Originally founded in 1968, Squadron / Squadron Signal / MMD is back in business again after bankruptcy and are now based out of Ringgold, Georgia. Their web page was re-activated in January 2022 for plastic kits. A retail store was opened in 2025 at their Ringgold address and is open from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm Monday through Friday. They have invited The Chattanooga Scale Modelers Club to meet at their warehouse, which occurs on the third Monday of the month. If you can’t make it, be sure to check out their YouTube channel where Brandon and guests are live every Wednesday night. Brandon Lowe and his father, Russ Lowe, re-acquired the Squadron Tools Product Line and are now marketing them once again.

In case you were not aware, 2024 saw Squadron join up with Jeff Herne’s developed Scale Colors acrylic paints with the official release on January 22, 2025. The standard size is 15ml in clear dropper bottles with a pressed-on nipple and currently a black cap. These dropper bottles are quite similar to packaging from Vallejo, AK, Hataka, and Reaper, and they do fit in the large carrying / storage cases made by Vallejo. The initial release of this paint line were referred to as Squadron Scale Colors acrylic paints, but now are referred to simply as Squadron Colors acrylic paints. I would also note that the original line under Jeff Here’s Scale Colors is now eight years old, so there is significant knowledge on how they will perform. You will also find a stainless-steel mixing ball already included in the dropper bottle to assure paint consistency after shaking. These are pre-thinned, water based acrylic paints intended for airbrushing. Airbrush pressure is recommended to be between 12 and 20 psi. Squadron does provide a .pdf file on their website with a listing of all their paints and pigments with product number, name, and “internet” color. The .pdf also lists a Squadron website with specific hints and tips about their paint.

The paint can be thinned with water [I would only use distilled water] or isopropyl alcohol [IPA] but I would strongly suggest using Squadron’s thinner. If you decide to venture elsewhere, you risk obtaining poor results. Please note that thinning with IPA will cause the paint to dry much quicker than you may anticipate and could lead to a pebbling or “orange peel” effect as the paint dries before it hits the target plastic. I have only used the Squadron produced thinner [SCW 001] in this review in keeping with using a branded thinner with a specific brand paint, i.e.: Vallejo paint, I use Vallejo thinner.

Squadron increased their paint line by 47 colors with the release of The Great War Series at the 2026 IPMS Nationals in Fort Wayne. This includes four British WWI paints, seven French WWI colors, and 36 German WWI colors.

This review focuses on the seven French WWI colors which include:

• SCA 936 French Two-Color Green
• SCA 937 French Two-Color Brown
• SCA 938 French Five-Color Dark Green
• SCA 939 French Five-Color Light Green
• SCA 940 French Five-Color Chestnut
• SCA 941 French Five-Color Beige
• SCA 942 French Five-Color Black

My test mule is the Hobbycraft 1/48 Polikarpov I-16 upper and lower wing. I know its not French unless you are part of the ‘What If’ SIG, but it serves the purpose. I did wash these parts in Dawn dish soap, thoroughly rinsed, and then wiped them down with IPA. I primed with light grey Tamiya Surface Primer [L], Mr Hobby Mr White Surfacer 1000, and Mr Hobby Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500 Black. All primers and paints were shaken with a Typhoon paint mixer which is a refurbished industrial vortex mixer. All seven paints were sprayed straight out of the bottle with a Grex airbrush at 14.0 psi. I would recommend spraying a series of thin coats, waiting a few minutes between coats, to build up the color to avoid getting to much paint on a single area and having it drip. Clean up was with Squadron Scale Colors Thinner SCW 001 followed by IPA. I would note that I did not note any odor while spraying Squadron Colors paint, although I did spray in a large paint booth. If you have any safety concerns, Squadron does provide the industry standard MSDS (Material Data Safety Sheet) that you can study at your leisure.

The first photograph shows the French 5-color set sprayed free hand over white, light grey, and black primers [left to right]. The colors from top to bottom are SCA 941 Beige, SCA 942 Black, SCA 940 Chestnut, SCA 942 Black, SCA 939 Light Green, SCA 942 Black, and SCA 938 Dark Green. The paints all dried to a semi-gloss finish to the touch in a few minutes. I waited for an hour and masked with Tamiya tape to get a hard edge, although I would normally wait 24 hours before attempting to mask fresh paint [I would note that Squadron recommends a minimum of 2 hours prior to masking]. I experienced no paint pull-up or damage, so color me impressed.

I free-handed the French 2-color set over the white primer which can be seen in the photograph attached. I did try thinning 1:1 with Squadron Scale Colors thinner and found the SCA 937 French Two-Color Brown still covered although it was very translucent. I found that letting the paint dry for an hour and then respraying improved opacity a bit. I repeated this process four more times to increase the opacity and got close to the coverage of SCA 937 French Two-Color Brown straight out of the bottle. Squadron Colors are not designed for brush painting, but it can be done. The key is to build up very thin layers over time. I was able to brush paint the SCA 936 French Two-Color Green with ten very transparent layers to build the opacity up. It is definitely time-consuming compared to air brushing though as I would wait ten minutes for the previous layer to dry enough [your results may vary].

I ‘discovered’ Jeff Herne with his Scale Colors acrylic paints at an IPMS/USA Nationals event a few years ago and decided to try out his paints at that time, and I really liked them. I was glad to see when he joined forces with Squadron for what is now a tremendous number of offerings for modelers with over 600 individual colors and paint sets available. The semi-gloss coat sprays well straight out of the bottle and dries in minutes [full cure will be longer]. Squadron also sells clear coats to achieve a flat or gloss finish. I really enjoyed both French sets in The Great War Series Squadron Colors paint set and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone for ease of use.

Highly recommended!

My thanks to Brandon Lowe, Squadron, and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great product.