Acrylic Paint

[kinnies]

Ah, the perennial question ... which acrylic do you prefer (if you use acrylics, that is) for airbrushing?

I am making the switch from enamels (Humbrol) for the usual reasons - the chemicals, the pong, the longer drying time, the gas mask etc. I have also found Humbrol a bit inconsistent, but apart from all that, they have performed well for me over the years.

At first, I had trouble with acrylics. It has taken me quite a while to get good coverage from Tamiya, but now I like them a lot. I find they cover wonderfully and I can do lighter and heavier coats with few problems. However, their colour range is somewhat limited, I find. But since I am never satisfied I have also been experimenting with other brands.

Tonight I tried some Vallejo Model Air, which in recent months has appeared in my local model shops, and even with the retarder it plugged up my Iwata after a few passes. Admittedly, I did not use their thinner, just water (which I was told worked well). Then, when I tried to clean it, it gunked up a bit. Much harder to clean than Tamiya.

Then I sprayed some Xtracrylix, which I ordered months ago from Hannants. Thinned with a bit of Windex and with a drop or two of Vallejo retarder, it sprayed really well - great coverage, no clogging, no running - the mutt's nuts in fact.

I've not tried Mr Hobby or Gunze or Lifecolour, which I have read are quite good.

So, what are your favourites? your paint stories and experiences?

Cheers,
John

[Des]

My choice for a spraying acrylic is Gunze. I find when thinned with a tad of lacquer thinners it sprays and covers beautifully, it is quick drying and does not clog my air brush. Regardless of what paint I use I always wear a respirator just for my own safety. I have been using Humbrol enamels my whole modeling life and have had great success with them, but I am slowly switching over to the acrylics purely for the quick drying time. My air brush sprays the Gunze acrylics at around 26 - 30psi and it is easy to clean by simply running some lacquer thinners through the gun.

Des.

[Marco]

You can also thin Vallejo with Windex to reduce clogging. Vallejo works best at low pressures (7- 10 psi) and high thinning. It´s good to have a hard brush soaked in Windex to clean the tip of the needle every now and again. Do not try alcohol.

I´ve heard good things about Lifecolor paints thinned in their own thinner. These are readily available at Luckymodel.

[uncletony]

I've pretty much settled on Tamiya for spraying. I thin it with Tamiya thinner about 50:50; I like the way it handles out of the airbrush and for my purposes anyway the color range is fine -- but I'm happy mixing my own colors; for that they provide a decent range of base colors.

For brush painting I have experimented a bit with Citadel; apart from the truly awful names (at least they dropped "vomit brown") the stuff is interesting and a bit easier to handle but it doesn't lay down like Tamiya. There have been a couple of threads elsewhere on how to get Tamiya to work from a brush. It can be done but you have to rethink your approach completely.

[gcn]

I find Gunze ever so slightly better than Tamiya but they are head and shoulders IMO above the rest. I tend to thin both with Gunze levelling thinner.

[Chris Johnson]

I use Tamiya in the first instance because it sprays and brushes well, and is readily available here. I also use Vallejo but although they have an excellent range of colours I find it doesn't handle very well, and as you've found, blocks the airbrush even when thinned. It's a good second choice.

This mirrors my experience too.

Cheers,

Chris

[Bluesfan]

Though I'm only a recent convert to acrylics, and a dedicated brush painter, I feel I ought to speak up for Misterkit. I've had some difficulties handling Tamiya paint but from the comments above I guess I will 'get the knack' in due course. But it's been a pleasure to use the Misterkit paints and, of course, they're comfortingly labelled with the names of the exact colours we want for our Great War subjects. Um yes I don't know if I'm being a bit trusting about their accuracy, but the results look nice

Mark

[Dave Brewer]

I like Misterkit too,I used to thin it with Future but just this week tried Tamiya acrylic thinner (X-20A) and achieved even better results.I use Gunze and Tamiya for non WW1 subjects,thinned with the same thinner or Mr Color Thinner.One thing to be careful of is spraying Tamiya over gloss Gunze,which takes some time to dry completely-I have seen an apparently good finish deteriorate badly over time due to  presumeably the variation in drying times between the 2 brands.Judging by posts on other forums this is pretty common.
Cheers,
Dave.

[kinnies]

Hi all,
Some interesting responses. I've never heard of Misterkit paint before. I'll have to check them out online. Tamiya are difficult to use with the old hair stick, and I only brush them on very small parts. Certainly you have to be careful not to brush over a wet coat. If I have to brush larger bits, I use enamels and I still find enamels and lacquers best for metallics.
I used Vallejo on my Albi prop. First I primed it with Krylon primer, then when that cured used Vallejo. After it was thoroughly cured, I could literally rub it off with my thumb.
Cheers,
John

[drdave]

I never got on with Vallejo. i use mister kit, gunze but mainly tamiya thinned with cellulose thinners. Xtracryix are good. The other thing is that jars of gunze and tamiya can be a nightmare to open!

[NP]

I have various pots of Tamiya, Lifecolor, Vallejo modelair, misterkit and gunze and like them all.  I have not had any problem with vallejo modelair clogging my airbrush, maybe thats because I don't (have the skill to) do detail work so it doesn't stay in the brush for long, plus I use a low pressure.   I have some vallejo brand thinner to use with their non-modelair paint for something I want to do but one whiff of the thinner does wicked things to my lungs so I'm only going to use that outdoors.  I'm trying to remember what I used to thin the misterkit, I think it was a mix of water and lifecolour thinner, so I was surprised to read that Tamiya brand thinner works.  Its all a matter  of trial and error (for me), anyway 

Idea -  I use matt plasti-kote fast dry enamel project paint aerosol spracy tins for spraying flat (ie where you are not concerned with heavy paint burying fine detail) large-ish white areas, white not always being the easiest colour to spray.  Do a thin coat at a time and it works very well.  £5 for a 100ml can.

http://www.plasti-kote.co.uk/Product/pcode---4427/pccode---6751

[Des]

Drdave,  yes, I also have trouble opening the Gunze paint lids once they have been sitting for a while, I always wipe the lip and thred of the bottle but the lids still seem to stick very well. Running the lids under very hot water will usually loosen them, if that fails it time for the hammer.

Des.

[gcn]

Get yourself the Mr jar opener. Its a godsend and deals with both Tamiya and Gunze jars and I've yet to have a jar beat me, or even come remotely close to putting up a decent challenge for that matter.

[uncletony]

Regarding the acrylic jar lids -- stir, don't shake, keep them upright and remember to wipe the glass rim before closing them up, snd you wont have many problems. Hot water works but it spoils the label...

[Chris Johnson]

Channel Locks have never failed me yet when opening a stubborn top, and I suspect most of us have them on hand for plumbing and other household jobs.



Cheers,

Chris