Brushing with acrylics

Jeff,

I only use Vallejo Model Color for brush painting now. I used to use both VMC and ModelMaster acrylics but for the last year and and a half I have found the ModelMaster paint VERY thin. So MM gets airbrushed now.

I have found that mixing the heck out of VMC, both on an electric shaker and stirring goes a long way in getting a nice finish. I always brush paint with a small container of Vallejo Airbrush Thinner and a small container of the paint at hand. I dip (not load) my brush in the thinner first so that the acrylics do not dry on the brush. I usually redip in thinner about every third stroke, but let your paint tell you when it needs it again. Then as others have pointed out I paint into a wet edge and only over brush once, never more than twice on a pass.

Finally, if I am doing a large flat surface, I use a flat brush, up to a 1/4 inch brush. I also cannot stress the importance of buying the best brushes you can afford and taking good care of them. I have painted ships by brush and as I said before get a nice level surface with VMC.

I hope this helps,

Steve

Jeff. I use Vallejo acrylics almost exclusively. Brush and airbrush. Like the other guy said. If you don't have a nice flat primer down first, then I agree that they don't cover very well. I use Rustoleom light grey and dark grey spray paint primer and the Vallejos cover very well. They have a lot of pigment in them. I have to thin the heck out of them when shading. If my project has a lighter final color I use the light grey and if it is darker like my current project I start with dark grey. I think it's your surface prep. The picture below is 1 coat dark grey primer. 1 coat Vallejo dark green 1 to 1 thinned airbrushed, regular Vallejo not model air, and a 1 to 10 thinned out Vallejo lighter green airbrushed.

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

I always avoid hand brushing large areas (wings, fuselage, etc...) using acrylics. I prefer airbrushing them. However, I do hand brush using acrylics without thinning for painting small parts or detailing with no issues.

 

me too. even Vallejo Air.

enjoyed High Plains. entered 8,took 2 firsts, 4 thirds. more importantly had a good time and got to visit with folks.

I have gotten brave and started painting some 1/35 figures to go with my armor, or 1/48 for my planes. Although the tip you hear about several thin layers rather than one thick layer does help, it's so frustrating waiting for each coat to dry, only to have to do another. I will spray a coat of glosscote between each coat of paint, to seal it, as well as for weathering and highlighting that will come later. So a figure may take me a week to complete.

Another tip I've found that works for me is taken from woodworking or housepainting. You hear those guys talk about maintaining a 'wet edge'. In other words, work the paint while its in its prime liquid state, before enough time passes to where it starts to dry, or cure. Don't overbrush it. In the case of acrylics, its easy to tell when they are drying out--the paint on the surface or the brush starts to flake and you can see it 'chunk up' if you overbrush it. Its sort of an art to get the correct amount of fresh paint on the brush, but once you do, lay it down in as few strokes as possible, and remember to discipline yourself not to take extra swipes at it with the brush. I have found this to help when I'm brush painting. That being said, I try to avoid brush painting anything. That's harder to get away with when painting figures, though.

Chris

I always avoid hand brushing large areas (wings, fuselage, etc...) using acrylics. I prefer airbrushing them. However, I do hand brush using acrylics without thinning for painting small parts or detailing with no issues.

The best advice I can give to improve brush painting is to take up figure painting. No joke, those folks know how to brush paint! I got started at planetfigure.com

A few tips:

Apply the paint in several thin layers rather than one thick one.

Use good quality brushes and take proper care of them.

I agree that most acrylic hobby paints don't cover well. It's quite frustrating at times. But unfortunately, I haven't found a specific solution for that. Just now that it's not just you.

I haven't had any issues brush painting with Vallejo ModelColor. However, I do recommend a nice flat primer coat first.

I've found it does benefit from a little thinning (I use plain old distilled water), as VMC seems to be quite thick in the jar. I've had some that extrude from the jar tip like a wet noodle.

If you're detail painting, I also recommend using a wet palette to prevent the paint from drying out while you're painting.

 http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/tools_techniques_and_reference_materials/f/18/p/124654/1252015.aspx#1252015

When handbrushing acrylics, I never thin them. That may be the reason why it's not covering by hand brush very well. Most time I use use acrylics for airbrushing, I only hand brush acrylics on smaller parts.