LifeColor paints come in 22ml (approximately 3⁄4-ounce) plastic bottles with screw-top plastic lids. There are more than 50 colors in the basic range — red, black, etc. — coded with the prefix LC. This group also has clear coats. Another group, coded as UA numbers, is keyed to established camouflage colors covering commonly modeled subjects, such as Luftwaffe fighters and Italian armor, as well as weathering, figure, and detail shades. There are more than 300 paints in the latter group.
LifeColor offers many paints grouped into convenient sets for specific subjects, including armor, aircraft, figures, ships, weathering, and even railways.
The paints are water-soluble, nontoxic, nonflammable, and contain no alcohol, solvents, or lead. They have very little odor.
Before painting Academy’s 1/48 scale Tomahawk III, I cleaned the plastic and primed with Vallejo black primer, leaving one wing unprimed to test the paint’s adhesion.
Starting with azure blue (UA098), I airbrushed the underside of the aircraft. I found the paints airbrushed very well straight from the bottle, laying down smoothly at 20–25 psi. I experienced minor tip-drying during long painting sessions, but a wipe with a wet cotton swab quickly took care of the problem. The blue covered the black very well in a single session and I saw no difference between the finish on the primed versus the unprimed plastic. The camouflage colors have an extremely flat finish.
Three hours later, I masked the lower part with Tamiya tape, then airbrushed middle stone (UA097). This lighter color required a couple of passes to cover the black. The next day, I masked with Silly Putty and sprayed dark earth (UA092). I added a few drops of LifeColor thinner, but the paint quickly became too thin and didn’t cover well.
The tape pulled off cleanly, even 18 hours after application. Unfortunately, the Silly Putty marked the middle stone. I’m not sure if the paint reacted with the putty or if there was oil in the putty. I was able to cover it with a light spray of middle stone straight from the bottle at 10 psi.
There was some roughness in the finish, especially around corners, but it took only a few passes with 1000-grit paper to smooth it out.
I was also impressed with how well the paints hand-brushed. I dipped the brush in thinner, squeezed most of the thinner out, then dipped it in the paint. I kept strokes to a minimum and was impressed by how well the paint leveled as it dried; the brush marks all but disappeared.
I am impressed by LifeColor paints, and can recommend them for airbrushing and hand-painting. The extensive color range as well as ease of use make these paints worth trying.