I’ve been experimenting with Tamiya Acrylic thinned more than normal in order to do the pre-shading and black basing blend coat.
The blend coat is supposed to be very thin in order to let the shade show through a little. This thin blend coat has been drying awful. There are spots or splotches where there is more thinner than paint (sort of separation once it hits the model), then the paint itself… creating a sort of patchwork thing on the model. I guess the solution is to keep trying until I get the ratio correct but it still has to be a very thin blend coat to not cover the pre-shade or black base (which I learned from Doog). Any recommendations? I use a Badger 200 NH siphon feed which requires a higher pressure in general. I also used a 250-2 to do a larger section of the model and that may have been part of the problem. BTW I always use Tamiya thinner to mix the paint.
I can’t say anything about acrylics, as I have never used them. I thin enamels about 50/50…maybe just a touch more thinner, but not much. That still seems to be translucent enough to not completely block out all the work underneath…even with several coats.
My normal Tamiya ratio for normal everyday spraying is about 50/50 maybe a little less thinner. I have been instructed that this blend coat should be about 75% thinner (very thin). So it could be my particular brush and or the pressure setting, or doing too big an area at a time. Hence my use of the 250 (no needle) in trying to do a bigger area, which really blew out the mixture onto the model. My 200NH with a fine needle is a different beast.
What you have to remember is, these black base guys are all using lacquers. they will thin Tamiya paint with lacquer thinner. Tamiya and X 20A thinners perform poorly for me, but I use Gunze aqueous with Mr Hobby thinner in the blue label.
Thinning is not the only way to reduce the opacity of paint. On a good airbrush you can usually dial back the paint flow enough to put down fairly translucent layers of paint. So if you have problems with the thinner mixes, try putting down thinner layers with reduced flow.
I agree with Don about the thinned paint. I just painted a tank and used a somewhat black and white technique. I used a light grey primer then sprayed a very dark grey along all the edges. Then sprayed the base coat (Vallejo acrylic). I used three very light coats to achieve the coverage I was looking for. I thnned the paint as I would any time I paint. I dialed down the pressure a bit: 10-15 lbs, then kept the airbrush a distance from the model.
I am going to try thinning a little less and controlling the flow a little more, as Don and hogfanfs suggest. Maybe reduce pressure a little.
That is generally the look I’m after hogfanfs. Thanks for posting those photos.
The only thing I have to be carefull about with acrylics is the increased probability of a sand pebble finish the further I hold the brush away from the model. This as the paint dries slightly “in flight” if I am too far away.
My base coat on the tank was with Vallejo acrylics. But, I always use a few drop of Vallejo flow improver. I’ve started to use Tamiya acrylics too, and I plan to purchase the Tamiya paint retarder. That may not be a bad idea for you to investigate as well.
