mixing different paint manufacturers together?

Well old school ..i use tamiya paints all the time both air,,and brushing ..it sounds like you not brushing right ...are u loading ur brush proper ..what type of brush are u useing ?? . If the brush is too stiff u.ll get brush strokes ..try a softer one ..and brush in a cross hach pattern to even out the paint ..tamiya paint dry qweikly even when brushed ..i whould not rec .mix the two ..tamiyas is acrylic and the other is lacquer based ...thin the tamiya out a little useing tamiya (x-20A) acrlic thinner ,,it works for me ..hope this was helpfull ..cheers

Right, don't mix Mr Leveling thinner with Tamiya Acrylics.

Tamiya can be brushed on, but as 5-high mentioned, it will take some experimentation to get it right. It airbrushes like a dream, though.

OK. No mixing. Got it.

I use a soft brush currently.  My wife is an artist so I stole a few of her old ones. Sable hair, windsor newton. Supposed to be "much more than you'll need to paint a model with". Her words, not mine.

I'll try thinning it out more and see how that goes.  For large surfaces it's not so easy.  I might have to do an airbrush...

Greg

Right, don't mix Mr Leveling thinner with Tamiya Acrylics.

Actually, that is preferred for airbrushing Tamiya paints. It makes them go on semi translucent and silk smooth. Its great for shading and weathering, but yes, I wouldn't use this combination for brush painting at all. Use some 70% alcohol or Tamiya's own X-20A to help it level out for brush painting. 

As newer chemistries get introduced for paints, it is getting harder and harder.  Used to be you had airplane dope and enamel paint.  You couldn't mix the two, but you could mix one dope with another, or one enamel with another.

Now, we have acrylic lacquer, acrylic enamel, regular lacquer, regular enamel, catalyzed acrylics, and on and on.  It seems like these days each paint mfgr has its own chemistry and it is getting really hard to mix paints with anything other than the same brand.

Nathan T

Greg

Right, don't mix Mr Leveling thinner with Tamiya Acrylics.

Actually, that is preferred for airbrushing Tamiya paints. It makes them go on semi translucent and silk smooth. Its great for shading and weathering, but yes, I wouldn't use this combination for brush painting at all. Use some 70% alcohol or Tamiya's own X-20A to help it level out for brush painting. 

Oops!

I had no idea.

Apologies to the OP for my posting erroneous info, and thanks for clarifying, Nathan.

No prob. You Aren't actually wrong Greg, just that combination does work for airbrushing, as Tamiya also makes Lacquer thinner in the yellow cap too, but Gunze's Leveling thinner is also another choice. It makes Tamiya acrylics airbrush way better than using X-20A.

Thanks, Nathan.

If you say so, then far as I'm concerned it is so! Definitely going to try it next time I spray Tamiya.