Hello,
I have a few aircraft models to paint and have noticed that Model Master Paints have a nice selection of colors that match the real aircraft colors. I have always used Tamiya acrylics put they do not have a lot of the colors the models call for. Are the Model Master Acrylic paints as good as the Tamiya acrylic paints? Is there any thing I should know that would make these two paints different when airbrushing them?
Thank You,
George
Here are a few things of concern people have commented on about MM Acryl paints:
That’s all I can think of now. I had used them for years before switching to Tamiya.
Jesse
I tried them a couple of times, but never had any luck with them. No matter how much I thinned them, they would not spray properly for me. I have since switched over to Gunze, which I prefer over the Tamiya for all of my airbrushing EXCEPT black. For some reason, the Gunze black never lay down as nicely as the Tamiya paint. Just my [2c]
Your Mileage May Vary.
I know people who swear by them. I swear at them. Buy a bottle and try it. If you like it, use it.
I’m sticking with Tamiya and Polly Scale.
[#ditto]
I agree with Ross. I tried the Acryl paints and swore I could get them to work despite what problems others had with them and many times they worked pretty good for me, but as was already mentioned they do not adhere as well to the plastic as I would like.
This A-1H Skyraider was painted with the Model Master Acryl paints:
I switched to Tamiya after that and have been very pleased with their paints.
They do not have the color selection that Acryl has but with a little research and mixing you can come up with any color you desire.
As Triarius said, your mileage may vary. I use Model Master a lot and like them very well. I’ve not had any significant adhesion problems with them, and in fact have had fewer than with Tamiya paints. I personally prefer them over Tamiya simply because of the availability of colors.
I haven’t had adhesion problems with them, but have experienced lots of tip dry with the airbrush. They certainly brush on better than Tamiya out of the bottle. However, I ended up using Tamiya exclusively and have overcome the brush painting problems.
They certainly do come in lots of colors!
i use MM almost all the time. especially their RLM colors. they can be sprayed out of the bottle with no thinning. a few of their colors are more difficult than others to clean. but it’s nothing a few wipes with laquor thinner wont take care of.
I use MM Acrylics because they are easier to find, and come in more colors than Tamiya.
I like the Acrylics (regardless of brand) better than Enamels. Low or no smell, easy clean up, and some brands can be airbrushed right out of the bottle.
Everybody has their own preferences when it comes to paints. Try several brands, and go with what you like the best!
It’s trully amazing to see how some people swear by one and others the other brand.
I personally am of the total opposite view of usmc1371,
MM Acryl as far as I’m concened when compared to Tamiya is like the differnce between night and day
MM sprays much easier, at 20psi and a clean airbrush spray right from the bottle without mixxing down with thinner
Wash up is simple with water
It adheres just fine, even without priming, which I only do for ph, resin and vynil, however cleaning your model down is very important, I use a q-tip and cotton swab with 99% rubling alcohol
It is a much more durable paint when hard
Once dry yes it can be quite difficult to remove, unless you use a brush restorer like Winsor and Newton Brush Cleaner and Restorer which is non-toxic and water clean up
It can be sprayed straight from the bottle, I only thin it down if the bottle is old and the paint has thickened over time
Not sure about the ammonia base, I use a resporator and have a spray booth, which you should use regardless of what you are spraying with.
MM acryl is easier to brush on, I find
Tamiya is less costly
Tamiya is generally more widely available
I really have had very little luck with Tamiya, as my experience has improved over the years and my models have gotten more and more complex I find it hard to get the fine detailsdone with Tamiya. I am no expert but over the last few years I have switched to MM acryl and last week was the last straw with Tamiya for me, I had a model screw up and I had to strip it and redo it. Not that I blame Tamiya paints, for some reason I can not work with their paint.
Really it comes down to experience and your personal preference.
I had several MM Acryls and I never really had any problems with them.
Frank has pointed this out, but Gunze paints are comparable to Tamiya in sprayability and adhesion, they clean well AND they offer more colors than Tamiya. I am slowly swtiching over to Gunze…
Never liked Model Master acrylics. As I recall, they aer not very opaque and take to long to dry (compared to Polly Scale). I love Polly Scale acrylics. They just work great. They have a great color selection (just as good if not better than MM). They are a bit diffifcult to airbrush, but after you get used to them you should have no problems. Tamiya/Gunze acrylics are #1 in my book if you need to do really detailed airbrushing (like luftwaffe cammo) and they are very opaque. The only draw back with Tamiya/Guzne is they are terrible for brush painting. As will all paints, I use the best brand for the job at hand (Pollyscale for single color airbrushing & hand painting interior details and Tamiya/Gunze for anything else). I am willing to dabble in vallejo acrylics, as an alternative to pollyscale, as they seem to get rave reviews, but my heart will always belong to Pollyscale… [bow]
I like Modelmaster Acrylics. I think them with rubbing alchohol and clean with windex. You gotta clean up extra good, but it works. I use that line exlusively for RLM colors though.
What abt MM enamels? I prefer them over MM acrylics for airbrushing.
I tried some MM Acryl, but I switched to PollyScale and am very happy with them. Cleans up with water or Windex.
I brush MM acrylics and love them. I have just started airbrushing, and am having tons of problems, but then it’s probably just me and my airbrushing skills (or lack thereof)
MM Enamels are ok as enamels go. Any enamel will likely be easier to airbrush than an acrylic paint. I prefered them when they only came in flat and gloss. I don’t care for the semi-gloss colors at all. They don’t cover well at all from my experience and take much longer to try then the flat paints. I have lots of MM enamels laying around from “the early days” but never really use them–most are probably unusable at this point. My favorite paints are Mr.Color, Gunze, Polly Scale and Tamiya. They all have their strong points and weak points (except for Mr.Color, which I don’t really think have any weak points, except for brush painting I suppose). MM on the other hand really has no “strong points” IMO – they are the jacks of all trades and masters of none in the model paint world.
You’re funny. [:D] I’ve used Tamiya, Gunze, Vallejo and MM acrylics and I still prefer MM enamels. They flow better, have a better viscosity and richer pigments and are alot more durable.
Out of all acrylics I like Vallejo Model Air but it needs primer for better adhesion.
They are more durable than Tamiya/Gunze for sure; however, that is probably the last thing I consider when choosing a paint for a particular task. Anytime I am using a “fragile” acrylic like Tamiya, I am usually following up with a “durable” clear coat or painting something that won’t get ware. I am not knocking MM Enamels, they were all that was available when I got into this hobby (actually, I think the little square testors bottles where all that was available). All I am saying is when I am going to paint something, I choose the best paint for the job at hand, and MM seldom falls into the category of what I need.
Here is what I mean:
If I am painting a cockpit I want a base cockpit color that will dry fast and hand brush well. I want it to dry fast because I want to start painting the cockpit details soon after I airbrush on the base coat. I want it to hand brush well because I might need to go back and touch up some goofs after bush painting other details. For this task I always choose Polly Scale. It dries in minutes and hand brushes beautifully. It also does not dissolve the underlying paint when hand painting the details. If I had used MM enamels. I would need to wait several hours for the base coat to dry and, when I did get around to painting the details, it would dissolve the underlying layer of paint. Then I would have to wait several more hours before dry brushing and clear coating.
If I was going to airbrush some lufwaffe mottle cammo on a German 109, I would grab some Tamiya or Guze because there is just nothing better for detailed painting close to the surface of the model. You can thin the stuff down to practically nothing with 91% alcohol which results in the paint drying practically as soon as it hits the model. Just as importantly, it will have virtually no visible over spray. If I tried that will MM enamels, the paint would not dry and I would get spiders everywhere from wet paint pooling on the surface.
If I want to paint an aircraft tire, I would grab some Polly Scale since if hand brushes and flows so well and very level and streakless. I would just touch the loaded tip of the brush where the tire meets the wheel and the capillary action would draw the paint around the edge of the wheel, after which I would hand paint the rest.
I guess it all boils down to what kind of painting you are doing. Sometimes you actually want you paint to dry slow, such as when you are trying to put a nice gloss coat on a race car. Beautiful gloss finishes are hard to achieve with fast drying acrylics. Acrylics also don’t perform well in high volume airbrushing (painting large areas quickly) Usually, they dry to fast for the distance required to travel from the airbrush to the surface of the model. They also dry on the tip of the needle and these dry bits eventually get blasted off of the needle onto the surface of the model. I am finishing a large 1/48 B-17G and will probably use enamels for the exterior finish (however, I will likely use Mr.Color’s excellent synthetic lacquers for this job).
A final note about Tamiya paints in particular, you won’t find a flat white, gloss white, flat or gloss yellow on the market that even comes close to the opacity of Tamiya (I have not tried Vallejo yes however). All Tamiya paints are very opaque; however, it is extremely noticeable with their white and yellow paints–mostly because other brands have been so horrible with these colors.