Tamiya Semi-Gloss Black X-18 / Air Bubbles

[djmr2]

why is it that i always get tiny air bubbles with my Blacks!!! argh..
any way to not get this? i'm brush painting some small things..

also this Semi-Gloss black is hard to use! or else i'm doing it wrong, any tips on getting even color with this? maybe i just suck.

[MX100]

ya i agree the tamiya semi gloss black is so weird~! it won't go on evenly...u gota keep puttin a lot of coat on it~ i used it to paint my GT wing for the Altezza and it turned out pretty good actually
but took me a while to get it right
i can take soem pics of it if u want~

[daggerlee]

Contrary to Bond, stir it, don't shake it!!

[ales]

Are you handbrushing it?

[djmr2]

yes
i'm hand brushing it with bad resulst!!

yeah i shock it for a bit by accident then i stired it good.
looks like poop.. why oh why

i wish i had a airbrush, but is it overkill for detailing small engine parts?
hehe

[ales]

F
A
Q

You don't handbrush acrylics. Well, you can, especially if thinned down with water but they're basically reserved for airbrushing. Use enamel (Humrol has fine grain and thus is good)

[hirofkd]

The water base acrylics, such as Tamiya Acrylics or Gunze Aqueous Hobby Color are not suitable for hand brushing. If you do, thin down and add many layers to achieve a good result. The thinner plays a major role, so experiment several to suit your painging style. Lacquer base acrylics such as Mr. Color or Modeler's are opaque, and doesn't need too many layers. However, for detail painting, I recommend enamel.

[djmr2]

well i've had good results with hand brushing acrylics.. but i'm sure with enamels they'd look better...

but i prefer to use the acrylics simply because easy clean up and so forth..

i'm gonna get a tamiya spray-work airbrush and compressor!

[daggerlee]

i wish i had a airbrush, but is it overkill for detailing small engine parts?
hehe

For small details..brush painting is far superior! You'll spend a lot less time masking (which is always a pain and boring to boot!) and have a lot more control over where the paint goes!

[bri g]

I've had pretty good results with hand brushing acrylics but I have to admit, hand brushing enamel gave a better result. Is the paint you're using an old bottle of paint? if so, you might need to add some tamiya acrylic thinner. Oh yeah, a good tip I got from the forum, leave your paint in some warm water for about 5 minutes or so before painting that should help the paint flow better, worked for me!

[djmr2]

brand new bottle, just picked it up, dunno how long it's been sitting at the shop though..

i just don't want to do clean up with enamel!!! what a nightmare! and stinky too

i think i'm gonna just pick up a tamiya spray-works basic air compressor and airbrush and see where that leads me..

just gonna use it to paint all the parts and stuff and leave hand painting for the tiny detail stuff.

[bri g]

yup definitely get an airbrush, best investment for my models and a respirator for your health!

[endlesskev86]

NEVER HANDBRUSH!!!!!!!


i got bad experience from this!!............... i tried to have a carbon fibre hood for my civic, and instead of spraying it ........... i totally messed it up by paint it with a paint-brush!!!!!!

so dun make the mistake i did!!!!