Help & FAQ

Koloi Aqua is our water-based acrylic paint system for scale models, made in our own colour lab in Portugal. It has three steps designed to work together: Primer, Colour and Clear. It sprays straight from the bottle and cleans up with water, so there are no strong solvent fumes at the bench.

No. Every Koloi Aqua bottle is ready to airbrush straight from the bottle, with the same result from every bottle.

A 0.2–0.4 mm nozzle (0.3–0.4 mm for primer) at around 20 PSI (1.4 bar). Apply light, cross-hatched coats and let each coat flash off before the next. Several thin coats always beat one heavy coat.

• Pure White: for bright colours such as reds, oranges and yellows, which are naturally translucent and stay vivid over white.
• Neutral Grey: the all-round base for most solid colours.
• Dark Grey and Deep Black: for dark colours, and black as the base for metallics, pearls and candies, which read deepest over a smooth gloss black base.

Clean the parts first with warm water and a drop of detergent, rinse and let them dry completely.

Yes, we recommend it. The clear coat protects the colour from handling and fingerprints, seals decals so their edges disappear, and sets the final sheen. Koloi Aqua Clear comes in Gloss, Satin and Matte. Clear Gloss can be polished once fully cured for a mirror finish.

Let each coat flash off before the next. Wait at least 2 hours after the colour before masking or clear-coating, and let the clear coat cure fully before handling, masking or polishing.

With water, before the paint dries.

The pigment is finely ground for 1:8 to 1:72, so panel lines and small details stay crisp. For large bodies (1:8 to 1:12, R/C shells, bases) the 400 ml spray is faster.

18 ml, 30 ml, 60 ml and 120 ml bottles, and selected colours as a 400 ml spray can.

Estimated shelf life of more than 12 months, tightly closed, between +10 °C and +28 °C, away from frost and direct sunlight. Shake well before use. If the paint has thickened or separated and does not remix, do not use it.

Our colours are matched to the manufacturers' paint codes (OEM, RAL and others). The image on screen is indicative: the final tone also depends on the primer, the number of coats and the clear coat, and every screen shows colour slightly differently. The colour finder on our homepage works from photos, so use its matches as a starting point.

It is water-based and has no strong solvent fumes, but it is still paint: work in a ventilated room, wear a mask when airbrushing and keep it out of reach of children. The primers cause serious eye irritation, so wear eye protection. Safety Data Sheets are available on request.

A ready-to-use 400 ml aerosol can with Koloi Aqua colour, for larger surfaces such as 1:8, 1:10 and 1:12 bodies, R/C shells, bases and big static models. No airbrush, no thinning and no cleaning.

Shake the can for at least one minute, then spray light, even passes from about 20–30 cm, keeping the can moving. Let each coat cure fully before masking or clear-coating.

Aerosol cans are dangerous goods for transport (UN1950), whatever the paint inside. They travel by road only, to Portugal and continental EU countries. They cannot be sent by air, to the islands or outside the EU.

Yes. Order the Custom Colour product, or use "Request a custom colour" in the colour finder on our homepage. Give us the colour name, the paint code (OEM, RAL or other) and the vehicle or model. A photo of the real car, motorbike or truck helps. Custom colours are available as airbrush bottles or as a 400 ml spray, not for brush.

Solid and metallic colours cost the same as our catalogue colours. Tri-coat colours (base + pearl mid-coat) and special effects (candy, chameleon, flakes) are quoted individually: send us your request and we reply with a quote.

No. Custom colours are mixed to order for you, so they cannot be returned unless they are faulty.

No. Our solvent-based lacquer range is final stock: no restock. Koloi Aqua is our main paint line.

They are pre-thinned for the airbrush. Apply over a primer, at 1.5–2 bar with a 0.2–0.4 mm nozzle, in thin layers, in a room between 20 °C and 22 °C. If needed, thin only with Fire Scale Modeler thinner (FSC027); white spirit, acrylic thinner and cellulose thinner are not suitable. Clean the airbrush with Fire Scale airbrush cleaner or acetone. Full instructions are in the product pages.

2 parts clear coat + 1 part activator + 1 part 2K thinner, added in that order. Apply two coats with 5–10 minutes between them. It air-dries in 24 hours at 20 °C. Our 2K clears are isocyanate-free.

They are flammable dangerous goods: road only within Europe, by sea to the islands (longer delivery), and they cannot be shipped outside Europe. They are sold to adults (18+) only.

Within 1 to 4 business days after payment is confirmed. Pre-order items follow the date on the product page.

We ship from Torres Vedras, Portugal, with tracking on every parcel: DPD (SEUR in Spain) or CTT in Portugal, Spain and Europe, CTT to the islands and CTT international outside Europe. Estimated transit: Portugal and Spain 1–3 business days (islands 3–10), EU 3–7, UK 5–12, Americas 7–20, Asia and Middle East 10–20, Oceania 12–25.

Yes, applied automatically from: €60 in mainland Portugal, €75 in mainland Spain, €75 to the Portuguese and Spanish islands, and €200 to the rest of Europe (DPD). Shipping costs are always shown at checkout before you pay.

Yes. Import duties, taxes and clearance fees are charged by the destination country and paid by the customer. Some countries require a tax ID to clear the parcel (for example CPF/CNPJ in Brazil): enter it at checkout.

Email us as soon as possible, with photos of the box and the items if you can. Do not send back broken or leaking paint: we replace or refund it.

A pre-order is paid in full and reserves your unit from the first batch. If the date on the product page passes and you no longer want to wait, you can cancel for a full refund. Orders mixing stock and pre-order items ship together when the pre-order arrives.

Card (Visa, Mastercard), PayPal, Klarna, MB WAY, Multibanco reference and bank transfer. The methods available for your country are shown at checkout. Prices are in euros and include VAT where applicable.

Yes. An invoice is issued for every order: enter your tax number (NIF/VAT) at checkout.

As soon as the payment arrives. Orders not paid within 3 days are cancelled automatically. For a bank transfer, use your order number as the reference.

No, you can check out as a guest.

Yes, within 14 days of receiving it, without giving a reason. Tell us by email with your order number and send the items back within 14 days. The return shipping is paid by the customer. Opened paints, varnishes, thinners and other chemicals, and custom colours, cannot be returned.

All new products have a 3-year legal guarantee. If a product is faulty, we repair, replace or refund it, including the shipping costs. Normal wear of airbrush needles, nozzles and seals, and paint stored contrary to the label, are not covered.

Yes: subscribe to our newsletter and get 10% off your first order.

Yes. Send us a photo of a model you painted with our products, from any of our ranges, and get a single-use 10% discount code valid for 60 days. Every new photo earns a new code. Selected photos appear in our gallery, always credited to the author.

Email geral@firescalemodeler.com, phone or WhatsApp +351 914 442 894. Fire Scale Modeler, Rua dos Moleiros, Lote 14 – Varatojo, 2560-237 Torres Vedras, Portugal.