The owner of Nelson Paint is a professional yacht painter who uses System 3 paints everyday, he is also a modeler. He distributes System 3 paint to modelers as a fuel proof, water based alternative to Butyrate Dope, Klass Kote epoxy paint, and Lusterkote which are the only KNOWN fuel proof or resistant hobby paints (to my knowledge).

I have personally used dope, Lusterkote, and Hobby Poxy (similar to Klass Kote), as well as a few others that are no longer available. I can tell you that Nelson paint is far and away easier to use than any of them. Furthermore the finish is close to epoxy paints in so far as fuel resistance, hardness and gloss are concerned. A big plus is that due to it's water based composition it can be applied over a variety of other finishes without attacking them. I have tried to remove Nelson paint with raw dope thinner without success, I would say it is VERY resistant to chemicals. Nelson hobby paint is also much safer to use, both for yourself and the environment. It does have its quirks so be sure to do your research.


I am more than willing to pay a couple of bucks premium to Nelson paint to insure the product retains the qualities important to me. I'm confident he is well qualified to do so and is close enough to System 3 to be aware of changes in the paint formulation.

It's puzzling to me why these "Harware Store" paint threads are so popular and I am amazed by the number of modelers that risk their models by painting with these paints. It's clear that some do have great success, while others don't and end up with a big mess.

Seems like the classic "Long tunnel, no cheese" situation to me!