Mr. Replenishing Agent for Mr. Color Paints

 

If you've ever used Lacquer paints you'll eventually find that some of the paints have stiffened up and become sort of gummy. You can try to mix this up with Lacquer thinner, but from my own personal experience, this really doesn't get the job done and the paint will accelerate too fast in drying. 

A friend of mine told me about a really cool product that I had seen many times but I had no idea what it was actually used for. Turns out Mr. Replenishing Agent is designed to rejuvenate those older lacquer paints that have in Mr. Hobby's words "turned to syrup.  

In this demonstration, I'll show you the quick and easy steps to go through to restore your paints, and it won't even take 5 minutes. Seriously, before you know it your paint will go from syrup to airbrush ready!

I sadly found my 126 Cockpit Color (Mitsubishi) had thickened up. As you can see from the clinging paint and the spiderwebs, most of us would simply toss this in the trash and buy another one rather than try to save it.

According to the instructions I translated, you will need to add 1/3 of Mr. Replenishing Agent to the amount of paint still left in the jar. Typically when I add this to Mr. Color paints that I've never used before, I fill it up to the section where the paint jar narrows. 

The next step is to put the lid back on tightly and shake the paint thoroughly for several minutes. After a few minutes, I took the cap off and with my paint stirrer I scraped the paint around the bottom and the edges. This helped the paint that had settled at the bottom mix with the Replenishing Agent.

At this point, you can also see if the paint is thin enough. If it's still too thick add some more Replenishing Agent, but remember to add a little at a time, it's easier to add more rather than having to worry that you added too much.

I then recapped the paint and shook it for a final time.

And here you have it, the paint is restored and is just as it was the day it left the factory. There is also no wait time on this, as long as you properly mix the Mr. Replenishing Agent with the paint, this paint is ready to be used. Please also note that this is not a thinner.

This is a product that you'll be kicking yourself if you didn't have in your modeling arsenal sooner (I know I did). It's so simple to use, and it should work on any lacquer-based paint. I've used it with Mr. Color, Tamiya Lacquer Paints (LP), and AK Interactive Real Colors.

I have also used it on Acrylic Lacquer paints such as Tamiya (X and XF), and Mr. Color Aqueous. However, this might not work on all of these paint lines so use caution.

Mr. Replenishing Agent is not suitable and should not be used on pure Acrylics or Water Based Acrylics such as Vallejo, Citadel, Army Painter, Formula P3, Monument Hobbies, and brands similar to these.

So if you are a long-time user or getting into Lacquer based paints for your modeling and hobby, when you add Mr. Levelling Thinner to your shopping cart don't forget to add a bottle of Mr. Replenishing Agent, because when you need it, you're going to need it!