The IPMS/USA recently began receiving items for review from Gaahleri. The company is relatively new and first introduced airbrushes and has since expanded into the production of their own line of paints. Kaleido ColorWorks is their premium sub-brand of water-based paints, which are developed with RapidAir Technology. In addition to all the individual colors, Gaahleri also has sets of paints available for consumers.

One of the latest releases is the 12 Metal Colors Set. Using their Rapid Air Technology, the paints deliver a lacquer-like performance in a water-based paint that is non-toxic and environmentally responsible (as described on their website). These paints are formulated for airbrushing and are contained in unique 20ml bottles made of clear plastic that supports easy viewing of the paint. I find this most appropriate for allowing you to verify that the paint is thoroughly mixed up prior to use. The bottles also contain a mixing ball for your convenience, and there is a tip that allows you to release the paint drop by drop.

The paint set is contained in a nice sturdy box that has pieces of foam on the top and bottom to fully protect the bottles inside. In addition to the paint, the set includes a bottle of Airbrush Thinner as well as a bottle of Airbrush Cleaner, both in the same 20ml size as the paints. There was also a pamphlet enclosed with a Color Chart that included the equivalent Mr. Color paints as well as information about the paints and directions for their use. This set consisted of the following colors:

• Aluminum
• Copper
• Red Copper
• Champagne Gold
• Flashy Gold
• Scorched Gold
• Gun Metal
• Silver
• Stainless Steel
• Tungsten Steel
• Titanium Alloy
• Zirconium Black

As advertised, the paints sprayed without issue using my Badger Renegade Velocity with a medium needle and nozzle at 20psig. I typically find that acrylic paints advertised for airbrushing need a little thinner to spray properly, but not with the Kaleido ColorWorks paints. I only thinned the Aluminum (3 parts paint to 1 part thinner) for use in my Gaahleri Mobius 0.2mm airbrush, which worked perfectly at 15psig.

Using a piece of gray plastic from an old Dragon/DML kit, I primed a section with Stynylrez Gloss Black as the paint suggests application over a gloss black primer. What I found was that the paint went down perfectly over the bare plastic, and that I could not discern between the primed plastic and the un-primed area. I think that it really is what you prefer when it comes to painting regarding the use of a primer.

I was able to successfully mask the paint with Panzer Putty after about five minutes. Gaahleri states that this is possible as the paint is touch dry in 5 to 20 minutes, basic cured in 24 hours, and fully cured in one week (depending on environmental conditions). I also applied the paint using a paint brush on a small area and while I would consider it acceptable to do this for small touch-ups, I would not recommend using a brush to apply the paint to larger areas.

Overall, I highly recommend these paints, and I look forward to future releases in this paint line! I thank the folks at Gaahleri for providing this set to the IPMS-USA Review Corps, and I appreciate having had the opportunity to perform this assessment.

Special Offers from Gaahleri

1. As a couple of Special Offers from Gaahleri to the IPMS/USA, use the following link for a 5% discount: https://www.gaahleri.com/discount/IPMSUS?ref=ipmsus
2. In addition, if you use the code [IPMSUS], you will receive an extra 10% discount on your purchase.