Which paint do you prefer

Pigboy

...I built a A-10 and painted it in acrylic that I bought at a arts and crafts store. I used a air brush to paint them on and thinned it with just water. Considering they where only a $1 per bottle it wasn't a bad....

I tried airbrushing craft-store acrylics, too.  I mixed a sky blue color for an old Airfix Fiat G50, using Americana paints, thinned with water.  The paint went through the airbrush well enough--I use a Paasche VL, it's a siphon-fed, double-action brush--and it also covered well enough.  But the cured surface was a little too gritty, and I think that the pigments in the craft acrylics probably aren't ground as finely as those in the paint lines made specifically for modeling.  It doesn't mean I've abandoned mixing and airbrushing the craft acrylics.  As you say, you can't beat paint that's a dollar a bottle.  But my choice to use them instead of say, Tamiya acrylics, now also depends on the subject.  And craft store acrylics have a place in my paint kit; they're very good for weathering, and for groundwork (if you use Celluclay, you can mix paint in with it, for example, and tint your ground instead of trying to paint it).

Best regards,

Brad

Phil_H

 

 

stikpusher

It's funny that many people mention switching to acrylics for the reasons of smell and or chemicals. Yet often those same folks will use lacquer thinner with their acrylics to give them more "bite". At which point I believe one is negating the smell & chemical aspects of switcing from enamels to acrylics... just a thought...

 

 

 

Yup. If you want a paint that behaves like enamel, why not buy an enamel to start with?

I really wish we could have the original early-mid 80's Tamiya acrylic formulation back. It brush-painted beautifully. It didn't have the tendency to flash-dry, so no roll-up and brush marks self-levelled before it dried.

 

Phil, have you tried LifeColor ?  My LHS guy put me on to it and it is great in the airbrush or brush painting.  Seems to be an Italian company ?  I still buy the little Humbrol pots for nostalgic reasons.

stikpusher

 

 

Texgunner

I prefer Humbrol and ModelMaster enamels. 

 

 

 

 

Tamiya acrylics for airbrushing... I am not impressed by Vallejo at all. I miss old Polly S for a good brushable acrylic.

 

i like Vallejo since i can brush paint it too.  granted it looks awful after airbrushing when it is still wet but dries nicely.  also use Tamiya and MMA. BUT I AGREE i do miss PolyS

I love the old Floquil paints but OOP now. My go to paints are MM enamels.

Humbrol...

Vallejo

vallejo Air

Model Master (Acrylic and enamel)

Testors square bottle

These paints are my favorite in this order.  I would like to purchase Tamiya but it's not readily able to obtain.  I have to drive for 35 minutes to Hobby Town USA for Tamiya.  

Toshi

Sometimes I find shaking my Vallejo bottle too much results in bubbles in my aircup.

Many thanks for bringing this toppic up. I still kinda new to modeling so info like this is nice to give new commers a insight into which ones to buy. I only used Testors enamel when Iwas a kid but as a adult I found out they had acrylic out there. I built a A-10 and painted it in acrylic that I bought at a arts and crafts store. I used a air brush to paint them on and thinned it with just water. Considering they where only a $1 per bottle it wasn't a bad. Now a use Tamiya acrylic. They are nice but I still wonder if they are all not made from the same batch and just bottled different. I also use Testors Model Master for I came across a great deal on Ebay.

the Baron

Some folks will drop a small glass bead (craft store finds) into those bottles to use as an agitator when shaking the bottle. Some'll use BBs, but they may tend to corrode under the right conditions.

I have used these but they don't do a very good job when there is a thick layer of paint at the bottom of the bottle. I found the Badger paint mixer works best for stirring this bottom layer. The Vallejo opening is too small for the mixer.

I've really liked Vallejo products and Model Master acrylics.  The later has a huge variety of colors to choose from!  Out of convinience oa product I sometimes purchase acr from Walmart.

Toshi  

MIG sell stainless steel ball bearings for the job

maxdtex

 

steve5

The eyedropper top comes off . So you can stir it

 

 I know, but you cannot stir it very well or use my battery operated paint stirer. Also, the Model Master bottles are smaller which allows easier storage.

Some folks will drop a small glass bead (craft store finds) into those bottles to use as an agitator when shaking the bottle.  Some'll use BBs, but they may tend to corrode under the right conditions.

steve5

The eyedropper top comes off . So you can stir it

 

Don Stauffer

For those who want to use enamel, but have less odor, there is a type of low odor paint thinner available at art and craft stores. 

I have not tried it myself, but I have friends who use it.  I would have to experiment to confirm it does not have any bad characteristics with the hobby enamel I use, and more importantly to me, it is considerably more expensive than mineral spirits.  I see it in pints at craft stores, but I buy my turpentine/mineral spirits in gallon cans.

 

Don Stauffer

For those who want to use enamel, but have less odor, there is a type of low odor paint thinner available at art and craft stores. 

I have not tried it myself, but I have friends who use it.  I would have to experiment to confirm it does not have any bad characteristics with the hobby enamel I use, and more importantly to me, it is considerably more expensive than mineral spirits.  I see it in pints at craft stores, but I buy my turpentine/mineral spirits in gallon cans.

 

Isn't that what Bob Ross used to use on "The Joy of Painting"?

The eyedropper top comes off . So you can stir it

I have had good luck with Model Master, Tamiya, and Vallejo acrylics. However, my first choice is Model Master because: (1) no thinning is usually required; (2) the Vallejo bottles are harder to mix since the top makes it difficult to stir the bottom of the bottle.

Depends on what I'm painting.

For car bodies, in order of preference: if they have the color I'm looking for then I will go with  Testor's enamel thinned 50/50 with their thinner without even thinking about it. The paint airbrushes to a glass smooth finish that hardly need any polishing, sticks well and dries hard. Second choice is auto store spray paint decanted to my airbrush. Third choice is specialty exact factory matches from MCW or similar.

For aircraft, armor, sci-fi, ships I like Tamiya,as a first choice, unless someone else has an obscure exact mil specification color that tempts me to avoid the mixing to color match hassle.

For metallics Alclad and occasionally Testors metallics. 

I keep hearing a lot of good things about Vallego however, so next trip to a hobby shop I am going to try some.

"Maybe they should make a perfume that smells like dope thinner."

Good idea. It can be marketed for modelers.

Nothing says modeler like, Eau De Dope.

Please stay away from open flame. 

Lately my first choice has been Ammo of Mig. I like the dropper bottle with the stainless steel shaker to mix the paint and I like the way they perform. They do take a little bit more practice, but in the end I like the effect. I also use some AK Interactive stuff, havent been overly impressed just yet, but not ruling them out. I also use Tamiya and some Testors/Model Master both acrylic and enamel, Vallejo Model color for small details. For metallics I use equally Alclad II and AK Xtreme Metal, thinking about giving the Vallejo Metal Colors a test. As a primer, I have switched to Badger Stynylrez as my go-to.

blackburge

Vallejo, Tamiya ?? I use Tamiya since long Time but I tried Vallejo last week for fun and I realise that Vallejo paint are very nice. 

 

• Tamiya acrylics
• Model Master acrylics and enamels
• Testor's gloss enamels (in the little square bottles)
• Andrea and Vallejo acrylics
• Apple Barrel and Americana craft-store water-based acrylics
• Windsor & Newtown artist's tube acrylics
• Schminke-Mussini oils
• and some old Pactra water-based enamels, left over from my boyhood days, and gradually running out

Bakster

What Patrick said. BTW...I love the smell of Tamiya paint; they must spike it. 

 

I love the smell of dope thinner best.  My dad's idea of quality time to me was to take me to an airport, and let me just hang around there while he hanger flew with his buddies.  Someone was always painting a plane, and the hangers reeked with dope thinner and hydraulic fluid.  The thinner was the same stuff used with model airplane dope, so my workshop used to smell just like an airplane hanger!  I only build about one or two flying models in a decade these days, so my shop doesn't smell that way much these days.  Maybe they should make a perfume that smells like dope thinner.  And, remember banana oil?

For those who want to use enamel, but have less odor, there is a type of low odor paint thinner available at art and craft stores. 

I have not tried it myself, but I have friends who use it.  I would have to experiment to confirm it does not have any bad characteristics with the hobby enamel I use, and more importantly to me, it is considerably more expensive than mineral spirits.  I see it in pints at craft stores, but I buy my turpentine/mineral spirits in gallon cans.

Over time I've used almost everything from Pactra enamels on down the line.

For the past few years I've gone exclusively Vallejo. Properly mixed, they spray beautifully, I love their poly primers and varnishes, the color selection is outstanding and what I don't have on hand, I can easily mix using the the iModel app. 

You can pick up 17ml, 10ml and 5ml eye dropper bottles on eBay for almost nothing and mix, thin, etc. 'til the endtimes.

The only variation from Vallejo I use these days is Future with decaling and Testors Dullcote on RC boat hulls (only for it's waterproof aspect).

Hmm, I'm suprised that many here have an easier time with enamels.  I switched to acrylics because I found them much easier to use.  Then again, it was pretty early in my involvement in the hobby.  Tamiya Acrylics smell like cashews to me.  

What Patrick said. BTW...I love the smell of Tamiya paint; they must spike it. 

Tamiya and Testors for years depending the subject I am building.

stikpusher

It's funny that many people mention switching to acrylics for the reasons of smell and or chemicals. Yet often those same folks will use lacquer thinner with their acrylics to give them more "bite". At which point I believe one is negating the smell & chemical aspects of switcing from enamels to acrylics... just a thought...

Yup. If you want a paint that behaves like enamel, why not buy an enamel to start with?

I really wish we could have the original early-mid 80's Tamiya acrylic formulation back. It brush-painted beautifully. It didn't have the tendency to flash-dry, so no roll-up and brush marks self-levelled before it dried.