, but this need thinning down and different colours need different mixes to spray. When it does spray it works well, but they dont have a huge range of automotive colours and mixing them yourself is a pain.
Tamiya is not a brand I have used much so cant really comment, but again their range is not vast.
So what to do?
After searching around I quickly came across
ZERO PAINTS who offer to mix paint in small quantities to order they specialise in automotive colours and if you provide as much info (including photos) they will match as close as they can to a colour (in addition to a large range of popular colours) they even match to decals.
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Having never used them before I was sceptical/nervous, but thought no harm could come from a test. So I contacted them a while back to see if they could mix some paint for my Skoda 130L Group B project. I wanted the light Sky Blue colour that the works teams used along with a Skoda white for the main body. I sent them a jpeg of an old Skoda paint card I found on-line and three days later the paint arrived.
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The paint comes in a 60ml glass bottle with a screw top. Paint is pre-mixed for use in an airbrush and has a small metal ball inside to mix the paint prior to use (like a rattle can spray). Simply pour into your airbrush (or use a pipet) and spray away.
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The colours I have used so far spray flat and true giving excellent coverage and are (IMHO) a spot on colour match.
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The dry finish is matt and needs a top coat lacquer to give a gloss finish, but I need to do this anyway to seal the decals. They say Halfords lacquer is fine and I have used this before, but I have also ordered some of their airbrush ready lacquer and will used this soon (I will report back how I get on with this). They also sell a two pack lacquer (come in three parts and needs to be carefully mixed) not tried this but have seen excellent results Im just worried about how it may react with laser printed decals?
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Im also working on a non slotcar project at the moment (a 1/32 scale canal boat) and they have pre-mixed paint to RAL colours. To give you an idea of the range, when I asked for black (thinking there would be just one) they asked what it was for I want to spray the window surrounds you will be wanting rubber black then.
The paint costs £6.89 of 60ml sounds expensive, but when I compare this to the cost of a Halfords mixed rattle can (£9.99) its cheaper and better assuming you are not going to need 500ml.
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Just for clarity ZERO Paints are not a forum sponsor and I didnt get a discount just thought I would share in case anyone was interested.
Examples of model builds from their web site;
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Zero Paints sell via their own web site
www.HIROBOY.com
