John Allen

Have many bottles of model shipway paints that have dried up. I have used a Dremel and bit to break the paint down add water and bring it back, this is a tedious process. Today I took a bottle of red that was totally dried up. Put a small amount of water in it and put in microwave for 10 seconds. It did not distort the shipway bottle which is a heavy plastic and paint softened enough to stir with a stir stick. That being said This may be a stupid idea, not knowing the chemical nature of the latex paint and or any residue left in microware.
Therefore moi being a dumb soul when it comes to chemistry and all the little molecules and atoms flying around what is the danger if any.

Free yourselves from the tyranny of "model paints." They are a huge rip-off when you consider what the paint costs to make, package, and ship. In most instances, I expect the manufacturer's cost of the bottle is more than the cost of the paint and, yes, those partially used little bottles dry out before you get around to using them up.
 
There's a radical alternative. It takes a bit of a learning curve to master, but the basics are easily acquired and, for ship modeling purposes, the basics are pretty much all you need to know unless you want to get into really sophisticated weathering techniques which are, themselves, easier this "old fashioned" way. Do as the fine artists of old did. Mix your own paints. You will have complete flexibility in terms of consistency, flow, drying time, color and hue and save a considerable amount of money otherwise wasted on dried up little jars of what they pass off as paint these days. You won't have to grind your own pigments and mull them, though. That's done for us when commercially produced artists' oils, turpentine, and a bit of Japan drier are used. With the limited pallete we use in ship modeling, you won't need to buy a lot of different colors, either.
 
Here's all you need to know: https://figurementors.com/limitted-palette/the-science-of-oil-paints-with-kyle-kolbe/

John,
 
I have zero experience acrylic paint, but I think there are two major classes of color coatings:  paint and washes.
A wash - pigment in a solvent.  The wash applied, the solvent evaporates, the pigment just sits on the surface.  A dried up can of wash just needs more solvent to reconstitute it.
An applied pigment has nothing to hold it on the surface if exposed to external forces - rain,  splash, abrassion,...
A paint is pigment, a binder, and a solvent.   Paint applied,  the solvent evaporates,  the binder undergoes a chemical reaction as exposure to Oxygen increases.  A larger, more complex polymer is formed.  It sticks to the surface and keeps the pigment in place.
 
 
I think that dried acrylic has a different chemistry.  You may be able to mechanically shatter the plastic of the polymerized binder, but it will not work as a binder when this new gemisch is applied as a paint, even if you can make the mess into small enough bits to suspend in the solvent.  It is now a wash.
 
Another factor,  pigments have interesting chemical names,  cadmium, titanium,  heavy metal type elements.  Not really healthy to breathe.  Thinking about it, it probably a good idea to wear a mask or work in a hood when sanding dried paint.
 
If you are paid a reasonable wage,  the time spent recovering the dried mess,  even if it were not a fruitless exercise, is likely more costly than new paint.

Trust me being up close and personal to numerous lawyers (of which most were the bloodsucking types) they would buy a cheap knockoff from China or Vietnam all the while screaming about Chinese imports.

That's over 8 months of full-time work. It's just one R&D expense that is bypassed by knock-off kit manufacturers and conveniently overlooked by some ship modeling sites.

Our Alabama and Kearsarge kits contain an enormous number of parts. Photo-etched brass is expensive, and it takes a full day of laser cutting to do all the pieces in each kit. On the Kearsarge, there are over 50 pieces just to make up each Dahlgren gun. To say nothing of the large number of wood sheets used. We try very hard to keep our prices down, but we are using American labor.
 
Also, each kit took 1,400 hours of design work to be amortized across 150 kits.

Sadly, in this current PC, Woke culture we find ourselves in, few lawyers or companies are going to want anything to do with the Confederacy on open display.

Trust me being up close and personal to numerous lawyers (of which most were the bloodsucking types) they would buy a cheap knockoff from China or Vietnam all the while screaming about Chinese imports.

Trust me being up close and personal to numerous lawyers (of which most were the bloodsucking types) they would buy a cheap knockoff from China or Vietnam all the while screaming about Chinese imports.

Keith,
 
Been out of the loop for sometime, caught up on your masterpiece. I appreciate your inquiring mind and always needing to know. Building backwards to go forward very cool.

Keith,
 
Been out of the loop for sometime, caught up on your masterpiece. I appreciate your inquiring mind and always needing to know. Building backwards to go forward very cool.

Trust me being up close and personal to numerous lawyers (of which most were the bloodsucking types) they would buy a cheap knockoff from China or Vietnam all the while screaming about Chinese imports.

Trust me being up close and personal to numerous lawyers (of which most were the bloodsucking types) they would buy a cheap knockoff from China or Vietnam all the while screaming about Chinese imports.

Roger,
Thanks I should have made the post clearer. I was about to pull the trigger on the kit, since not being able to find one that was comparable. There is the Revell plastic and the Mamoli Alabama on eBay. Been mulling this over for a week but the cost vs material made me come to my senses. Post is to verify I made right decision. Thanks for the offer that's what is great about this site good folks willing to help each other

Please advise if I am being nitpicky. The price of the kit is $ 749.00 I am a little disappointed in several of the supplied materials considering the cost of the kit. Most of the fittings including cannons are brittania or a base metal for the money I feel that at least he cannons should be brass. The pre etched deck does not in my opion look as good as planking (personal choice that can be changed by the builder.
I ordered deadeyes at one point before I realized they were metal and had to be painted or browned. I would have thought for the money wood deadeyes on the caliber of Chucks should be supplied.
I know they have a great reputation as for as instructions support and replacing parts. 
 
It just seems for the cost of that kit some parts should have been upgraded.
 
Am I being to critical, I bow to suggestions from the more experienced.

Roger,
Thanks I should have made the post clearer. I was about to pull the trigger on the kit, since not being able to find one that was comparable. There is the Revell plastic and the Mamoli Alabama on eBay. Been mulling this over for a week but the cost vs material made me come to my senses. Post is to verify I made right decision. Thanks for the offer that's what is great about this site good folks willing to help each other

Please advise if I am being nitpicky. The price of the kit is $ 749.00 I am a little disappointed in several of the supplied materials considering the cost of the kit. Most of the fittings including cannons are brittania or a base metal for the money I feel that at least he cannons should be brass. The pre etched deck does not in my opion look as good as planking (personal choice that can be changed by the builder.
I ordered deadeyes at one point before I realized they were metal and had to be painted or browned. I would have thought for the money wood deadeyes on the caliber of Chucks should be supplied.
I know they have a great reputation as for as instructions support and replacing parts. 
 
It just seems for the cost of that kit some parts should have been upgraded.
 
Am I being to critical, I bow to suggestions from the more experienced.

Cottage Industry Models offers a 1/8th scale upgrade in resin of the guns of Alabama and Kearsarge for the respective Revell Kits. The site hasn't been updated in years, so I don't know if they are still taking orders, but the site is still there:
 
http://cottageindustrymodels.com/?page_id=289
 
You might want to try to contact them.
 

 
 
 

 
 

Roger,
Thanks I should have made the post clearer. I was about to pull the trigger on the kit, since not being able to find one that was comparable. There is the Revell plastic and the Mamoli Alabama on eBay. Been mulling this over for a week but the cost vs material made me come to my senses. Post is to verify I made right decision. Thanks for the offer that's what is great about this site good folks willing to help each other

Roger,
Thanks I should have made the post clearer. I was about to pull the trigger on the kit, since not being able to find one that was comparable. There is the Revell plastic and the Mamoli Alabama on eBay. Been mulling this over for a week but the cost vs material made me come to my senses. Post is to verify I made right decision. Thanks for the offer that's what is great about this site good folks willing to help each other

Roger,
Thanks I should have made the post clearer. I was about to pull the trigger on the kit, since not being able to find one that was comparable. There is the Revell plastic and the Mamoli Alabama on eBay. Been mulling this over for a week but the cost vs material made me come to my senses. Post is to verify I made right decision. Thanks for the offer that's what is great about this site good folks willing to help each other

The Mamoli kit would be a great option for some bashing..    I would want it to be the new Dusek version..
 
A bank or lawyers office in Mobile might be willing to pay a nice chunk of change for a well finished model..  
 
At the least you might get a nice tax deduction  for donating to a local library..
I noticed Bluejacket wanted $10,800 for a completed model..
 
 

Blue jackets metal is an alloy they call “Britannia “, of which they are rather proud, since it will not oxidize or “cauliflower “, like other lead based metal fittings do over time. It is much like pewter, hence the expense. 
 
Wooden blocks can look kind of clunky in 1/8 scale, especially those supplied in foreign kits. (Not Chuck’s of course)
 
 

Roger,
Thanks I should have made the post clearer. I was about to pull the trigger on the kit, since not being able to find one that was comparable. There is the Revell plastic and the Mamoli Alabama on eBay. Been mulling this over for a week but the cost vs material made me come to my senses. Post is to verify I made right decision. Thanks for the offer that's what is great about this site good folks willing to help each other

Please advise if I am being nitpicky. The price of the kit is $ 749.00 I am a little disappointed in several of the supplied materials considering the cost of the kit. Most of the fittings including cannons are brittania or a base metal for the money I feel that at least he cannons should be brass. The pre etched deck does not in my opion look as good as planking (personal choice that can be changed by the builder.
I ordered deadeyes at one point before I realized they were metal and had to be painted or browned. I would have thought for the money wood deadeyes on the caliber of Chucks should be supplied.
I know they have a great reputation as for as instructions support and replacing parts. 
 
It just seems for the cost of that kit some parts should have been upgraded.
 
Am I being to critical, I bow to suggestions from the more experienced.