Acrylic? Enamel? What brands do you think are the best? Do you mix them yourself? Do you dilute them? What brushes are best for large areas? Best brushes for details? Do you use masking tape to mask off details like window frames? Is airbrushing absolutely the way to go? Thanks for your input!
Other than priming, I almost exclusively use acrylics. You can pick up a nice assortment of camelhair brushes in the crafts section at Walmart without breaking the bank. And, since I bought my first airbrush this year, other than trim on buildings, and small detail parts, I use it without even thinking. One note, you can get inexpensive bottles of acrylic paints in bottles at Walmart, too. They cover small parts with a brush quite well straight out of the bottle, but require thinning when using an airbrush. When using hobby acrylics, such as Model Master, I thin them about 1:1 with rubbing alcohol. With the bottled acrylics from Walmart, it’s more like 1 part paint:3 parts alcohol. I use alcohol as a thinner, because:
- It flows much better than water.
- It dries much faster than water.
I use Floquil rattle can primer when I can get up to the city to buy some. Otherwise, I use the $1.07 rattle can that I get at Walmart (I guess I should buy some stock at Walmart, huh?) I don’t bother masking off the window details, because I don’t apply a very heavy coat. For “brick” buildings, I don’t primer them at all, except for the inside walls. I paint the inside walls, so that after I paint the insides, I don’t have that “glowing building” look when the lights inside are on.
I hope this helps.
Hi,
I’ve used Testors and Model Makers enamel & acrylics for literally decades and found them to do the job nicely. I’ve built up quite a handful of different types of brushes, and suggest that you not buy the cheapest, and there is no need for the real expensive ones. A mid-priced brush, properly cared for, will last “forever”.
Most of the paints are flat (non gloss), and I’ve often mixed custom colors and / or thinned them as needed. Also, I found that the $10 battery powered stirrer (check hobby shops or Micromart) is a major help in properly preparing the paints.
I have also used spray paints (from the same mfgs above), but only for special applications. Buildings and structures - to me - are much better painted by brush.
Lastly, I often spray Dull-Cote over the finished models to take away any shine. With rare exceptions, most everything we see is “flat”.
If you have a proper brush (and some degree of skill), you will find the need to mask buildings (NOT so much autos or RR cars) unnecessary.
By the way, this is definitely one of those areas where experience can make a significant difference. Go slow, use two thin coats rather than one thick one (if needed), and let it dry thoroughly before handling or painting adjacent colors.
ENJOY,
Mobilman44
I pretty much go down the way with the previous two responders… on all points, and they follow what I do regularly. I echo that the hobby paint stirrer is a real help for mixing and thinning. When I started to wash in dish soap and rinse my plastic structure kits before painting, it helped immensely. I only started using an air brush recently, and really like it for the major kit parts, doing the rest by hand with a brush.
The paint job really makes the model … so go slow, tend to use thinner paint with a second coat. I found using my eye magnifying head piece when hand painting really helps too. What seems like small blemishes or mistakes with it, often can’t be seen with the naked eye or are insignificant.
There have been other threads on this subject with excellent contributions… so you might use the search to locate them.
Keep on paintn’
Hal.