tamiya acyrlics for brushing

you still need to use thinner to do.

Thin the paint about one part thinner to three parts paint (do this on a palette, don't thin the whole bottle)When brush painting, thin with Tamiya X-20A thinner. Do not use water, do not use Windex

Moisten your brush with clean thinner before dipping it in the paint. Damp but not wet - if it's too wet, wick off the excess on a tissue or paper towel before dipping it in the paint. While painting, repeat this step every third or fourth time you load the brush with paint.

Tamiya acrylics skin very quickly, but take considerably longer to dry and cure, so don't be tempted to paint over parts that appear to be dry. Doing so invites "roll-up", pulling up semi-dried paint in big ugly lumps. Paint one coat and then leave about 24 hours or so before recoating.

I found adding a couple of drops of Liquidtex acrylic retarder works great when brush painting.  It really helps improve the flow of the paint and increases the drying time.

-Jesse

Phil, why not water. I have recently started (when needed) brush painting with acylics and found water (so far) no problems with both Tamiya and Gunze. Saying that I'm always open to getting some thiiner if its going to do a better job (I usually thin and mix, adding water as needed on old cd palletes)

Andrew

I find that water tends to reduce the adhesion of the paint and increases the risk of beading, at least with Tamiya acrylics. I've also found that water seems to induce a chalkiness (for want of a better description) in the finish.

I will say that Gunze's acrylics seem  "stickier" then Tamiya's and may work better with water, but I prefer not to use water in either case.

Thanks for the tip, will pick up some Tamiya thinner next time I'm at the LHS to see how it goes.

Andrew

Thanks to all who responded, I will try your advice and see how it works out.

ICIT

I completely agree with Phil on this one; i've always found it best to use the X-20A thinner on my brush to allow the paint to flow better. That being said, I've found Tamiya acrylics to be extremely good quality and the ability to blend colors to suit my needs very helpful.