i am using about 2 or 3yr old tamiya paints i am trying to brush it on top of MM arclyic gray primer. when ever i paint over it it clumps up after 1 or 2 strokes. is the paint bad or am i doing something wrong?
You’re not doing anything wrong, Tamiya acrylics just don’t brush on very well. I only brush it on small areas. If you have to use it, load the brush up and glide it over the area once. Don’t go over it again 'till its dried. They are, however, great paints for airbrushing.
ahh ok ive handbrushed it before never had this problem. im not to good at masking and airbrushing yet so i wanted to hand paint the interior of the car im making in a 2 tone
[#ditto]
Is it mixed completely ?
It’s not the age of the paint - I have some Tamiya acrylics which are anything from 10 to 15+ years old and are still working fine.
Under certain conditions, eg. hot weather with low humidity, Tamiya acrylics will “skin over” very quickly such that when you make another brushstroke it will drag up the paint from the previous pass.
Are you using the paint straight from the bottle or are you adding thinner to it? If you have been painting straight from the bottle, try transferring a small quantity of paint to a palette and add a little thinner. Tamiya acrylic thinner is said to contain a “retarding” agent which slows the drying time, giving you more time to “work” it and allows the paint more time to “level”.
If you are using a substitute (eg. alcohol) instead of Tamiya thinner, you can also add a drop or two of acrylic retarder medium (available from art supply stores) to your mix.
The older paints were a different formua and allowed for brushing. I knew a guy in hte mid 80’s who could brush paint a car with Tamiya and get decent results. I did many of my early figures with this and used to really like it.
Given the level of work to get it to work right with a brush, you’d be better staying with MM acrylics.
[#ditto]
Well, I have to disagree with Ajlafleche and Shellback about MM acrylics—tried them, don’t use them for anything. OTOH, I maintain a complete stable of the basic colors in Tamiya…
De gustibus non disputandem est. (There’s no disputing a matter of taste.)
Follow Phil_H’s suggestions and you should have no problems, especially if you don’t try to lay it on too thick.
wasnt thinning it ill try to thin it next time i paint. i live in hawaii so its hot here not sure on the humidity