Stupid question, im just curious. There is no “best” paint, i just want opinions. I’m not new to modeling, but i just wanna know what you guys think about different brands of paint. So!! Which do you think is the best overall? best Acrylic? best Enamel? you favorite Brand? etc.
It’s certainly not a stupid question, and if you use the search feature you can probably find a variety of threads on the subject.
Generally I like Model Master Enamel. It paints well both with airbrush and paintbrush. It adheres well without needing any primiing or other special surface preparations. It is easily found in a wide variety of colors.
A lot of people cite toxicity as a knock on enamels, but I don’t think that the exposure I get building models for the time that I’m building is great enough to make that much of a consideration.
I also do use acrylics, both Tamiya and Model Master Acryls. Aside from a more limited Tamiya color selection and Tamiyas nifty little bottles, I use the two brands interchangeably. I have never experienced any sort of paint and/or thinner incompatibility between the brands.
I like acrylics for there superior adhesion to old style vinyl tracks found in armor kits produced through the early '90’s. I also use them in certain brush painting and washing situations where I don’t want to risk having an airbushed base coat lift as I am brushpainting or washing on top. Brushpainting with enamel won’t lift an acrylic base coat and vice versa.
There are some colors found in acrylic not found in enamels.
One thing I do like about acrylics vs enamels, is that I have never had acrylic paint spoil on me. Even highly thinned mixes of Tamiya/MM Acryls mixtures seem to last indefinitely. Highly thinned Enamels stored the same way will congeal into a useless blob in the bottom of the jar.
Basically take your pick and use whatever suits your task at hand.
Andy
This is like asking which is better: blondes, brunettes or redheads? (correct answer is D all of the above).
I use Tamiya acrylics. Very easy to clean up, just soap and water, and Windex or Simple Green for the airbrush. Also easy to find. Nice and smooth for airbrushing, but it requires a bit of know-how to brush this paint.
I’ve heard only good things about Vallejo and Polly-Scale, but my LHS doesn’t stock it. I don’t bother with ordering paints online, as what a pain to find you’re out of flat black and it takes too long to ship to Canada!
Model Master Acryl and Enamels are very popular as well. I’ve occasionally used the Acryl line when I can’t get a close match using Tamiya. They can be painted over each other, but I’ve never tried mixing them.
I prefer mud, mixed with egg whites……
Just kidding!
My favorites are Polly Scale and Tamiya acrylics. I also have heard good things about Vallejo. The new Hawkeye’s Hobbies Talon metallic acrylics have gotten rave reviews so far, but I haven’t tried them yet.
I do disagree with Abarne’s statement about the potential hazards of enamels. It isn’t the paint so much as the solvents that are dangerous. However, used with proper care (avoiding skin contact and having proper ventilation) they are just as “safe” to use as acrylics. That is not to say that the same precautions should not be taken with acrylics—they very much should be!
The real point about acrylics is that you can clean up in the sink with common cleaning materials that you probably already have on hand. No worse than washing the dishes.
Alright, thanks guys! I just ordered some Humbrols and Vallejo paints to try for myself from squadron.
My point was not to imply that there were no potential hazards from enamels, or as you point out their solvents. Rather it is that as a hobbyist builder, I actually spend very little time each week either airbrushing or simply being exposed to an open jar of thinner. I think most us here most likely fall into that same category. As such, I think that with simple common sense precautions there is not an overly great hazard to using enamel paints. It was therefore from that perspective, that I minimize the toxcity difference.
For someone who is professionally occupied in some capacity where they were airbrushing and cleaning with solvent for several hours each day, I might be inclined to advance the toxicity as a significant consideration in the enamel vs. acrylic choice.
Andy
(emphasis mine—RAM)
I understand your point, and I agree completely with this statement. But there’s the rub, Andy! Common sense is anything but common.
While the difference is probably real, I don’t think it is well to overemphasize it, any more than de-emphasizing the hazards of the enamel system—I fear that doing so may help people abandon common sense.
Forgive me if I’m a little cynical about common sense care and precautions. How many times have you seen me harping and carping about safe practices with chemicals in the forums[soapbox]—and then I go and neglect to turn on the vent fan when I open the can of MEK…[D)] [banghead] If someone with my background, knowledge, experience, exposure, and relative intelligence can be foolish…well, no doubt you see my point. [sigh]
With all this toxic stuff you guys make me feel like i’ve already taken ten years off my life! [V] (which, seriously, haven’t i probly taken some years off my life?) That means ten less years to play with my airbrush comin today! I’m in the process of changing to acryls except come colors only come in enamels.
Like Andy said: USE COMMON SENSE.
The point is not to go heedlessly and willfully in harm’s way. Given a sufficient quantity of that most uncommon of virtues—common sense—it is probably one of the safest pastimes you can have, especially when you consider the various sharp and pointy tools we use.
@#!% happens. You cannot completely avoid @#!%. So doesn’t it make sense to avoid standing down range, where the concentration of @#!% is higher?
It is impossible to make anything idiot-proof, because we idiots are so darn clever! [D)][:-,]
Years ago, when I wrote my article “Safety with Glues and Paints” for FSM, Paul Boyer called me and said: “I can’t publish this, it will scare people away! It nearly scares me away!”
I replied, “Paul, you are not half as scared as I am, and I’m not giving up modeling!”
Don’t be scared—be cautious.
Ok…well i’m not airbrushing outside [:(!] ! So I’m gonna get a good respirator i guess and find a vacant window…
We’re just covering our butts, Ben. I’ve yet to find a substance that doesn’t cause harm. Gold is inert, but many wars have been fought over gold, so it’s a killer too!
Ross and Andy are both right. We shouldn’t discount the potential dangers of our hobby paints, and yet we shouldn’t be so paranoid that we don’t use them, at all. There are many substances found in and around our homes that are every bit as harmful (if not more!) as enamel paints and their solvents, and yet we don’t worry too much about them: propane, chlorine bleach, laundry ammonia, gas for the lawn mowers just to name a few. Our furnaces put out carbon monoxide, our kitchens are stocked with sharp knives, our tool boxes filled with sharp implements, well, you get the idea.
The smart thing is to treat all of these products with that rarest of commodities: Common Sense! Adequate ventilation, using a respirator, proper storage and handling go a long way to mitigating the dangers.
I use acrylics for the simple fact that I don’t need to use harsh chemicals to clean up. The paints themselves are not really that much less toxic, but since I can use plain old soap and water, I’m not compounding the danger.
And speaking of Common Sense, I found this on another forum:
Obituary for Common Sense
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn’t always fair, and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know my Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I’m a Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing…
Author unknown
Yea…So lots of things are dangerous and you just sorta go with it…I won’t quit modeling because of that…Common sense isn’t that common to some people though.
Bill, that would be funny if it weren’t so true.
And when molten, gold is anything but harmless…just ask Crassus…
Yeah, note the lack of smileys!
And I never said gold was harmless, only inert, and that is only in it’s natural state, not molten.
Crassus wasn’t the only example (if indeed the legend is true!), the ancient Caliph’s would “reward” messengers by filling their mouths with gold. If they didn’t like the message, they would melt the gold first.
LOL…I bet it was melted more times than solid.
Same here, and I bet they made sure to get it all back, too!
Almost anything in life is potentially dangerous if one is careless. Automobiles are quite dangerous when driven too fast while not wearing seatbelts after drinking too much and while talking on a cell phone (or in some combination thereof). Cleaning one’s bathroom with all the interesting chemical cleaners available can be positively deadly depending upon the how much cleaner is used, what cleaners are mixed together, and whether or not the window is open while cleaning. Model building paints and glues obviously some potential for harm if used in great quantities with no ventilation.
That said, a lot of people do drive cars without causing harm to themselves and others. Many people do in fact clean their bathrooms regularly and still live to a ripe old age. In the same vein, there’s no reason why one cannot enjoy building models without taking years off your life.
I don’t have an airbrush yet, so I have to hand brush. I find the Model Master acrylic paints very good for this job. They dry quickly so I can lay a new coating in minutes and it settles very well, no brush strokes are visible.
The best paint is the paint that is best for the user, all subject matter about common sense being dispursed and the rest of the conversation is lost, sorry guys I had to get back to the subject which if I’m not mistaken is about paint.
My father had his PhD in Chemistry, worked for 40 years at Eastman Kodak as a research scientist, had every known chemical around him in the work he did in photography and managed to live through all of it and had one thing to say about paints. Be careful!
Acrylic paints are less hazardous and in their own right easier to work around, not to say that the hazards don’t exist. My experience with enamel paint is not as enjoyable as acrylics and growing up to see the change was great. Now onto bigger and better:
Craft paints (mentioned in many of my threads in these forums and in the Model Railroader forums) are my favorite and possibly someone else’s, they clean up, mix with and coat better with water, or as I mentioned windshield wiper fluid or isopropyl alcohol. Airbrushed they go on nicely at approx. 30-40 psi when thinned to about 50-50 with any of the above mixes. They store nicely in the plastic canisters that hold rolls of film. Additionally the craft colors do in fact, to the tee match every military and RR color I have seen. Simply get a color chart and see for yourself. If not I’ll eat my hat! They are what I call the alternative to matched paint and I think the closely resembled colors are very accurate. Back to the “right paint”
As I post more about paints, I will make references to my previous posts about that same thing, that covers most of the paint subjects. I used Redlead paint in the Navy, that was really a nasty odor and inside would surely kill a person if not for respirators. Don’t go using that paint, for Pete’s sake, and by the way, Haze gray, there is no such color, sorry all you ship fans, it’s deck gray and medium gray on most ships and the term, Haze Gray and Underway, means to all of us sailors, we’re not going to be in port for a while!
Thanks to all for putting up with this post[8D]
John Staehle
Thanks…Can Anyone tell me where to get a color chart…Like a big thing with lotsa colors all over it? Preferably the FS (Federal Standard) Chart?