I know that nobody else will, so I will put in a good word for new formula Krylon. What can I say? It works for me. It sprays and coats very evenly and smoothly, and it doesn't blush as easily as the old stuff did. I used the old formula, too, and I did like it, but I thought that it was actually a little bit fussier (in some ways) to apply. I used to get coarse, gritty coats much more often with the old stuff. Of course the new formulation can also be fussy, too, in other ways, such as with recoat times. But I have looked around, and ALL of the other brands that everyone is recommending as alternatives to the new Krylon have recoat times that are even more restrictive. If you miss the "fresh" recoat window of one hour, you have to wait until the next day (24 hours) to add another coat of new Krylon. With Walmart Colorplace paint, on the other hand, you have to wait 3 DAYS before you can apply another coat. With Rustoleum, it is 2 days. Believe me, I have looked, and I can't find any general use spray paint anymore that allows you to recoat any time, like the old Krylon did. The only kinds that still have that feature are the special lacquer formulations of some brands, but they only seem to come in gloss black or gloss white.

BTW, it is useless to recommend that someone use old formula Krylon now, because the stuff is virtually all gone. It is like saying, yeah, this is what you need, but sorry, you're out of luck, so you might as well forget about ever doing any painting. Like it or not, we are all going to need to get used to what is being produced now, and adapt our painting techniques accordingly. Old formula Krylon is not coming back, no matter how much anyone whines or complains.

As for primers, I do like Krylon white primer for general use. Unlike their color paints, the formula for their primers (white and gray, at least) did not change - it is exactly the same stuff, and you can still recoat with it anytime. I have used both Plasti-Kote and Duplicolor filling primers, and while both are very good, I give the slight edge to Duplicolor. Both brands are rather expensive, and a can of either does not last long, but that just seems to be the nature of filling primers. Toward the end of last year's painting season I also gave Valspar white primer a try on a few models. Unlike the others, this one does not seem to be lacquer based, but is more like enamel. It takes a long time to dry, but when it does, it leaves a very hard, very smooth base that is not at all "chalky." My models looked like they had been painted with gloss or semigloss white, and I had to double check the can to make sure that I had indeed used primer. So Valspar shows promise, but using it will take some patience, because it takes much longer than the others to fully dry. A lot of people like Kilz, but I have not tried it yet. Kilz really seems to be meant for interior walls, as a base for latex paints; that is what the label says, at least. The fact that you won't find it in the spray paint section of the store, but rather, in the interior wall paint section, is another clue about its intended use.

As for Testor's spray paints, the really great thing about them is the colors that they have. But that is about it as far as the positives go. They are quite expensive, they don't spray as well and are harder to apply, they have a much greater tendency to run, and as enamels rather than acrylics, they take forever to dry. I have not been very impressed with them, IOW. But man, the colors are great!

Like others have said, these are all just personal opinions, of course. Everyone has their own preferences. Try a few different brands in order to develop your own. One thing that has often been said in past threads on this subject (and there have been many), is that the brand matters less than how it is applied. IOW, you have to develop good spray paint technique, and tailor it to the brand that you like to use, in order to get the best results.

MarkII

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