ajlafleche wrote: |
Gigatron wrote: | Thanks for the tips, Indy I think I'll try my hand with the Tamiya paints on the figures I have and if I decide I want to do more, I'll invest some more into the velejo. -Fred |
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Please do some research on painting figs with Tamiya. The paint is formulated for airbrush use. You need a degree in alchemy to successfully use this formula with a brush. The paint skins over very quickly, but is not at all dry. Your next brush stroke, ft it touches the previous one at all will lift it. You can't fix the mess it leaves witout stripping the project. 20 years ago, Tamiya was great for brush painting, this formula is not. Save yourself a ton of frustration and use a better brush paint. |
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Al, all pretty true and good advice.......but that said, I'm gunna throw a wrench in this thread and say that
Tamiya paints can certainly be brushpainted. It takes some getting used to, and probably a fair amount of experience trying new paint lines. I find that you have to find a way to work with each one, and I've never seen any literature stating that Tamiya paints are made for the airbrush only. First, take an old trick from fine-art-acrylic painters, who would put a drop of water(alcohol for tamiya)on top of the paint on the pallete, or even several drops in the cup or jar. Just drop it on top and don't mix it in--that will dry-up instead of the mixed paint. Keep an eyedropper near-by(just like with Vallejo) and be aware the entire session of how wet the paint in the cups is.(now and then I go around and drop a drop of thinner on each one if it even starts to skin-over, not a big bother, and HUGE paint-economy(I love that!)Here's my pallete for a WWII Russian Soldier(all based on Tamiya XF-49 Khaki) Several bottlecaps in a small cigar tin. The 2nd tip here is the white I used is an actual high-end artist acylic(Winsor & Newton Titanium White)in a tube(only about $6 and ESSENTIAL for painting with ANY acylics)has a thick gel base, plenty of body, plenty opaque(Permanence AA Series 1) All 5 are mixed from it and the center is the base color, with 2 lights, 2 shades, (darkest one got a few drops of Tam Fl Black)each bottlecap is mixed from a larger cup of the middle color and all of them have a drop or two of alcohol on top.
The uniform is made up of these colors alone
3rd tip, always primer(or basecoat with laquer) to use these paints. Here I used my favorite Tamiya TS-3 Dark Yellow as primer/basecoat. This time with some easy masking I basecoated boots with TS-6 Matt Black and helmet with TS-Olive Drab also.
For some effects, like a wash/filter on fine details, I recommend you go back to your oils(if you can stand waiting for them to dry) or enamels.(I like Floquil) Here I used some darkened Roof Brown Floquil over a Tamiya base, on his spare-drum-magazine pouch
~~~The most importaint tip though, for brushpainting Tamiya, is seeing the quick-drying-time as a blessing to be utilized, and not as a curse to well....make you curse. Brush it on thin, and let it dry....move on. Come back and lay down another layer, but don't screw around, scrub or fuss. Keep the layers thin and even. Thats basic to acrylic painting, it's just easier to achieve that with Vallejo. One major difference I don't hear discussed between the two is that if you want to remove a small mark with the Tamiya--you can take a bit of thinner(alcohol) on a brush and scrub it off! If it doesn't come off, a little laquer thinner WILL make it go. The Vallejo acts much more permanant, which is generally a big plus, as you can go right over previous layers without messing them up, but as a beginner, fixing mistakes takes up alot of your time(even for non-beginners)
I didn't own any Vallejo when I did this build, but I do now. After I said all that, Gigatron, I say go buy some Vallejo. They are another story. They are fantastic to use, and really I resisted buying / trying them too long ~~ but I taught myself to get some results without them. Personally I think theres a place for several paint lines on each of our benches. I have 4 (hobby lines) not to mention the artist paints I have, and I make use of all of them. Try Everthing
~Indy