Symphony Paints

[monkeyhanger]

Does anyone have any experience of using Symphony paint?  I have recently been recommended it. I normally use Craftmaster paints which are excellent, but find them a bit quick drying for my brush wielding talents. I need to buy some more paint, so before I do I'd be grateful to hear other people's opinions.

[mrsmelly]

5 minutes ago, monkeyhanger said:

Does anyone have any experience of using Symphony paint?  I have recently been recommended it. I normally use Craftmaster paints which are excellent, but find them a bit quick drying for my brush wielding talents. I need to buy some more paint, so before I do I'd be grateful to hear other people's opinions.

Mine was painted using this paint a couple or three months ago. Its still stuck tut boat and looks fine. Chap who painted it liked it and the boatyard always use it for private jobs and the hire fleet.

[dmr]

Ive used it a bit, though I got the raddle (semi matt) version. It was very nice paint to use.

I got Oxford Blue and it was a very different shade to Rylards Oxford blue so not sure how accurate the colours are.

I believe its made by HMG who also produce the paint for Cratmaster, but will not (I assume) be to the same formulation. I think its the same stuff that was previously marketed as Narrow Boat Paint.

I also am not a particularly good painter and keeping a wet edge can be a problem, especially if the sun is shining. A bit of additive really helps and Craftmaster make an additive just for this purpose, its called PPA.

............Dave

[Athy]

Did you have to paint the boat in five movements?

I use Craftmaster and had not heard of Symphony (a new company? a re-branding of an existing one?) so I'll be interested to read any further comments and comparisons.

[mrsmelly]

9 minutes ago, Athy said:

Did you have to paint the boat in five movements?

I use Craftmaster and had not heard of Symphony (a new company? a re-branding of an existing one?) so I'll be interested to read any further comments and comparisons.

As the above post it was previously branded as " Narrow boat paint " It is much cheaper than many.

[Athy]

Just now, mrsmelly said:

As the above post it was previously branded as " Narrow boat paint " It is much cheaper than many.

Thanks. I think we used H. Marcel Guest's paints on one of our previous boats but I can't remember what its actual brand name was.

 

[mrsmelly]

5 minutes ago, Athy said:

Thanks. I think we used H. Marcel Guest's paints on one of our previous boats but I can't remember what its actual brand name was.

 

I know that Clifton cruisers always used it on their green hire fleet, Oxfordshire narrowboats use it on theirs, blue of course as you will see plenty of them on your mooring.

[matty40s]

We have switched to Symphony ( formerly rapid paints?) In the last 18 months as Sayers paints changed from reliable to extremely unreliable. Symphony mix masons p type and any other we ask for.

Oxford Blue has at least 3 different shades that I know of,  depending on which paint Co colour swatch you are looking at.

[alan_fincher]

1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

As the above post it was previously branded as " Narrow boat paint " It is much cheaper than many.

Not sure about much cheaper?

It's true that Narrowboat Paint used to slightly undercut Craftmaster, but unless you could talk up a big discount, not by a lot in our experience. (One unusual thing was the price of a 2.5 litre tin was always precisely 2.5 times the price of a 1 litre tin, so no incentive at all to buy the big ones).

Having used both Narrowboat Paint and Craftmaster almost interchangeably, we found the two remarkably similar  I would suggest that if the Symphony rebranded product now handles noticeably differently from Craftmaster then the formulation of one or the other (or both!) may well have changed.

[john6767]

I believe Symphony paint was used when our boat was repainted two years ago.  Looks good to me, but no idea what it was like to apply.

[mrsmelly]

10 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

Not sure about much cheaper?

It's true that Narrowboat Paint used to slightly undercut Craftmaster, but unless you could talk up a big discount, not by a lot in our experience. (One unusual thing was the price of a 2.5 litre tin was always precisely 2.5 times the price of a 1 litre tin, so no incentive at all to buy the big ones).

Having used both Narrowboat Paint and Craftmaster almost interchangeably, we found the two remarkably similar  I would suggest that if the Symphony rebranded product now handles noticeably differently from Craftmaster then the formulation of one or the other (or both!) may well have changed.

Yes it seems good enough paint at the price. It was cheaper at trade price than going to B and q for their dulux so that's why I used it. Raddle on the roof and gloss on the sides. I honestly wouldn't know a good paint from a crap one but it seems to do the job.

[pearley]

Our boat was originally painted with Masons 10 years ago but since then all repaint and touch up has been Symphony y. I take them in a sample and they mix it to match. 

Edited November 17, 2017 by pearley

[Richard10002]

When I use Craftmaster, I add 10% of their own brand thinners, (PPA). They say not to add more than 5%, but I got an amazing result even though I added 10%, and kept a great wet edge.

This summer I painted my roof with their grey raddle but couldnt get any PPA, so added nothing. Couldnt keep a wet edge for long enough, and it dried too quickly - not such an amazing result

[Rob-M]

Our boat was painted with Symphony, we liked the colour shades that were available. One thing I am struggling with though is being able to buy a small touch up pot as I don't want a big 2.5 litre tin (well hopefully not for touching up).

[matty40s]

1 hour ago, Rob-M said:

Our boat was painted with Symphony, we liked the colour shades that were available. One thing I am struggling with though is being able to buy a small touch up pot as I don't want a big 2.5 litre tin (well hopefully not for touching up).

Which colours are you needing rob?? (Ral no's best)

[Tony Brooks]

I found Symphony hard to brush paint with because it did not flow out and showed the brush marks. I happily admit I am no painter so maybe it needed thinning a bit straight from a new tin. So far for ease of application by an armature I like Johonsons oil based gloss from my local Johnsons store. They mix to BS & RAL numbers but not Masons house names. So far their red and green have been on a couple of years and look fine. They also mix a very small tin (smaller than 750ml) if they have the tins.

[mark99]

PPA = Phils Paint Additive.

[dmr]

2 hours ago, mark99 said:

PPA = Phils Paint Additive.

And I believe that a rival company also makes, or made. a PPA. I suspect they thought PPA was the generic name for paint additive rather than a Phils personal product.

I also think that Phil re-invented the term Raddle to mean a semi-matt enamel and everybody now uses that name too.

................Dave

[Tony Brooks]

Actually I tried a bit of Owltrol with little effect but as I said I am no painter.

[dmr]

44 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Actually I tried a bit of Owltrol with little effect but as I said I am no painter.

I have tried that too, its often recommended, but I felt it only marginally improved the brushing but did make the paint take much longer to dry fully. The PPA works much much better for me.

...............Dave