Introduction

Lifecolor, a division of Astromodel of Italy, continues to expand their huge selection of acrylic paint sets with Burned, set CS29. Part of Lifecolor's Diorama Set series, these five colors and one pigment powder allows modelers to simulate a burnt effect on any subject in any country and any eras.

Burned Diorama Set

Set CS29 arrives in an attractive flip-top cardboard box with the six 22ml plastic bottles held in individual compartments. The bottle caps were molded with an internal rim which both provides a small palette cup as well as inhibits paint fouling the bottle cap thread.

These paints are made with very fine ground pigments. They have no noticeable odor. I find them to be thinner than other brands I am used to, almost like a heavy wash. These paints do not seem to be formulated for one-pass brushing, rather for multiple passes and airbrushing.

There are no instructions other than as printed (in multiple languages) on the back of the box, plus six printed color chips. Lifecolor reminds us that these can be mixed with Tensocrom Medium to create washes and glazes.

This set includes:

UA 758 Blackened Umber
UA 759 Exhausted Umber
UA 760 Rusted Umber
UA 761 Burned Stains
UA 762 Incinerated White
PG 117 Ash - Pigment

What are those colors based upon? When metal is heated or burned, protective coatings are usually lost and oxidation can accelerate. I do not know the science of it although I have noticed that freshly burned armor quickly grows a layer of yellow-orange "flash rust". These five colors and the powder can be used separately or combined to create any degree of ferrous oxidation you can imagine.

Blackened Umber is a dark oxidation, perhaps containing carbon.

Exhausted Umber seems to have an olive tint to it.

Rusted Umber is the ubiquitous orange color of rust over many metals.

Burned Stains is a fresh rust hue.

Incinerated White is a whitish hue. It duplicates ash or a general lightening of the others.

Ash - Pigment can be mixed with the paints for a gritty finish, or used alone.

Application

I applied these paints both by airbrush and hand brush onto models of primed resin.

Airbrushing Lifecolor instructs that for airbrushing, use low pressure. Not surprising they also recommend using their own thinner but state water will suffice. I sprayed them with my Aztec airbrush with a acrylic general purpose (black) nozzle. Air was supplied from a reservoir with a regulator from which I used 12-15 psi. Each paint was shot straight from the bottle onto a smooth neutral primed card sample swatch.

Airbrushed coverage is excellent. All five paints covered with high opacity. None of the colors ran nor puddled straight from the bottle. Then I 'stretched' some paint by cutting it with water. Both worked to my satisfaction. The paint dried flat.

Bristle brushing Bristle brushing was good. As noted above I find them to be thinner than other brands I am used to, almost like a heavy wash. None of the colors left brushstrokes. None of the colors ran nor puddled.

To paint a derelict Ford sedan I employed my technique "flick-brushing". You will see in one photograph that the original Burned Stains yellow paint is still damp; I flicked Blackened Umber, Exhausted Umber, and Rusted Umber over it, straight from the bottle as well as diluted.

The jeep was entirely brush painted. I used Ash powder on the seats.

Take note that none of the models shown have been overcoated with any matte finish. That's how flat these paints dry naturally.

adhesion

Excellent! I decided not to test it with tape. Instead I simply looked for nicks and scratches after normal handling. Results - no nicks or scratches.

Conclusion

Adhesion is awesome! The bottle design is great, as is the packaging. These paints cleaned easily with Lifecolor Cleaner or water.

The paints performed exceptionally well via airbrush. Lifecolor states they should be thinned with their brand thinner, which I did not test this time. Brushing is different from my experience with other acrylics because they are so thin out of the bottle. Yet I judge that these paints brushed well.

Three rusty colors and the dark sooty color are very common to ferrous metal oxidized by burning.

This set can afford the modeler a ready made set for simulating metal and other materials oxidized by fire. These are quality paints and I certainly recommend them.

We thank Airbrushes.com for providing this set to RailRoadModeling for review! Please tell them and retailers that you saw this paint set here - on KitMaker.