Hello everyone,
I'm having some trouble with the tamiya paint and my air brush. My airbrush works great with humbrol colours but not tamiya. Everytime i use tamiya paints i always stuff up and usually end up striping the model and starting over again. So im now switching back to humbrol paints. They work perfectly. Now getting to my question. I always build dragon kits, and seem the colours it says on the paint instructions are dark yellow, khaki green and red brown, i can easily find them in tamiyas paint range, khaki green being olive green. So i just wanted to know, what colours would you use in the humbrol range? I know that red brown is easy to find in the humbrol range but what about the dark yellow and khaki green ''olive green''?
Thanks
Regards Callum.

Or Atleast tell me what colours you use on your german tanks in the Humbrol range.

Thanks
Regards Callum.

Hi

When I do my German tanks in Humbrol I use

83 Ochre for Dunkelgelb

133 Red Brown for RotBraun

117 Us Light Green for Olivegrun

Hope this is of help

Paul

Calium, what exactly are the problem you're having with Tamiya paints? I ask mainly because the Tamiya line of acrylic paints is one of the best out there. To 'properly' spray Tamiya you must thin it adequately (1:1 or so) and you should lower your air pressure. Personally, I spray at between 10 to 12 psi with paint that is thin to the consistency of milk/skim milk (pretty thin). Following these guidelines you really should have no problems.

Don't give up on Tamiya. Although I use other brands as well, Tamiya pants have become the backbone of my paint collection and are usually my go-to paints when a color I need exist in their range.

Rob

Hello,
I'm only new to the 1/35 scale armor modeling, i've only made 6 1/35 scale model tanks, When i first started modeling (aircraft and ships) i always used humbrol. When i airbrushed for the first time, i used humbrol. I find humbrol easier to use. I'm use to thinning the paint down, it's easy to airbrush. Another way of putting it, i'm just familiar with humbrol paints. But with the tamiya ones, i suck at spraying the lines with it. You know the red brown and green lines on tigers etc. When i airbrush with tamiya acrylics my airbrush tends to splatter. I thin it down so it doesn't splatter and then it puddels. With humbrol its no as easy to create puddels. I'm only new with an airbrush. I'm not really confident using it with tamiyas paint. I bought a badger 100LG 6 awhile ago, but never used it for line painting, i got some other badger airbush thats 10-12 years old and i use that seem it has a guide thing on it. Its like a little screw and it pushes the lever back to where you want it for the right paint flow.
Thanks for the help,
Regards Callum.

Try using this site for color conversions. I think it's great.

http://www.paint4models.com/

Dan

Double check the recomendations when using that site, you will find that there are quite a few errors in it.

Paul

Hello,

I think the splattering comes from not cleaning the airbrush correctly after each use. The thinners and components of Tamiya and Humbrol paints are different and do not mix up well even in small amounts. So if you switch paints do disassemble your airbrush down to the nozzle and clean it properly before you fill in the other paint.

For Tamiya use either Tamiya X-20 thinner or Gunze Mr Color Thinner only, mix it very well to a good fluid consistency and use a low pressure.
For Humbrol use Humbrol thinner, white spirit or lacquer thinner. Humbrol will tolerate higher pressures as well.

But, if you can live with Humbrol's longer drying time, and are comfortable with its use, then, you don't really have a reason to go for Tamiya? I mostly use Humbrol for airbrushing aircraft and armor and I even use it to paint car model bodies occasionally - maybe it is not the trendiest thing in XXI. century scale modeling but it works.

I used to be 100% Acrylics, using both Tamiya thinned with IPA and Vallejo thinned with their Airbrush Cleaner and was totally satisfied with the results, until one day I was building a model and was forced to use Revell Enamels as at the time that was all I could get in the colours I wanted. I was so impressed with the way it sprayed that I have now totally converted to enamels.

I now use Humbrol and Revell for 90% of my work and Extracolor, Model Master and White Ensign for the rest.

I also find the slow dry time is an advantage rather than a hindrance as it slows me down which results in fewer mistakes.

Paul

Hello everyone,
Well i pulled out the ol testing model and tried Galileo1s 1:1 mix with tamiyas paint and i found that the paint was more easy to airbrush. I haven't tried airbrushing the stripes on the test model but i'll do it in a few days. The fan on the compressor broke today... But i guess all i can do at the moment is experiment with different paints.
Thanks for the help everyone.
Callum.

You may want to add a couple of drops of windshield washer fluid to your Tamiya acrylics. This will slow drying time and keep the paint from clogging in your ab. Thin them with the cheapest IPA you can get. I use a 2:1 paint-thinner at about 15-30psi and get beautiful finishes. Hope this helps.