Question from the new guy.

[Trovão Aurora]

Hi guys, i'm new to modeling and to this board, I read the faq about painting, and I would like to ask a question to the people in this board. I hope I'm not breaking any rules of the board by posting this question here.
Well on to the question. Do you guys always use acrylic paint that is special for modeling? Have any of you ever used a "regular" acrylic paint? You know, the ones that you use on canvas... that comes in those little tubes? If you did, what did you use as a solvent? Water? Ethanol? Isopropanol?


Thanks

[RallyRaider]

I use artists acrylic or guache, but only for washes and panel lines. It works very well for that. Never tried it as the primary paint on a body or similar. I suspect it might not key into the surface much and therfore could rub or peel off easily. But I could be talking out my hat there!

For the artist's acrylic I just use water to thin it, with a dash of dishwashing detergent added to break the surface tension and make it flow evenly.

[Trovão Aurora]

Yeah, I have been trying to thin it with ethanol, and it's true that if you put too much solvent, the paint won't "catch" to the surface, but if you put too little, the finish will look very rough.
You may forgive my bad english now, but what do you mean by a "dash of detergent"? Do you put a little bit of detergent on the paint? I never tried this put it makes a lot of sense.

Thanks

[RallyRaider]

Yes just a drop of detergent. It stops the paint beading and sitting in one place, so it covers smoothly. I only use it as a wash though so have no idea if it is on any benefit for regular painting.

[Trovão Aurora]

Hey, I've gotta tell you it worked very well, the finish of the painting improved A LOT after I added a little bit of detergent by putting it in the paint or by sinking the tip of the brush on it before sinking in the paint. I guess this happened because I could now thin the paint a bit more then I was doing before.
I never painted a body using this technique either, actually I'm a begginer so I never actually had a situation to do it, I don't know if it would work, being this less garanteed than using proper paint, specially produced for modeling. But I might experiment in the future.
Could I just ask another question related to this subject? And what about the primer and the clear coats that you talk about, are these products that are produced for modeling or you use ones you could find in a regular hardware store, or in a automotive store?

Thanks

[jswillmon]

yes you can use the paints you find in an automotive store. I use the duplicolor all the time, works great. I wouldn't know about any kinds you buy at a hardware store though. I would guess those are probally for wood and things like that, but i'm just talking out of my ass there. I've never looked in a hardware store unless i was painting my room or something like that.

[JBarry]

I got great results from the automotive primer that I bought at an automotive store. If you find a good quality product it should work fine on models.

J. Barry

[Trovão Aurora]

Thanks for the tips guys!