Brush Painting

Straight out of the bottle for brush painting. Thin when airbrushing.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to add some extender to your paint if you are brushing it on. It will help it level out and reduce brush strokes. Which kind of extender depends on the brand of paint you are using.

I use solvent-based enamel almost exclusively, and most of that is just too thick to brush (or of course, airbrush) right from the bottle.  It will brush better when thinned appropriately imho.

Gary

I use MM enamels and Vallejo acrylics straight out of the bottle for brush painting.  I used to thin them but never got great results.  

I also use Humbrol enamel the same as Gary and it must be thinned for brushing, a decent quality brush is always a great help as well.

Mick.

You shouldn't ever be painting from out of the bottle. Brush painting is most successful when you use thinner twice.

You move some paint into a palette depression (or cup), closing the paint jar right away. You load two depressions in the palette with thinner. One is to thin the paint with, by pulling thinner into the paint depression and stirring. The other is to load the brush with thinner. (many people use only one thinner depression, also).

To paint, you dip the brush sideways into your thinner, patting some of it back off on the edge, then you dip the brush into the thinned paint. Whenever your brush "seems dry" to you after you stroke paint out of it, you reload the brush with thinner again, then go on painting.

Many people just dip their brush into the open paint jar, painting away while they leave the cover laying on the bench. Then they clean very aggressively to get all the paint out of the brush. They also have problems with paint life. (the partially dried paint builds up on the jar sides and in the lid every time they use that color) A pre-loaded brush is also easier to clean, because you don't get dried paint in it in the first place.

I learned this in a Jr High art class,,,,,,I was "already a good brush painter" when I walked in on the first day (in my own mind), with many years under my belt (6 years or so).  When the art teacher saw what I was doing, she actually slapped my hand with the brush in it.  Then she taught me how to use a paintbrush and how to clean them using hair conditioner for longer life.

Great advice Tarn. Very helpful. I would add on the use of extender that I do not use it for Vallejo paints. It seems to already have plenty of extender in it. It is amazing acrylic paint. If I am going to spend much time at all brushing Tamiya acrylics on the other hand, I usually use some extender, and when I don't, I regret it.

Rex, I thought I had it right, but not quite. Thanks for that info!!

PS, I was very close, but definitely learned a thing or three from your post.

Extender is a very good idea that I left out of my description.

I have mine mixed in with my thinner, as Slow Dri, and I have Flow Aid mixed in it also. That is because I use the same thinner for brush and airbrush work. That causes me to forget to mention it.

I might not always be the one you want to take modeling procedure advice from, though.  The Sarge just saw me fiddling around over on my bench and she asked me if I was going to play with the paints more, or get to the modeling part.  That made me realize how much time and money I put into each new paint order when it arrives.  My way is not exactly the cheapest,,,,,except that I paid 58 cents per bottle for my Aeromaster collection,,and that my 1/2 Gallon of thinner costs about 7 or 8 dollars each time I make it.  Every thing else is "extra cost" though.

Rex

Depends on the paint.  Not all paints are created equal :-)

Don Stauffer

Depends on the paint.  Not all paints are created equal :-)

Nor are all painters created equal either.  Sometimes it's the archer, not the arrow...