I need some opinions, I recently mail ordered a bottle of Model Master Acryl RLM 79 Sandgelb for a North African Hs129 project, and when it arrived, it appears neither Sand nor gelb!! Here are some examples.




Am I color blind or is this not correct? I stirred the heck out of it with a homemade stirrer, basically a piece of brass rod bent in an "S" shape in a Dremel tool, makes short work of mixing any paint. Here is the color swatch from the Model Master website for RLM 79.


That looks nothing like my color!!! Here are some pics of it next to an older bottle of Afrika Dunkelgrau



Something just isn't right. I can't imagine my desert 129 Panzernacker flying around painted pea green! Any help? Am i correct in thinking i should return it?

Yes, it's more than likely someone wanted pea green and is staring in consternation at a bottle of sandgelb wondering whether the peas in question were yellow peas...

I'd say return it, or perhaps keep it for the novelty value. When you think of how many millions of bottles of Model Master paint are produced in a year, one error is a pretty small error rate.

wow, first time I have seen that happen. But then again, I usually shake the bottle and check at the store, I guess I am just cautious.

Same happened to me recently. I ordered some Model Master/Testors Acryl colours at my online hobby shop. I wanted Dunkelgruen RLM 71 (that's what it said on the label)and in the bottle was Lichtgrau RLM 76!
But anyway, after my Testors desaster with my new Focke Wulf 190 I won't use those colours anymore. I'll stay with Gunze, Revell and all the others .....

Happy modelling!
Torsten

Not easy, by mail order.
Edgar

Exactly. The webstore I got this from has been awesome so far, all my stuff arrives quickly and in perfect shape. Besides, it's not their fault the bottle was mislabeled. I'll wait to see if I hear back from them. I just wanted to get some other opinions, because these RLM colors have stumped me in the past. For instance, my bottle of RLM 72 Grun looks like a blue grey, and this RLM 70 Schwarzgrun looks more like a pale blueish grey-green. Those crazy Germans! Granted all these colors are from the Model Master line, I guess maybe their not always the best match?

Guess that does make it difficult. And I presume the clerk packing the box does not know the difference between gelb and grau....LOL Well glad to hear they are willing to help you out.

It could be that the pigments have settled in the bottles. What do they look like after you give them a good stirring? Model Master paints have always needed a good stirring up before they look right in my experience.

Most Luftwaffe colours had a blue tint to them, the red that is another mystery. The paint when created had zinc chromate already added for a one coat application. As for your RLM 79 that is a new shade I have never seen. Slap it on a soviet tank. Hopefully this gives some elucidation to the mystery.

I was thinking that, so I mixed it with my homemade stirring setup, a piece of brass rod with a bend in the end stuck in a Dremel tool, spins nice and mixes everything up. The pics i posted are from after the stirring, and i made sure to hit the bottom of the bottle to get any settled pigment. No, i think i just got a bad label.

Dominic,

A couple of years ago I had a bottle of IJN grey paint labelled as IJN Green. Someone at MM stuffed up. Send a photo to the mail order store and ask for a replacement - visully checked before they post it! My guess is that they have a whole batch with the wrong labels on.

Simon

My experience with Model Master has been very good. Now that I have switched to their acrylic line, I have to say that it has only improved. Jessie has noted that you do have to mix the heck out of them before use tho. With the acrylics, as the pigment seperates out the vehicle collects at the top and it has a very blue tint to it. That disappears compleatly when it is mixed.

In my experience MM is dead on colour wise for their paints, but that opens the door to fades and scale colours, and I won't go there for this missive.

I thin MM acrylics with tap water (which in S. Florida includes calcium and limestone! ) at about 80% paint and haven't had much (if any) problems.

Now, as to the RLM 79 green....oops.

That exact same color cross-up with MM happened to me a couple years ago. I guess quality control can be challenged when your dealing with a kazillion bottles.