The last time I made a model was about 25 years ago or more. Back then I had oil based paint from testors, no primer that I remember, just painted the model.
What do you use for an airbrush? Do you use special acrylic paint just for an airbrush or cheap wal-mart generic acrylic? What do you use for a primer?
Thanks for any help or links.
I’ve used Testors enamels and Tamiya acrylics, both with good luck. Thin the Testors with their thinner or lacquer thinner, and the Tamiya with 91% isopropyl alcohol, and that’s pretty much it. I don’t use prime-coats unless I’m painting the model the same color it’s molded in, or a lighter color, and then it’s usually just aluminum or steel.
Hope that helps.
First off, I would recomend further research and reading before airbrushing. But as to that Walmart acrylics…I can’t say I would recomend those unless they were specificly designed for use in an airbrush. The other problems are accurate color matches and the fact that these may not be sutible for scale model work. Hobby paints tend to have finer ground pigments and other paints may yield poor results.
Most paints, both enamels and acrylics, require thinning before spraying. They are just too thick to pass through the nozzle. Usually thinning should be done with with same brand thinner for the paint you are using, though I have sprayed some acrylics using a mix of alcohol and water. Others use washer fluid (never tried this) plain water or just the alcohol. Others here should chime in here as my experience with acrylics is a bit limited.
Keep it simple. In general, use “hobby branded” paints for your models. These are formulated to stick to styrene, whereas “generic” craft type acrylics may not.
Any of the hobby brand paints (suitably thinned), enamel or acrylic, can be used in an airbrush.
If you are just starting to airbrush, whichever brand of paint you use, use the paint manufacturer’s proprietary thinner. It takes the guesswork out of the equation.
We spend huge amounts on kits and AM stuff, and we spend many hours building. Why skimp on paint and thinner when the paint job is the first thing we notice about a build? Paint and thinner (even “hobby branded” stuff) are among the lowest cost components of any one build. A single jar of paint should last at least several builds and an “economy size” container of thinner (eg. 250ml Tamiya thinner - about $10,00) should be sufficient for many builds
A great paint job can make a so-so kit look decent, but an uber-kit with all the AM stuff in the world will look like crap under a mediocre paint job. Buy paint thats made for models, and buy the matching thinner.
Phil, you now have me wondering if some of my enamel-painted parts look like shit because I thinned the paint with lacquer thinner…
Testors Model Master saves me time from mixing paint so I’ve been using it for five years now.
Exterior Painting Orange County