Layman's Gunpla Guide - Paint References

As I mentioned over here, I've started to test all of my paints on cheap plastic spoons to get the feel for a colour before applying it to a kit. Instead of just hogging them for myself, I've decided to share them here. Granted, there's no better experience then testing out the colours yourself. The true colour of the paints will vary from the photos due to fluctuating camera settings and even the setup of your own monitor.

 

Note - The shade of these colors may change based on usage, especially the underlying base coat. All of these paint samples done straight on top of white plastic spoons. Unless otherwise stated there no primer or topcoat has been used. You can read more on how primer effects paint colours here.

 

Tamiya - Acrylics Jars

Tamiya acrylics come in 10 and 23ml jars. They can be found at most hobby shops in North America and Asia. Technically, as they are some sort of acrylic/lacquer hybrid, they shouldn't be thinned with water. I've had great results with Tamiya's X-20A acrylic and you can use Tamiya's lacquer thinner in part as well. They spray really well and clean up easily. Here's their full list of colour options.

Tamiya XF-7 Flat Red	Tamiya X-8 Lemon Yellow	Tamiya XF-55 Desert Yellow
Tamiya X-15 Light Green	Tamiya X-28 Park Green	Tamiya XF-71 Cockpit Green
Tamiya XF-26 Deep Green	Tamiya X-5 Green	Tamiya XF-65 Dark Green
Tamiya XF-37 Black Green	Tamiya X-13 Metallic Blue	Tamiya XF-18 Medium Blue
Tamiya XF-50 Field Blue	Tamiya X-4 Blue	Tamiya XF-17 Sea Blue
Tamiya X-16 Purple	Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver	Tamiya X-21 Titanium Gold
Tamiya X-12 Gold Leaf	Tamiya XF-6 Copper	Tamiya XF-12 JN Gray
Tamiya XF-19 Sky Grey	Tamiya XF-54 Dark Sea Grey	Tamiya XF-20 Medium Grey
Tamiya XF-65 Field Grey	Tamiya XF-53 Neutral Grey	Tamiya XF-66 Light Grey
Tamiya XF-63 German Grey	Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black

 

Tamiya - Spray Cans

Tamiya spray cans are a synthetic lacquer, great for folks who don't have an air brush though folks with an airbrush will get better results and more mileage after decanting. Tamiya Spray Cans can be found at most hobby shops in North America and Asia. You can view the full list of colours here. Warning - Do not use Tamiya PS sprays on your Gunpla. They're for poly-carbonate plastic and can eat through the plastic Gundam kits are made from.

Tamiya TS-85 Bright Mica Red	Tamiya TS-39 Mica Red	Tamiya TS-18 Metallic Red
Tamiya TS-37 Lavender	Tamiya TS-56 Brilliant Orange	Tamiya TS-12 Orange
Tamiya TS-47 Chrome Yellow	Tamiya TS-34 Camel Yellow	Tamiya TS-22 Light Green
Tamiya TS-20 Metallic Green	Tamiya TS-19 Metallic Blue	Tamiya AS-19 Intermediate Blue
Tamiya TS-15 Blue	Tamiya AS-8 Navy Blue	Tamiya TS-53 Deep Metalic Blue
Tamiya TS-64 Dark Mica Blue	Tamiya TS-57 Blue Violet	Tamiya TS-24 Purple
Tamiya TS-76 Mica Silver	Tamiya AS-12 Bare Metal Silver	Tamiya TS-17 Gloss Aluminum
Tamiya TS-30 Silver Leaf	Tamiya TS-42 Light Gunmetal	Tamiya TS-38 Gunmetal
Tamiya TS-21 Gold	Tamiya AS-20 Insignia White	Tamiya AS-2 Light Grey
Tamiya AS-11 Medium Sea Grey	Tamiya AS-32 Medium Sea Gray 2 (RAF)	Tamiya TS-48 Gunship Grey
Tamiya TS-40 Metallic Black	Tamiya TS-6 Matt Black	Tamiya TS-29 Semi-Gloss Black
Tamiya TS-14 Black

 

 

Tamiya - Clear Spray Cans

Tamiya TS-74 Clear Red	Tamiya TS-73 Clear Orange	Tamiya TX-72 Clear Blue
Tamiya TS-71 Clear Smoke

 

Model Master - Acryl Jars

My experience with Model Master's Acryl lineup is pretty limited. They seem to have great colour options but I haven't worked with them long enough to figure out the proper thinning ratio. Should be available in your average North American hobby shop. You can view all of their colour options here.

Model Master 4852 Green Zinc Chromate

Model Master 4643 Purple Pearl

Model Master 4650 Gape Pearl

 

Model Master - Spray Cans

Model Master's spray cans come in lacquer and enamel forms depending on the line. I believe most colours either fall into one category or another.  I'm not a fan because they spray really thick.. You can find them in most North American hobby shops and large chains like Michaels.

Model Master 2918 Guards Red	Model Master 3659 Grabber Orange	Model Master 1930 Flat Gull Gray
Model Master 1246 Silver	Model Master 1290 Chrome	Model Master 2921 Classic Black

 

Testor - Spray Cans

Testors' spray cans, like their cousin Model Master sprays, come in lacquer and enamel forms depending on the line. I believe most colours either fall into one category or another. They spray really thick, I'm not a fan. You can find them in most North American hobby shops and large chains like Michaels.

There's also "One Coat Lacquer " line that's full of sparkles and geared toward model cars. Looks great but a thick coating can cause bubbles and issues that otherwise ruin the paint.

Testors One Coat Lacquer Revving Red	Testors 2967 Sublime Green	Testors One Coat Lacquer Lime Ice
Testors One Coat Lacquer Icy Blue	Testors Saphire Blue Metallic	Testors One Coat Lacquer Purple-licious
Testors One Coat Lacquer Diamond Dust

 

Krylon - Spray Can Primers

Krylon primers are fanastic and highly recommended. You can find them at most Michaels craft stores. More on priming here.

Krylon White Primer

Krylon Gray Primer

Krylon Black Primer

 

Krylon - Spray Cans

These are some other Krylong sprays I picked up from Michaels to mess around with. The Glitter Sprays are just glitter suspending in a clear gloss, many coats of this clear can result in a bit of yellowing. Glitter Blasts are pretty much the same thing, just with 100000x more glitter.

Krylon Glitter Blash Orange Burst	Krylon Gitter Spray Golden Glow	Krylon Sun Yellow
Krylon Glitter Spray Glam Green	Krylon Glitter Blast Lucky Green

 

The Army Painter - Spray Primers

The Army Painter company markets toward folks building game miniatures like 40k. Their paints are available in the US and UK. You can view all of their US primer options here.

Army Painter Primer Pure Red

Army Painter Primer Army Green

 

Rustoleum - Spray Cans

Rustoleum spray cans can be found in your local hardware store. I don't have much experience with them.

Rustoleum Metallic Silver

 

Valspar - Spray Cans

Valspar spray cans can be found in your local hardware store. Lots of great colour options but they go on too thick for most Gunpla applications. Most colours don't have any names so ones I provided for personal reference are in quotes below.

Valspar "Light Green" Satin	Valspar "Moss Green" Satin	Valspar "Dark Green" Satin
Valspar "Off Blue"	Valspar "Dark Blue"	Valspar "Dark Purple" Satin
Valspar Stainless Steel