Tamiya Flat White going on thin and not very bright

You didn't mention the type of airbrush or the pressure you are using, but 8 inches is too far away. For a siphon brush, try 15 to 20 psi at 3-4 inches. For a gravity fed brush, 10 to 15 psi at about the same distance.

Secondly, undecoat white with silver. For various technical reasons I've repeated more often than I can remember, this will cut your recoat number substantially. 

Hey Ross,

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm using the Iwata Eclipse HP-CS gravity fed airbrush. I've been a little scared to airbrush at higher PSIs in fear that I might create a thick layer of paint which would cover up the small details. I think I set mine between 8-10 psi. So it sounds like I should bump up the psi between 10-15 and get a little closer? Won't this cover up the details? (Mold lines and such)

I'll have to try the silver undercoat.

Thanks,

Burt

Actually, no, don't raise the psi. That's the pressure I use for my gravity fed brush. Just get closer. If the paint is properly thinned and you don't apply too much at once, you should be fine.

The real secret is the silver undercoat. You won't believe the difference. 

Triarius wrote:

Actually, no, don't raise the psi. That's the pressure I use for my gravity fed brush. Just get closer. If the paint is properly thinned and you don't apply too much at once, you should be fine. The real secret is the silver undercoat. You won't believe the difference.

Ross, thanks so much for this bit of info. So you don't see any of the metal flake when painting over with white?

A tip I got way back from a guy who did airliners- lots of white paint used there- use flat white as a thin primer, then top coat either with a gloss or semi gloss white. For some reason flat white always ends up looking slightly off white,,, at least until all the other colors are applied, then the contrast becomes apparent. But a satin or semi gloss as your top color gives a tad more "whiteness" than a flat white top color. Probably due to light reflective properties of the finish.

The metallic paint increases the reflection through the white. White, whether flat or gloss, is a relatively translucent color. Depending on how heavily you apply the white paint, it should only take a few coats.

Stikpusher's suggestion is also a good one. Flat whites contain a higher pigment load than gloss whites, and use different pigment(s). Titanium oxide is the primary pigment in both, but it comes in two forms, rutile and anatase (the mineral names) Rutile is subtranslucent, has very high internal and external reflectance. This helps give gloss white it's brilliance. Anatase is opaque and has a relatively lower external reflectance. A gloss white will only contain the rutile type of pigment, and possibly a hide-enhancing "colorless" pigment (in lower quality paints). Flat whites contain mostly the anatase form, and more of it by weight. They also usually contain hide-enhancing pigments and sometimes a flatting pigment (microsilica, usually). All this leads to a thicker, denser paint coating than you get with gloss white.

I hope you were taking notes; there's a short quiz at the end of class…

Centurion wrote:

Hey Everyone, I've been trying to airbrush Tamiya Flat White thinned with Tamiya Thinner, but it seems like it goes on so light that you never really get a nice bright white. Just seems like gray. Maybe an additional 4th, 5th or even 6th coat will have to be done, but compared to other colors, white seems very difficult to airbrush. Does anyone else have this issue? I'm thinning to the consistency of milk. I use a back and forth motion while holding the airbrush about 8" away. Thanks, Burt

I just shoot flat white from a spray can.  Do you need to airbrush it? Like, is this a primer coat or what?  If it's a primer coat, airbrushing it is more work than I'd do... Same thing if I'm laying down an undercoat of white for invasion stripe-type jobs that I'm going to mask off.  No clean-up, and only one coat, ya know..

 

Great thread! 

Triarius wrote:

Stikpusher's suggestion is also a good one. Flat whites contain a higher pigment load than gloss whites, and use different pigment(s).

With this in mind, is the gloss white topcoat even necessary? What if you wanted to end up with a flat finish?

 

If you want flat white, and the color of the flat is sufficiently white, why would you put a gloss coat over it, except perhaps for decaling? The purpose of the flat white under the gloss white is to increace the hide, or covering power, of the final coat.

Perhaps a better question would be: Why not just use flat white and gloss coat over it if you needed a gloss finish?  This is usually what I do. However, for small applications, having gloss white available is handy. Also, applying a color by airbrush is significantly easier in terms of technique than applying a clear—at least I find it so.

 

Thanks Triarius, I was wondering if there was something magical about the combination.

  Speaking of white, what do you guys think about this trick?

 

Preventing white paint from yellowing: Add dark or very bright blue paint to a bottle of white paint one drop at a time until the white paint becomes noticeable but very light blue. Clearly label this bottle of former white paint "bluing". (Don't mix brands.) When you mix white for airbrushing first put the bluing in the mixing jar one drop at a time until the bottom of the jar is covered. Add the white and the thinner as you normally would for airbrushing. Stir completely. The white may appear a bit stark when you first apply it, but as it dries it will darken just a bit and will not yellow-ever!

 

 

 

Some whites are formulated this way. The amount of blue needed varies. Experiment first.

This does not prevent the yellowing, which is due to a change in the binder, not the pigment. It can produce a more vibrant white to the human eye because of the way we perceive light. This may make the yellowing appear to be less.

Many higher quality modern paints use binders that are more resistant to yellowing.

A fast way to produce yellowing in a paint is to expose it to ultraviolet radiation. Keep your models out of the sunlight. 

I handbrush Tamiya Flat White Acrylic with a bit of thinner, I find that a little bit too much thinner is enough to cause the paint to go slippery, very pale, and unable to cover the undercoat's color.

Whenever I need to paint something white, I just use a rattle can of white primer, it does the job every time.