Painting a Tamiya Late Tiger I

QUOTE: Originally posted by chester111472 The hobby store has Tamiya and Model master paints. Is there an advantage to using one over the other?? (acrylic vs. enamel??)

I prefer Acrylics for easy clean up and less toxic fumes.

QUOTE: Do I have to apply a primer? ( I believe that testors makes a light grey spray primer).

I only prime if I am using parts of different materials (brass and/or resin) on the kit. This provides an even base tone for the first color coat.

QUOTE: Any really good method to spraying on the camo. colors (red-brown and green) to make it look good. I read in an earlier post that it is hard getting a nice transition from one color to another using a spray can.

As mentioned silly putty can be a big help. First cover the ares you want to keep the base color and spray the next color then, without removing the first mask, cover the areas you want to keep the second color and spray the third. because of the way the silly putty curves away from the surface it is stuck to you should have a nice "soft" edge to your camo.

QUOTE: Also, can testors dull-cote be applied to the model after the painting to tone down the paint, or is this not necessary?

That is exactly what I use over my acrylics to give the paint/decals an even tone but remember it is a lacquer and quite stinky - open some windows!

QUOTE: Sorry for the newbie questions, but any answers would help! thanks!!!

No problem, It's what we're here for.

I'm back into it as well. Let me give you what I've done and learned from this forum.
If you are airbrushing, Tamiya colors are the way to go, If brushing, Testors. Tamiya are almost the perfect consistency for AB and dry real fast. Testors take longer so are, to me, more appropriate for brushing. I'm not sure about using the spray cans. The only experience I've had with the cans is Tamiya's Metal Primer. And One More Time, IT'S BLEEDIN' CLEAR! (Sorry but clear primer still gets me, I think I got robbed).
Some people, me included, preshade. Spray a dark brown or black before your Dunkelgelb basecoat, Tamiya's flat black is great through an AB as a primer, no thinning at all.
Some people post shade. They spray a lighter coat on after to highlight. Either is fine.
There's also been much talk about using silly putty for masking camo patterns, try it.
A dullcoat can be applied to seal weathering and such on top of a variety of materials.
Good luck and welcome.
Hopefully someone will add and/or correct my info.

Chad, Welcome to the forum.

You chose a good kit. I have not used the Tamiya spray can colors that much, and when I did I wasn't that impressed. I would go with MM paints if I had to spray from a can. Now for airbrushing I use tamiya almost exclusivly. Careful masking and maybe curling up the edges of the tape will help make a soft transition between colors. Take your time with this. Yes you can applie dull coat over this but remember that decals should be applied over a glossy surface. so you'll need to spray a gloss coat first., decal then flat.

Now for something you may have already figured out or soon will. You can get yourself a fine airbrush for a little more than what your about to spend on spray paint. I use a Paasche H which retails for about 40 bucks. Its a single action but paints wonderful fine lines. The compressor is the expensive part....

But those are nice to have tools that you can invest in down the line...

Good luck whatever you choose