I have been modelling on and off for the past 8 years, but am only now making an honest effort at it. I have a Badger 350 (Standard Set) airbrush which is powered with propellant cans. I am usually disappointed with the results, which is why I usually brush paint my work. I bought 12 Tamiya acrylics for finishing figures and armour, but they brush paint horribly. I have thinned them with water, alcohol and Tamiya thinner, and yet the final finish is blotchy and uneven. I don't have the money to buy a new airbrush or a compressor and I don't want the paint to go to waste. Any help would be greatly appriciated as to how to use them to produce a half decent-finish. If all else fails, I have 12 jars of Tamiya paint for sale!

Hi there,

To be honest, I only brush paint details - but, that said, I've never found Tamiya paints blotchy or uneven - just the reverse...

Blotchiness could indicate that you're not stirring them well enough (this would be true of any paint).

A lot of folks swear by Vallejo Acrylics - they certainly need mixing well... but the results can be superb!

Hope this helps

Rowan

In my opinion, humbrols enamels are the best for painting, washing and dry brushing .. the whole lot ... even airbrushing. I only use tamiyas acrylics for airbrushing ........ being a recent convert. Drying time and coverage are both important to me and tamiyas, are a little short on both counts as far as brush painting goes. Maybe for small details they are good, but for bigger areas, I wouldnt recomend them.
In saying that, there are guys who paint with acrylics exclusively, and have near perfect results. I just dont know if its with tamiya they paint exclusively with!! maybe with the addition of a few base coloures in enamels, you could still use the tamiya paints for finer detail work!!

I found a tin of Humbrol brick red enamel and tried it on the benches of the Sdkfz 251/9 and it covered quite well. The only model store where I live sells Model Master paints and Polly S enamels for finishing train sets. I'll hang on to the Tamiya paint, for now. Thanks for all your help and input. :-)

I have never had any problems with Tamiya paints. I use them to paint both with a brush and airbrush. If mixed well these paints cover pretty well and even. The only complaint I have about those paints is that they dry out way too fast on the palette. This is the main reason why I switched over to Vallejo. Also Vallejo paints cover superbly.

While I do almost all large-area coverage with my airbrush, I think there are a couple of keys to good, smooth coverage from Tamiya paints, with which I've had good luck in the past:

1. Stir well. Then shake well. I know some people say not to shake, but I can't understand how they ever get the smallest lumps of pigment out.

2. Get a nice flat brush. The "Bright" shape from an art store is good. Shouldn't be more than .25-.5 inches across.

3. Pick a direction, a "grain" if you will, and stick to it. Front-to-back, left-to-right, top-to-bottom, whatever. Paint only in that direction. (If you pick a direction that water/fluids might run or be blown, any streaking will blend in nicely with weathering).

4. Load up the brush, then gently scrape it across the lip of the jar. You don't want a big blob of paint where you started you stroke.

5. Paint along the grain you've selected. Move the brush along the grain until the lack of paint causes streaks to begin. Switch to the other side of the brush. Start at point where streaking began.

6. Do not attempt to brush over an area that has started to dry but hasn't finished. You have about 2 seconds before the Tam paint gets tacky. Once it has gotten tacky, trying to paint over it, improve the coverage, or remove streaks will only guarantee blotches, streaks, and brush marks. That's because the paint has started to form a skin, which get wadded up into lumps when you try to brush over it. Once the paint has been applied, leave it alone.

7. If there are places with less than total coverage, you can go back and get those after everything has dried. Don't try to narrowly fill in the holes in coverage; instead, apply paint over it using long strokes in the direction of the grain. You may need to apply a second overall coat for complete smoothness.

8. Provided you're using a good quality brush and have a good/fresh bottle of Tamiya, the brush marks that are visible when the paint is wet will disappear as it dries.

9. If you do have small brush marks or other places where paint has piled up, you can hit these with 2000+ grit sandpaper and they should go away.

Hope that helps.

Oh, one more thing - get a compressor for your AB so you don't have to contend with all this. It's worth it.

Before I can afford all the high speed Aztek and Testors kit, what would be an ideal brush size for painting large areas (i.e. the whole vehicle). I have a 1/4 inch sable, but would something larger be more useful?

In my experience, no. You might go up to a 3/8 inch width, or even 1/2, but above that, it's really hard to avoid brush marks. Just too much area that has to be meeting the surface at the same time.

I find it helpful to make sure that the brush is relatively new, firm, and that the hairs don't stick out all over.

Is your brush flat, or round? How about the tip; straight across, or curved?

Use as large a brush as necessary to cover the area easily. In 1/35 scale, I would use a 1/2 " brush for undercoating and basic coverage. After that, the size would depend on what camo or detail I was trying to paint. As I have an airbrush, I now use brushes only for detail and weathering/ drybrushing work. I fought purchasing an airbrush for many years. Now, I wouldn't want to be without one. I bought my first one on a layaway plan. Sometimes, the bullet just has to be bit.
capnjock

It's a flat 1/4 inch brush. And, yes, I should buy all that stuff, but money has to go to things other than my hobby. It would be nice to have a (quality) airbrush for a project to make nice feathered camo lines on a Tiger or something. But until then, hard edge camo patters for all!

Airbrush first, but if you cant do that, and I understand. I would use thinned down Model Master Enamels. Thats what I use and I notice that after I think them down they spread and go on pretty good.

~Chip

As in subject - Best Paint for Airbrush - I think all paints are usefull - but in some cases we must try to used them with some directly instructions , by the way I could only say something about own expierience ( maybe it could help ):
About Tamiya acrylic paints - for mixing - I use only Tamyia thinner - other ( like alcohol , water - have bad structure for mixing them - air bubbles , surfuce is not good etc... ) ,
About other like AeroMaster and LiveColor paints I could say - the best for Me - I could simply thinner them in alcohol ( cheap vodka - it give me a smile - he, he ! ) or water - surface is very good after airbrushing , paint drys very fast , chemical structure of paint is wonderfull - mixing fine ( like "butter") .

Regards