Back in the mid-90’s, the late Ed Kinney and I co-founded IPMS Fame Cities in the Akron/Canton area. While many ribald tales could be told of those days, the tenuous link to this review is that the owner of MCW Finishes, Mike Guest, is a member of Fame Cities. I reconnected with Mike after I read about the new line of military colors he’s producing in gloss lacquer. I asked mike to supply us with a group of sample colors and he more than obliged. I was recently building the little Brengun 1/144 Horten 229 night fighter, which called for an RLM 75/76 upper finish, so this gave me my first opportunity to try these paints.

I generally don’t write overly superlative reviews, but I have to tell you that these are absolutely fantastic paints. Mike and crew formulate their own colors using PPG base, and these are provided in ready-to-spray format.

I shot a thin coat of MIL-1102 (RLM75 Grauviolett) over Tamiya rattle can primer. The paint lays down glass smooth, with excellent coverage. The model could be handled in a few hours, although I did use my drying booth overnight to ensure a full cure before I went on to the RLM 76 Graublau mottling. Although not recommended, I used a small brush to stipple on the mottling – this worked fine for the small scale. Cleanup of my airbrush was quick and easy with lacquer thinner.

If you haven’t tried this product, I strongly recommend that you do. Mike’s website lists hundreds of colors for many automobile companies.He also sells a complete line of resin car bodies, complete kits and accessories that’s worth checking out.

A tip of the hat to Mike and the team at MCW Finishes for the review samples.