Paint brushing Tamiya acrylics...trouble

Thanks all for the suggestions and comments. In the mean time I've tried a little more brush painting; this time adding Tamiya's thinner. The resulting paint session was much improved, much longer working time for my requirements. Thanks again!

I reckon we all just gotta find the products we like, and stick with 'em till we don't like 'em any more.

I'll be using Tamiya and Gunze until then!

I don't think I'd go so far as to totally abandon Tamiya, but that's just me. I find their acrylics just spectacular for airbrushing. When I first started, I thinned the paint too much, but it still adhered very well. Just for hand brushing I don't think it's the greatest as it is too thin. Has anyone used CItadel paints for hand or airbrushing? They dry to a semi-gloss finish, very nice and even and are just SPECTACULAR for handbrushing.

In the eighties, I left Humbrol paints for what they were, and changed to Tamiya acrylics, ten years later I threw all my Tamiya paints in the carbage and started with the renewed Humbrol Super Enamels, both for brushing and airbrushing.
The only other brand I use sometimes is Model Master for their skin tones and their metalizers.

Is Tamiya keeping the good stuff here in Japan, and exporting bad batches overseas?

I never used it (never even found it!) when I lived in the States, but the Tamiya (and Gunze, for that matter) acrylics I've used here have always performed beautifully, both airbrushed AND brush brushed. No problems whatsoever, as I mentioned previously.

Maybe the humid climate here retards drying a bit...

Hi
I use Tamiya acrylics on a regular basis, but maily for airbrushing. I do use them to hand brush, but only small parts. I do not find them to be the greatest for hand brushing. It's probably better if you switched to another brand for hand brushing, and stuck with Tamiya for airbrushing. The only think you have to keep in mind is to MIX THE PAINT VERY WELL!!. The pigment has a tendancy to settle to the bottom of the jar very quickly, so even while hand brushing, stop every few minutes and remix the pot.

Tam paints are the pits. THey once made a great formula in th emid 80's, no brush strokes, easy to airbrush. But the formula changed. Not it skins rapidly but the lower levels remain wet. The slightest touch of fresh paint to the skin lifts the old skin and the paint below it. Blending the stuff became a nightmare. I used to use this for flesh tones and got really good results (Brown and flesh mixed) . The current stuff dries before you can even paint a 1/35 face. Further, they have used tha same limited color palatte for 20 years and never bothered to expand to match any standard from any country or period.
For my money, if you must use acrylics, go with Andrea/Vallejo, PollyScale, or Model Master.

I've been going back and forth for weeks now over Tamiya V. Testors. I'd like very badly to only have to deal with Tamiya but the fact is they dry way to fast when brushed!- I'm about to experiment with a product called "flotrol" basically its a type of carrier too assist in retarding and evening the flow of paint - I'll post results when and if I get em' Despite it all theres no way stay completetly away from enamels - no one makes good metalizer acrylic yet..... One thing that REALLY helps tamiya bond better is their spray on primer - highly highly reccomended for airbrushing and brushing- good luck!

Tamiya paints are easy to brush on and work just fine. Here's what I do. Shake up the paint while still in the jar - this will coat the lid with paint. Remove the lid and set it on the table, then dip your brush in thinners and put just a drop in the cap. Using the brush you just dipped in thinners (I recommend X20A) mix the paint in the lid with the thinners, and away you go. If you try brushing Tamiya acrylics straight from the jar you will have the problems you describe.

Rich

Yeah, Tamiya is hard to brush. Small parts are okay, but larger areas will get you that messing result. The trick to brushing big areas is to brush a really wet paint and get it to cover before it starts drying. Then just let it level out. Other acrylics with the exception of Gunze don't have this problem.

Funny...I brush Tamiya acrylics all the time, with no problems whatsoever.
I don't think I'm doing anything special...I just open the bottle, dip in the brush, and paint!
Just lucky, I guess.

I had the exact same problem. I just quit using them all together and went back to testors. Now that I started airbrushing I will most likely use them for that.

Greg, I reckon your best bet is to keep the Tamiya paints just for airbrushing and try to find some Humbrol Enamels or maybe Testors in the colours you want to hand brush. Tamiya Acrylics are absolute shockers to hand brush, they dry too quickly, don't level well unless you thin them and then you can't get coverage and subsequent coats will lift previous coats unless you leave them for days to cure. Just my opinion mate.

Cheers...Snowy