Mr. Hobby Mr. Color 10ml Lacquer Paint – Pro-Grade Japanese Model Paint
The Mr. Hobby Mr. Color line is a Japanese-manufactured lacquer paint system produced by GSI Creos (formerly Gunze Sangyo), used as the default airbrush paint for serious scale modelers across Gunpla, military aircraft, armor, ship, automotive, and figure modeling. The standard 10ml bottle is the most widely-sold paint format in Japanese modeling, and the C-series numbering system (C1 through C189, with extensions into C300+ for FS-coded military colors) has become a de-facto reference standard that other paint brands cross-reference in their conversion charts.
The chemistry distinguishes Mr. Color from the water-based hobby paint category. Lacquer paint contains pigment suspended in a solvent that flashes off quickly during application, leaving a durable cured surface that holds up to subsequent masking, decal application, panel-line wash, and clear-coat sealing without lifting. Water-based acrylics handle differently and cannot substitute for lacquer in workflows that depend on cure hardness — most masking-heavy multi-color builds, panel-line wash workflows, and competition-level finishes are built on lacquer paint specifically for this reason.
The trade-off is ventilation. Lacquer fumes require proper airflow and a respirator rated for organic vapors when airbrushing. Builders working in tight indoor spaces without exhaust ventilation should plan for spray-booth work or schedule painting sessions for outdoor weather. This is a professional modeling tool, not a casual hobby paint — the durability and finish quality come from a chemistry that demands respect.
Color Range Reference
The variants in this listing are organized by typical application. Select the specific Mr. Color SKU you need from the variant dropdown above.
Primary Gloss Colors: The bedrock palette every modeler needs — C1 Gloss White, C2 Gloss Black, C3 Gloss Red, C4 Gloss Yellow, C5 Gloss Blue, C6 Gloss Green, plus C33 Flat Black and C62 Flat White for matte applications. C156 Super White IV is the high-opacity white base coat used for car bodies and applications where a single-pass solid white is needed. These are the foundation colors used directly or as base coats for custom mixing.
Gundam / Mecha Character Colors: The Character series (C107 through C112+) is Mr. Hobby's dedicated palette for Mobile Suit Gundam and other anime mecha — semi-gloss finishes formulated to match official Bandai kit color call-outs. C107 Character White, C108 Character Red, C109 Character Yellow, and C110 Character Blue cover the core Federation mobile suit color scheme.
Aircraft Modeling Colors: Authentic Luftwaffe RLM-coded shades for German WWII aircraft — C36 RLM74 Gray Green, C114 RLM23 Red, C115 RLM65 Light Blue, C116 RLM66 Black Gray, C117 RLM76 Light Blue, C120 RLM80 Olive Green, and C123 RLM83 Dark Green cover the core Luftwaffe palette from early-war Bf 109 through late-war Fw 190 and Me 262 schemes. Add US Federal Standard military colors (C13 Neutral Gray, FS-coded specialty grays in the C300 series like C311 FS36622 and C338 FS36495) and RAF-pattern colors (C22 Dark Earth) for British WWII aviation builds.
Tank and Ground Vehicle Colors: C40 German Gray (Wehrmacht Panzergrau), C12 Olive Drab for US armor, C19 Sandy Brown for desert and Africa Korps schemes, C41 Red Brown for camouflage and weathering, C137 Tire Black for rubber components, and C29 Hull Red for ship hulls and below-waterline applications.
Metallic and Clear Colors: C8 Silver and C9 Gold cover the basic metallic palette, C28 Steel and C104 Gun Chrome handle weapon and mechanical detail, C159 Super Silver delivers a high-shine finish for show-quality builds. Clear colors (C46 Clear, C47 Clear Red) are used over metallic base coats for candy-color effects on car models or as tinted gloss coats over decals.
Why Modelers Choose Mr. Color
Common feedback themes from Mr. Color users at Gundam Planet, USA Gundam Store, Mecha Universe, and across the broader scale modeling community center on three points: finish quality on the first coat, cure hardness for masking-heavy builds, and color accuracy for reference-coded shades.
The first-coat finish is where Mr. Color separates from cheaper alternatives. Where many water-based hobby paints need 2-3 coats to reach full opacity and a smooth surface, Mr. Color routinely delivers an even finish in a single pass at 1:1 thinning ratio. For builders moving up from Vallejo, Tamiya Acrylic, or basic hobby paints, the difference in coverage and surface quality is the most-cited reason for switching.
The cure hardness matters most on multi-color masking workflows. Mr. Color's lacquer cure resists tape pull, masking film adhesion, and the inevitable handling that happens during a complex paint job. Water-based acrylics can lift under masking tape if not perfectly cured; lacquer paint at proper cure does not.
The color accuracy is why Mr. Color shows up as the reference standard in third-party paint conversion charts. RLM codes, FS codes, BS381C codes, and the Bandai-coordinated Character colors are all formulated to match the actual reference standard — not "approximately like" the color, but the documented spectrophotometric match.
