Advice on Acrylic for Armor

shermanfreak

Member since
January 2003

Posted by shermanfreak on Saturday, July 26, 2003 9:15 PM

Good work Erock

You did a great job on this your first large scale figure. Working with acrylics
can be very awkward when doing figs but you've done a bang up job.

Keep up the great work !!!

Happy Modelling and God Bless Robert

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renarts

Member since
April 2003
From: Sunny Florida

Posted by renarts on Saturday, July 26, 2003 9:04 PM

Nice job Erock!
Looks fantastic. When you feel comfortable you can try blending with acrylics. (as opposed to layering like most advise, and you should do while getting used to your media) It means you have to have everything in front of you and work fast, but you can blend them like oils. I think you did a great job on him.
Nice photography too.

Whats next?

Mike

Mike "Imagination is the dye that colors our lives" Marcus Aurellius A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!"

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, July 26, 2003 8:32 PM

PS.....

The shine is from the lights I had for photography. I shot 2 coats of Testor's Dull-Coat and no shine when viewing in normal light.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, July 26, 2003 8:29 PM

Here it is,

My 1st all acrylic project complete. I must say that, I was really impressed with the way the paint went on and blended. I use to really dread doing figures for my armor and dioramas, this was a blast......

Now, I need a 1/16 Tiger to have him command!

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, July 21, 2003 12:42 PM

My first impression of the acrylics: WOW!

I am using Isopropyl Alcohol as a thinner and I must say, the paint flows pretty smoothly. I haven't had a problem with it drying too quickly on me either (maybe because of the alcohol?)

Each bottle I opened just needed a little mixing, as oppossed to my enamels that have the pigment at the bottom. I did need to use enamel Semi Gloss Black for the boots but, that will soon change. May have to get the rest of the acrylic colors from the shop Wink [;)]

I may (just may) have been converted Evil [}:)]

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shermanfreak

Member since
January 2003

Posted by shermanfreak on Sunday, July 20, 2003 5:06 PM

Personnal taste Erock68. I have found acrylics hard to use with figs, they dry so fast that there isn't enough time to blend the colours properly expecially in the skin tones.

Happy Modelling and God Bless Robert

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, July 20, 2003 4:59 PM

Thanks for the replies!

Makes me a little less nervous having some tips under my belt. I was thinking about my 1st project with the acrylics and here it is.....

Wish me luck and I will post pictures of my progress Approve [^]

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, July 20, 2003 1:39 PM

1) I ALWAYS use Tamiya acrylics for my armor and use 90% Isopropyl alchohol to thin and clean everything.
Acrylic paint is water based so you can use water to thin, but I like the drying properties of alchohol.
Acrylic thinner is basically achohol, with other stuff mixed in, and regular iso. alchohol is MUCH cheaper.
2) I usually spray an enamel basecoat/ primer on the model first.... Yes, you can use "milky" thickness for your paint, but I usually use that for the weathering after the base paint is applied.
3) For gloss/dull coat, I use future over the base paint and apply the decals, then shoot the "milky" weathering coat, then after that has cured, I let the acrylic cure (2-3 days between different coats)and then shoot the Testors dullcoat lacquer to seal it.
4) For the wash when I do it, I use oil/ turpenol.. ( I usually only wash aircraft and armor that is one color)
There are many different ways to use acrylic and you'll probably get many opinions.. I just use what works best for me.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, July 20, 2003 7:32 AM

Hi i use tamiya acrylic paints all the time and for the best results you must use tamiya thinner. The thinner has a special spreading agent in it , as for the turps i would switch to white spirits which is not as strong as turps and does the job just as well, for the gloss just go with tamiya and dull it with flat base. Also gunze make good acrylic also with more colours to choose from like rust etc these can also be thinned with tamiya thinner, i usually thin 50/50 and this seems to work well. Regards Bob.

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shermanfreak

Member since
January 2003

Posted by shermanfreak on Saturday, July 19, 2003 6:02 PM

1.) Everyone will probably complain about this one, I use water. Straight from the tap water.

2.) Milk texture is just fine ... you will also find that some colours do not need to be thinned at all such as Flat Black.

3.) I use Testor's Dull-cote and Future without any problems.

4.) Dry Brushing shouldn't be a problem, can't answer for washes (never do them)

Happy Modelling and God Bless Robert

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, July 19, 2003 4:34 PM

So,

Regular thinner is a no-no. I did pick up some of Tamiya's Acrylic thinner with the paint. I do have some Isopropyl alchohol and will try that also.

Now, final question........gloss and dull coats

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styrene

Member since
May 2003
From: The flat lands of the Southeast

Posted by styrene on Saturday, July 19, 2003 3:30 PM

Acrylic thinner is aqueous (water) based. Sometimes, straight water can be used to thin acrylics; however, water-only acrylics have a tendency to act like rain drops on car bodies because of its surface tension. A DROP of dishwashing liquid can help. The other way is to use isopropyl alcohol. Alcohol is miscible (100% soluble) in water. This will solve the surface tension problem addressed above. There are also acrylic thinners made by the companies that produce the paints. You may want to experiment with what works for you. Enamels are organic solvent (Acetone, Toluene, Xylene, various benzene components, etc.) based. You can't mix the two.

One observation: Several years ago I built the Tamiya British Quad Gun Tractor and painted it in the "Mickey Mouse" camouflage scheme with Tamiya flat acrylics. I found it more difficult to drybrush (the base coat wouldn't accept dry-brushing) than if I had sprayed with equivalent enamels. Not sure what the deal was, but Tamiya flats seem to act "slicker" (finer pigmentation?) than regular enamels. Haven't tried Testors yet, so no opinion.
Gip Winecoff

1882: "God is dead"--F. Nietzsche

1900: "Nietzsche is dead"--God

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, July 19, 2003 2:41 PM

muzzle,

So there IS a difference in enamel / acrylic thinner?

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, July 19, 2003 1:56 PM

As long as you let the paint dry you should not have any problems with enamels and acrylics on the same model. I use both. I use acrylic paint thinner for airbrushing, not the same thinner I use for enamels. Tamiya paints spray well but they dry too fast for most brushing, that's when I go back to the enamels.

Test a little on some scrap.
Good Luck,

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Advice on Acrylic for Armor

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, July 19, 2003 1:25 PM

I posted this question here, at my 2nd home, because I really value the feedback I get from my Armor Brothers (and Sisters)

I have finally made a purchase of acrylic paint (actually every Tamiya color the shop had) Being a die-hard enamel user for all of my modeling life, I need your help - pointers.

1st. Acrylic thinner: Is there anything special about it or will any thinner do?

2nd. Airbrushing: Can I go with my normal "Milk Texture" for proper paint thinning?

3rd. Gloss and Dullcoats: Do I now have to get special gloss/flat to apply over acrylic or will my current laquer suffice?

4th. Washes and dry brushing: I have recently started using the oils as a wash with turpentine, can I continue using this? Dry brushing: With the minimal amount of paint applied during drybrushing, can enamels be used? I ask this because there are quite a few more colors (Steel, Chrome, Jet Exhaust) that I didn't see in acrylic form and these are some main ones I use)

I will try to get up-to-speed on some scrap pieces before I use them on one of my armor kits.

Thanks in advance for the help (jeesh, I feel like a babe in the woods) Blush [:I]

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