ESSAR

I just wanted to share my experience with nelson paints. I used the flat clear for my p-47. The flat is more like semi gloss, so when it dried I had to go over the whole aircraft with steel wool and It is still a little shinier than it should be.
I also contacted "John Desilets" (new owner) at Nelson hobby for some more technical data and paint information as there was no mixing instructions or any technical data included with the paint and he never returned my email.
I ended up mixing the clear 60/40 per Tom Pierce's instructions and it sprayed quite nice and seems like a nice quality product.
I would just be aware that they don't offer very good support at Nelsons and the flat clear is not flat.

Andrew.

kthmarks

Both products apply VERY well. Actually, I like the way WBC goes on a little better than Nelsons.

HOWEVER......my BIGGEST issue that divides the two has to do with resistance to chemicals. Denatured alcohol will soften the WBC finish (even when the crosslinker has been added) while MEK or Acetone will remove it completely after it's dried and cured. Nelsons is resistant to all previously mentioned and is hard as nails.

After all.....who doesn't need to clean up a little oozed out 5 min epoxy? Having alcohol take off the WBC finish was a disappointment for me. Sorry Chuck. Love your stuff but......

Nelsons has my vote.

desilejf

My Feedback: (20)

I have used Nelson Paints and WBC. Jerry supported me for several years on my scale projects. Both Jerry and Chuck are great guys.
Since I now own Nelson Hobby feedback is important. Painting is an art form. Your environment dictates how things will go. On my paint page there is a section, Tips and Tricks. Here you can learn about thinning, temperature, humidity and when not to paint. I will clarify this piece. a cap full of water in four ounces of paint is the thinning start point, no alcohol, just follow these really simple steps. One cap is one ounce. I have had quite a time with the guys that order qts not knowing the the amount in a cap, now we have that. Also I will not be shipping qts in the future as the cans are so thin and the shippers so rough after loosing 5 qts since April I now ship two one pint bottles. You get paint and I dont get hazed by USPS for shipping liquids.
For those of you who I somehow missed communicating with on issues I apologize.

I do disagree about the finish on warbirds. I do not believe they were painted in flat colors, Stack gas ruined the paint on carrier birds. Constant flying and living outdoors took a huge toll on all the other aircraft. I have seen some ME 109's where you could see the reflection of the guys in the paint, certainly not flat ca 1943 ME 109 Squadron Signal. We can never really be sure. Research is fun on all these subjects and I like doing that and helping builders identify real scale fidelity.

As a note: in the 70's the Vigilantes, Corsairs and F4's were pretty slick, the A4 was not flat either. In the mid 80's I was on CV41 USS Midway and Enterprise was socked in fog. We trapped two of her Tomcats in the S China Sea. The crew was dazzled by these very glossy beautiful aircraft, the CO actually put guards on the birds to keep the crew away. By 1991 when I got to Kittyhawk the birds were really flat. The Hornets were dead flat light grey FS 36492, I didnt consult the 595a on this but flat light grey. We had a couple of Prowlers that still were satin looking. My observations and I could be completely wrong in this, but not the Tomcats from Enterprise they were good looking birds.

Thanks for all your support.

John Desilets

chuck l

My Feedback: (17)

John,

How's fishing these days?

I've used bought WBC and Nelson's paints, both of which are good paints. I never got the real smooth finish with WBC, but definitely was due to my lack of spray painting skills. I've seen several warbirds painted with WBC which were top notch paint jobs. This summer, I started to paint parts on a third scale Waco using Nelson's paint and the first attempts were horrible at best. After getting some great advice from John, and reading how to set up a spray gun, I got a finish I'm extremely happy with. WBC paints are military colors, as compared to Nelson's paints which are the Ultracote and Monokote colors.

Chuck

desilejf

My Feedback: (20)

Hi Chuck: Fishing was tremendous this yr, best run of fish in 70 yrs. Maybe all the junk fom the tsunami in Japan restricted the high seas drift net operations.

Fortunately there are enough ideas to kind of support both WBC and Nelson. Builders are in short supply not subjects. I dont know about WBC but I sure dont make any money at this hobby stuff.However as I have said many times. After I retired the second time and wasn't doing enough my pants got too tight so I called Jerry and bought his business. Pants fit fine now, not sure if its the activity or the lack of money that made that happen.