Painting

Since, I don't have an airbrush I do all of the interior and engine by hand. One problem I continue to encounter when painting is the paint seems to smere, and become streaky. I didn't know if this was from not having enough paint of the brush or just from not having a proper painting technique. I use Tamiya paint, so I know it isn't the paint. If anyone has any suggestions or comments please tell me so I can do a better paint job.

Streaks are a common problem even with the best paints -- even with the same color from bottle to bottle.

What kind of brushes are you using? I've reduced streaking by using fine quality red-sable or similar synthetics. For covering large areas such as seats avoid the round brushes and use the flat style.

Steaking can also be caused by the paint being too thick. Take an amount you will use for whatever you want to paint and put it in a temporary container like an empty Tamiya jar. Thin it gradually with appropriate thinner until you are satisfied with the way it lays down, then apply it onto your part.

Also, gloss paints are naturally thicker than flats. If you are painting with gloss, to achieve either a leather apholstery look or are painting and engine block, try switching to flat and then shooting it with clear gloss from a spray can. I use this method with good results. You can also try a semi-gloss for a more scale appearance. This is assuming that your flat colors don't streak as gloss will amplify the streaky appearance.

Let the paint thoroughly dry before applying more coats. Sometimes a second coat will slightly revitalize the first coat and make it gum-up a bit, further exasperating the situation.

Try this technique if you are happy with a flat appearance for you interiors. Brush with a flat color. Apply clear gloss from a spray can. Then, apply clear flat, again from a spray can. The result will produce a smooth, streak-free, but flat appearance.

If you are brush painting with Tamiya Acrylic paints then this could be the problem.I find them fantastic for airbrushing but hopeless for brush painting because they dry far too quickly and you end up pulling off the paint you have already applied in a skin like layer.I find the Tamiya or indeed any other enamel paint is a better option for brush painting or the Vallejo range of acrylic paints are better still.

I have found that the Model Master paint that I use sometimes seems better for painting and am not wondering if I should use that until I get an airbrush for Christmas on the models I am working on. I will continue to look for more responses to this so I can make a final decision on the subject.

Quick change on some of the paint I use: its Model Master Enaymel Paint.

I sometime get the same problem. I'm thinking of getting an airbrush for myself for xmas. :D But how do you go about painting the small parts that require different colors, like brakes? Do you have to mask off the parts, or do you have to brush paint those?

I sometime get the same problem. I'm thinking of getting an airbrush for myself for xmas. :D But how do you go about painting the small parts that require different colors, like brakes? Do you have to mask off the parts, or do you have to brush paint those?
I spend a lot of time masking off.. simply because ABing looks so much better than brush painted.
I only use a brush or a spliced toothpick when I need tiny details, IE: buttons on a consol or the lettering on the calipers.

Sometimes it's just not practical to airbrush a part, and you have no choice but to use a conventional brush. For example, I'm working on a resin 1/43 model of an old LM Alfa. The seats and floor are molded as part of the body. There's just no way to stick an airbrush into the cockpit in order to cover the front of the seats, etc. So ya just gotta use a regular brush.

And sometimes it's just much, much more convenient to brush a part rather than, say, spend a lot of time doing a complex masking job.

Vinegar (and similar acids) act to retard the drying of water-based putties. Anybody tried mixing a bit with water-based acrylics? Results?

(If no one has, I'll run a little comparison.)

Diddy

Steve, can you mix Tamiya acrylics with the Vallejo water-based flats? Tamiyas have been hard to get lately, and I'm trying to concoct a flat yellow-brown for a leather tonneau cover. I've got Tamia brown, but their flat yellow is unobtanium. Could I start transitioning to Vallejo by mixing their flat yellow with Tamiya brown?

Diddy

Diddy,

I've found Tamiya and Vallejo to be a different enough formula that they don't even respond the same to cleaning the airbrush with alcohol - based on this I don't think you'll have much luck mixing the paints themselves, their formulae just seem that vastly different.

One solution to the flat yellow could be to obtain some gloss yellow and a bottle of Tamiya flat base to create flat yellow. Then mix the colors to get the desired result.

One solution to the flat yellow could be to obtain some gloss yellow and a bottle of Tamiya flat base to create flat yellow. Then mix the colors to get the desired result.

Or use the gloss yellow and flat brown without the flat base. If you spray it on, it could make a terrific semigloss for the tonneau cover.

If you are brush painting with Tamiya Acrylic paints then this could be the problem.I find them fantastic for airbrushing but hopeless for brush painting because they dry far too quickly and you end up pulling off the paint you have already applied in a skin like layer.
I've been trying to swear off solvent-based paints for everything but car bodies.

Faced with the problem of using Tamiya acrylic to paint an impossible-to-airbrush 1:43 interior, I was planning a trip to the local art store this morning to buy some acrylic retarder. But first, I searched the Fine Scale Modeler forum. The guy recommended using Tamiya acrylic thinner. "Aww, come on, that's too easy," thought I. He said that Tamiya adds glycol to their thinner, and that the glycol slows drying. So... I added a bit of thinner to my Tamiya flat aluminum acrylic.

I wanted good coverage, so I didn't thin it by much. Just a few drops to about half a teaspoon.

After painting nearly the entire cockpit using a soft brush, I went back to to touch up a holiday. As you say, this kind of touch-up is normally a disaster when brushing Tamiya acrylics. Well, it worked beautifully this time! The original paint was still wet, and the new paint went on very smoothly, blending nicely with the first coat. VERY nicely.

(Actually, the thinned first coat went on smoother too. Not much thinner, but a lot smoother. And the coverage was excellent. Seems like Tamiya thinner has some very worthwhile hidden properties.)

So I guess it's not hopeless after all! And now I don't have to replace all my Tamiya paints with Vallejo.

And I found some Flat Yellow at a not-so-local hobby store. Hurray.

Diddy

I don't recall ever buying two bottles of tamiya acrylic that have been exactly the same. As a result, I always add a drop or two (or twenty) until I get to how the paint feels right to me. Painting with paint straight from the little jar doesn't happen anymore.

Flat aluminium and Flat black are the ones that take extra time to get it to flow and cover correctly for me.