I have a group of 4 german soldiers in the white winter camo that I painted (set is from the DRAGON company) and they came out all shiny. I have US figures (from tamyia) and when i painted them they didnt come out shiny like the Germans did. I use Tamyia acrylic paints so I was just wondering why did they come out so shiny and how can I dull the color down? Thanks

If you have an airbrush, thin som Testor's Dullcoat and spray a good coat on. If not, get to the LHS and find some clear flat acrylic (NOT TAMIYA UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES) and brush a thin coat on. That should do the trick.

thanks for the quick response and help. What are some other good acrylics out there I can use besides tamyia that i can find? THanks again

I have used Tamiya flat paints for years and I had this problem in the beginning too......what was happening with my situation was...I wasn't mixing it enough....as soon as I started mixing my paint for a longer time.....going around all the edges and stuff......the gloss went away and I was pleased with the results.
As for other types of acrylic paints...the only 2 types I have used is Tamiya and Model Master....I know others here will have more experience in this area than me.....so you may get a better answer.
Good luck.

Why don't you try Vallejo acrilics? or Lifecolor? I personally don't like Tamiya, they need to be mixed a very long time to have a very good consistency! The other I mention, specially Lifecolor, are almost already to use, well I'm always using them!
Ah! and also try Citadel Colours- the ones that Games workshop use for their table games figures... but be careful, these ones dry faster than the others

See yaaa

If you can't easily find Vallejo/Andrea, which are ther best acrylics for figures I've found, POllyScale and ModelMaster are good. Polly's clear flat was good before they change name's but all the other colors have maintained quality so I would guess that's still just as good.

I swear by Polly Scale's flat coat... so much that I bought it by the 'case'.

i basically use tamayia paints because its a brand thats easy to find. THe other paints are not in the only 2 hobby shops by me and ordering online is on hold for right now (must pay off my credit :-) ). Sometimes figures came out awsome looking, but other times they were too shiny or i must have put too much paint on cause the detail (like zippers and stuff on the jackets) were all covered in paint. Whats a really good way to mix the paint? I shake the bottle sometimes or use a popsickle stick. IF the paint sits for a long time i notice it all goes to the bottem and stays there even if i shake it up. Cant you guys tell Im a newb!! lol well thanks for all the help.

OK...first thing....NEVER shake Tamiya paints.....I use pieces of old sprue cut from the trees after i finish a model to stir them....I stir them for at least a minute or more....make sure you get all around the bottom of the jar and the edges of the bottom....do this until there are no colour differences or streaks on the top of the paint.....also....if you're using 1 colour for a long time.....leave your stir stick in and stir it again every couple of minutes.
This site is very Tamiya unfriendly...and you will get a lot of negative answers like....USE SOMETHING ELSE.....but if you take the time to use them properly you will get the results you want and will be pleased with.

Hey Fuel!

What you need to do is go to your local Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, or Michaels and look at some of the hobby acrylics they have, they are great for figure painting and I use them a lot. You can pay ~$2.50 for a bottle of "brand" name acrylics, that IMHO are overpriced, OR, you can buy 5 different Larger (2 Oz) bottles for same price and they have a much greater color range.

Im another that cant brush tamiya to save my life. I too believe that if you got a shine from tamiya paints, its because they were not stirred properly. This problem is very eveident with humbrol enamels also.
On a tip from others I bought model master flat cote and it is first class. I used it a few times and the lid liner came loose and it lumped a bit in the middle. So I used the newer humbrol type flat cote ... in the glass square bottle. Excellent stuff also. Recommended.
The same thing goes for matt or flat coats ... stir really well.. extra well.. more than enough ... get the picture?? Good luck.
You never said if you have an airbrush or not ..... I only spray my flat cote to get a nice fine layer. Im sure it is also possible to brush a flatcoat. I dont try as I have a method that works.

Testor's Dullcote is or was a laquer so it would be too "hot" to brush except in tiny touchup. The old PollyS could be brushed safely, but I don't know about the more recent versions. To reiterate the comment about shaking, on of our figure guys tried using Testor's in a rattle can and got poor results from not shaking enough.

Sorry....the comment I made about not shaking paint....was meant for Tamiya acrylics...it is well known that those rattle cans need to be shaken until both your arms are ready to fall off and then pass it on to a friend...when his are ready to fall off...you're ready to spray.

well... this is new to me. I never shake them, but always stir them with an old piece of sprue, but why is this ? Why the NEVER SHAKIN' thing ?

Second : Can you "Overstir"/"stir to much" ? Reason why I ask this is because I used to stir some Tamiya Acrylics (that hadn't been used for a while) with a motor tool.... when I stirred longer, the paint looks to "fall apart" into different colours... it ould be the stirring part, or the fact that the paint might be too old ?

welll thanks you all for the help. I always shook the paint..maybe thats why it came out crappy But to all that answered thanks for all your help. I will be on the hunt for new acrlyics to test them out. Only thing i dont get is how you guys know what paints to use on the figures. Arnt some of the paints named differently then others (like HULL red woud be named differently for a different company) or are they all basically the same? Thanks again

OK....never shake acrylic paints because....this doesn't mix them enough and can introduce air bubbles into the paint....this is part of the "I hate tamiya paints" thing that goes on on this site...people shake them like they shake everything else and then wonder why they don't like them.
I have never heard of overmixing paints....this could be a problem with the age of the paint....it might just be bad paint.....sounds like what happened to me once trying to revive some old paints I got from someone.
Paint comes from different companies with different names....and they all are going to be slightly different colours too....you can use this to your advantage.....for instance I buy Olive Drab from all different companies for doing Canadian uniforms....each one is a different colour....as are the pants and jackets and shirts of a WWII Canadian uniform......you hardly ever saw a soldier's uniform looking uniform....the pants were browner than the jack and stuff like that.....same with Field Gray from all different companies for does German uniforms.
I hope this helps you and doesn't just confuse you.

Oh i see. Thanks for helping me out.