I use Tamiya acrylics. I thin them for airbrushing. I was think of use that to handbrush as well. Has anyone tried this? If so what were the results.

Looks like I might have to get the extra figs and experiment.

Tamiya acryls are very heavily pigmented. They are very difficult to brush by hand. I recommend dipping you brush in IPA, frequently and building up layers of paint. The results are quite good, if you can master the application.

I have been using Tamiya for hand brushing for over 30years and have lovevd the range of colours that they have and what you can do with them. My advice is practice on scrap figures or gear first to get a feel for how they will apply and how they will stick (or not in some cases). I usually use them now for my dry brushing and small detail painting. Good luck.

I Personally would not use them for figures, but you could always try it.
I tend to get good results brush painting over a primed surface.
for example.

a little dusty now, but 1/48 sherman

Here you go.

The piece was primed before painting. The same color, X-14 was applied with the same brush, which was cleaned between applications.
The right side is straight from the bottle. The left is thin to 2 parts paint and 1 part X20A thinner.





Any difference?

the right hand side seems to have leveled better.some paints from tamiya I find i have to paint on unthinned to get a good , streak free finish, others, mainly the lighter colours, need a few thinner coats. have you tried thinning with soapy water?
the trouble with tamiya is you must work fast, and then dont recoat untill a few hours later in case you pull up the undercoat.

Hi Robert,

I have brush painted Tamiya paints for 'hard edge' late war German camouflage with good results, I diluted the paint 50:50 with X20 thinner. The thing is to do several thin coats, that way you don't obscure any detail and you can always add more paint, it is more difficult to remove excess. For figures I would always recommend Vallejo Model Colour, the paint was specifically designed for this purpose.

All the best,

Paul

I noticed the thinned was smoother and glossy. While the straight gave better coverage in a single coat.

I might have to extend the experiment and put on another coat and take some more pics.

When I need to hand paint, I mostly use Tamiya Acrylic paints thinned 50/50 with X20-A Thinner. The surface to be painted is always primed in Tamiya Gray Lacquer primer. I apply a single coat at a time, and slowly build up layers as needed. Results have been generally consistent without brush strokes.
Joel

Hi
A new member here, so first reply. I use Tamiya for most of my models. Mainly airbrushing which I thin with window cleaner, much cheaper than thinner. I use undiluted for figures, as they adhere much better. I have used Valejo paints for figures too which are superb.I use Tamiya for weathering too and found good results, but again undiluted.

you could add a bit of tamiya acrylic paint retarder to increase the brush ability of the paint, sort of maintaining the wet edge longer.

This is all very interesting. I usually reserve Tamiya acryls, for my ab. I've had very poor luck doing them by hand(using enamels instead). I'll try using the brand thinner or one of the levelers, especially since they are cheaper than enamels.

I have had pretty good luck brushing Tayima.
I did this 1/48th Autoblinda

And this 1/72nd Jagdtiger

I did AB the yellow base color but the other colors are hand brushed.I'm doing about the same things as the other guys,but I use windshield washer fluid.I tried X20A and it dried a little to fast for me.
I thin my paint 1:1 and keep a small dish of the washer fluid on the side to clean and re-wet my brush.
It looks like He%& when you first start.I find it takes 3-4 coats to get good results.Jeff T.

I found that tamiya paints when airbrushed were noticeably a different shade than when hand brushed out of the bottle no matter how I thinned them I did not like this
Because if I needed to do a touch up it was very noticeable so I started using vallejos full range the tamiyas did well airbrushed but brushed out of bottle I had to every so often clean brush and shake bottle then continue

use lifecolor acrylics instead.

Have you airbrushed life color paint ? How about brush painting them and how are they ?

Now I spray only Tamiya acrylics and paintbrush only Vallejo acrylics. I just love how well Vallejo is paint-brushed especially if you add a little bit of Flow-Aid.