Paint, oh boy!

[Jammed Vickers]

I've been out of modeling for a number of years, until recently.  When I was last modeling, it was oil-based paint or nothing.  Pactra, Model Master, and Humbrol ruled the roost.  Acrylics or water-based paint was a curiosity fraught with failure.  Failure to smooth after spraying, failure to cure, and failure to match color.  Now, it seems that everyone uses them.  Have they improved that much?  I'm looking for some knowledge before buying paint.  Thanks in advance.

[kensar]

I'm probably the odd man out here, but I avoid acrylics as much as possible for large area base colors because they just don't stick to plastic like enamels and lacquers.  They do have their uses, like as a base color for wood grain parts due to using oil paints on top of them, and I use acrylic clear coats to protect painted parts when putting on washes, but as the main base color for large areas - nope.

I also find they are finicky when airbrushing - they need the right amount of thinner or they will be too thick and textured, or too runny. 
I also don't at all like the fact that they change color when dry vs when being mixed and sprayed on.
My experience is exclusively with Tamiya acrylic paints and there are numerous other brands that may not have these problems.
Guess I'm just old school.

[O_Pablo]

Hmm, I used to use Humbrol paints (I have a whole box of paints from the Authenic Colors series to WW II), unfortunately the world is moving forward and we probably won't run away from using acrylic paints.
From my experience, they require a bit more work to prepare the surface (washing, degreasing). They will also appreciate using a primer, but with a little practice they are no painting worse than the old Humbrols.

Best regards,
Paul

[Bughunter]

There are many different paints now on the market.

Beside the already mentioned enamel the are different acrylic based ones:
- water based (e.g. Vallejo, AK, ...) some say it may be problematic on specific airbrush types (lump)
- alcoholic based (e.g. Gunze H series, Tamiya ...) I like them, very forgiving
- lacquer based tinner (Mr.Paint, AK Real ...) great for airbrush, dried very quickly, but smell. That is not a problem with exhaust system.
That are all acryls (how the pigments bind) but differently thinned.

For cleaning your can use alcohol or airbrush cleaners, but for the airbrush I recommend the original thinner.

Cheers,
Frank

[jeroen_R90S]

I just use what I already have (Revell and Humbrol enamels, some of them over 30 years old, bought when I was in my teens!) and for acrylics I've tried a few which I thin with Tamiya X-20A (that seems to contain some sort of retarder?)
-vallejo/AK: paints well, but peels of quickly, even over primer and if left to dry for a few days
-Lifecolour: very thin and transparant, they do work but I find them a bit fiddly to get them to work
-my favourite: Revell Aqua, great coverage, thins well, almost no tip-dry (with X-20A) and if you thin them too much you can paint very fine lines. Also, most importantly, they STICK, even to bare plastics. They are great for brushpainting as well, I use these with my kids (thinned with plain water) and even if they slop it on (which they do, ages 8 and 5) it levels out beautifully. The main drawback I find is that they are not available everywhere, and quite a few colours will need mixing of sorts.
Also, the gloss paint/varnish is glossy, but not as brilliant as Tamiya.

Tamiya and Gunze are great too, but they smell a lot works and can't be thinned with water. I only use those for glosscoats (Tamiya X-22 with Mr Color levelling thinner). The smell is as bad as Humbrol or Revell enamel!

Jeroen