So I'm completely new to making Military Models, and I just have some questions about painting.

I read online that Tamiya Acrylics are bad for brush painting. Unfortunately, I've already bought all the colours I need to paint my tank/figures, and it's kind of too late/expensive to go back now. I have the Tamiya Thinner, which I read has some retardant in it. I'm guessing that even when brush painting, it's probably advisable to thin the paints? I think I'm going to try a 1:1 ratio and several coats, but if there's a better method I'm open to it.

In addition, I've read a lot about priming your models before starting. Is this really necessary? I read that washing your models in Windex will work too, and I'd kind of rather do this, since the only primer for plastic I have kicking around is this:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1zrvlRUy5AM/TjcTP_btF_I/AAAAAAAAAjo/hY2elo2u244/s1600/Rustoleum+primer2.jpg

I'm not sure if that will work for the figures, but I'd rather not completely destroy them with an unsuitable primer.

A lot of questions I know, but any help would be appreciated, as I'm really nervous to start painting.

Thanks.

If you have an airbrush, the AK primer is very nice and goes on pretty smooth and fine with an AB. I find that priming is especially useful for figures as layering colours is a necessity which means really thin coats, which means that you need they to stick. The Tayima paints are good with water and or ISO alcohol (99%) but you will need to thin it well and keep it thin when layering. I have found them to be useful for everything except faces and skin tomes, switch to vallejo for those. Windex can be used to clean your figs, but warm water and soap are best, rinse and let dry well before priming. Any other questions? best of luck. Cheers.

Hi Tom,

I use Tamiya acrylics for all my brush painting, partly due to their easy availability as well as easy clean-up. While I am not an expert, I find the following pointers to help:

- stir the paint well before you start; I usually use a clean screwdriver to stir the content for around a minute or so (some old timers will say to stir till the paint's consistency resembles milk lol)

- thinning the paint is important, as Tamiya paint can be quite thick right out of the jar; 1:1 ratio should be fine. Stick with Tamiya's own thinner.

- now here's the main issue most find with Tamiya acrylics: the first layer of paint is very very prone to be lifted off by your second layer. This is due to the paint's fast drying time; but is very counter-intuitive to those who are used to applying paint in several coats. To avoid this I usually apply one layer at a time, letting the paint flow freely (hence thinning e paint is important) with minimum brush strokes. I will let the first layer dry fully (1 day or so) before re-coating. Yes this is freaking tedious lol

And that's about all I know

Tamiya acrylics is not that bad actually; it dries fast (both pro and con), your paintbrushes can be easily washed with soap and water, and should serve you well once you get used to its "quirks"

Cheers
Lawrence

Thanks for the advice!

How exactly do you get the paint/thinner into the tray? Tamiya's bottles are awful for this. I'm imagining eye-droppers?

And do you put primer on your figures?

Hi, Tom!

I have been using Tamiya paints ever since I started modelling and they have worked fine for me both for airbrushing and brush painting. I'm still using them as my primary paints, although I have expanded my range lately with some AK and Lifecolor products.
In most cases when brush painting I use the Tamiya paints straight from the jar, since when they are new they come pretty thin already. If that is not the case, you can use either the Tamiya thinner or alcohol, as pointed out in the previous posts. The alcohol has an additional advantage in that it gives the paint an almost completely matt finish, which is a bonus when painting figures. In any case, when I'm done painting a figure I usually coat it with Tamiya flat varnish from a spray can (although I admit, I'm no master figure-painter, still have a very-very long way to go to master this part of the hobby).

As for priming - I've been building only plastic figures (Tamiya and Dragon mostly) and have never had problems with painting straight away, without primer. I think I've washed models only once or twice before painting and those were old East European kits with some release agent still on the parts. Probably not necessary on modern kits but should not hurt either.

For thinning - I add the alcohol with a syringe straight to the paint jar when brushing. For the airbrush I add the thinner to the cup of the airbrush. You really don't need that much - a few drops for brush painting, slightly more for the airbrush. And that "milk consistency" tip on airbrushing has worked fine for me, so you could try that one. In any case, it's all about experimenting and getting used to the paints, so don't hesitate, start painting and make adjustments as you go.

Another tip on stirring paint - I find the small sticks (cocktail sticks? sometimes used for small skewers) quite useful. They are sturdy enough to mix the paint and each stick will be enough for 5-6 "stirrings" - just cut off the dirty business end each time.
P.S. An additional advantage of the Tamiya acrylics is that they are acrylics (very insightful, I know). So when the paint is dry you can use all the weathering mediums like washes/filters/pigments/oils freely without risking to damage the paint job. And they stick pretty well too.
P.P.S. If you want to get paint into a tray (say, for mixing) those same sticks will work just fine - stir the paint, then put the stick in and out again - a drop of paint will stick at the end, you can carry it to your tray (but do it quickly, or it will end on your table or clothes!).

Sorry for the long post, hope you will find it useful.
Alexey.

Hi mate

Tamiya is my paint of choice, so i feel I may be able to help here.

Firstly getting the paint out of the jar... I use Disposable Pasteur Pipettes. They are about £1 for 10 on Ebay, in fact the postage costs more than the pipettes. Each one lasts a while if you rinse it out well after each use.

Priming - personally, if you haven't got an airbrush I would use rattle can primer from an automotive supplier. I've never washed the model before hand and I've never had any problems with primer coming off. I have however had difficulty in painting direct on the plastic without priming first. This seems especially the case on Dragon plastics where there appears to be a waxy residue which stops water based acrylic adhering. So prime them first.

Thinning the paint for hand brushing - I'm going to make a marked departure from the alcohol/thinner recommendations. Yes you should thin it, in fact the thinner the better. But I use retarder to thin the paint. Roughly a 50:50 ratio. It thins the paint and gives you a longer working time. Alcohol etc evaporates very quickly which can result in the paint thickening too much unless you keep diluting it. I know it sounds strange to use retarder, but I've found that the paint still dries hard in 24 hours and it extends the brush working time tremendously. I think Tamiya retarder is sometimes a little tricky to get hold of though.

Hope that helps - and I bet no one suggests diluting with straight retarder!

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I'll prime my model tomorrow I think, but unfortunately I'm not going to wash it since I've already got the accessories mounted on cocktail sticks for painting.

I think I'll give a 1:1 ratio a try. Hopefully I can find some pipettes somewhere.

I simply dip my paint brush into the jar and transfer the paint over to a palette, and repeat till I have the desired amount of paint; its "primitive", but it works lol

As for thinner, I simply dip a small straw into the thinner jar, and seal upper end with a finger; when the straw is remove from the jar, some thinner will be trapped in the lower end (amount depends on how deep you dip the straw in). This is then released over the paint in the palette... Again rather primitive, but works for me

I do not usually prime my figures, though it helps to wash them with soap before painting.

Cheers
Lawrence