Hataka Blue RLM 71

Paint in squeezy bottles is not the worst thing we have to deal with in this day and age.

Far from it.

But it’s a pain.

So far, I’m loving this Hataka paint. It reminds me of some amber-hued afternoon long ago when I first encountered Humbrol Authentics. In fact, I’m betting that the Hataka paint is an exact match for the Humbrol Authentics.  I’m not betting much. A stick of gum. Maybe.

But the colors remind me of days of old when you could by Aeromaster or Humbrol Authentics or SOMETHING that was pre-mixed to match known colors. By modelers, for modelers.

That kind of stuff. It’s the sales pitch that was used in pre-historic times to sell a strange product called “Official Paint” and then “Squadron Paint” (not affiliated with Squadron Shops) and then the whole thing went away. A drip or two of printer’s ink was wasted by magazines bitching about the latest abomination from America.

Paint in “sets.” You bought a set, but you really needed TWO sets to complete the job, and the paint was EXPENSIVE. Back when “kids” built models, if you have TWO DOLLARS you bought a kit, not some damn paint collection!

So “Official” went away.

But now, time has passed. Kids don’t build models. Old farts like me do. And we can afford to buy paint in sets.

Enter Hataka. I know they sell the stuff in individual bottles but I bought a “set” because it was convenient and it would give me a “cross section” of their product line for publication in my mighty blog.

What?

Hataka came to play–as they say in sports which I know nothing of.

But they did. The only thing they are doing wrong is that damn plastic squeezy bottle. I bought some beautiful made-in-China 1 oz jars and “decanted” the paint into those jars.

The thing is, I could not get that RLM 71 to look right until I put it in a jar and stirred it properly. THEN it turned into another color. The right one.

The whole world may say that squeezy bottles are fine and I’m an asshole, but they are wrong. If you run out and buy this paint (I haven’t completed my evaluation but it’s looking really good) then I’d STRONGLY advise you to get some jars and DECANT it from those hideous squeezy bottles. No amount of shaking will mix that pigment. I’ve examined the Hataka colors and they have a LOT of different pigments in them, and they all separate very quickly. You really need to stir it and stir it well to make this paint work, otherwise a single bottle of paint could produce three different colors on the same day.

Mine did.

P.S.

Shaking introduces AIR into the paint. Bubbles. So it’s a bad idea all around for brush painters. So please don’t suggest that I put a BB in the bottle so that it has an “agitator.” That’s no good. All the BB’s in Texas won’t do that job. You need to pour it into a jar and stir it like you mean it.