Switching paint brands

For me, Tamiya bottle acrylics brush poorly but airbrush brilliantly.  I use lacquer thinner, but I helped a friend get started airbrushing using rubbing alcohol with the Tamiya, which also delivered excellent results, albeit with a slightly longer drying time.

But my friend that uses alcohol for thinner also brushes the bottle paint with good results - I think I just stink at hand painting!  It’s all technique.

The rattle cans are great, they go on a lot smoother than Testors.  Tamiya uses LPG for propellant, so if you decant for airbrushing, wait a minute or two to let it “gas off”.  If you just mix in thinner and start spraying, you might get tiny bubbles forming on the painted surfaces as the LPG evaporates.

Tamiya paints airbrush beautifully, you can thin with alcohol but I would recommend Tamiya thinner at 50:50. They are harder to brush paint and I don't even try. I'm changing over from Tamiya and life color paints over to mission models paint as I run out for aircraft, I'm sticking with Tamiya for armor since I got my color mixes down for them. Mission models paints are color matched to RLM colors.

jmb667

So I've always used Testors and Model Master paints. I know how they work, am comfortable with their consistency and flow, etc.  However, with the recent news (recent to me, anyway, as someone getting back into the hobby after several years off) that MM is discontinuing an entire line of paint (which is disappointing, as I have a lot of WWII and international aircraft in my stash), I'm considering switching brands.

There are only three hobby shops within a two hour drive of me; one of them carries only Testors/MM paints (and very few at that), the other two carry Testors/MM as well as Tamiya paints (the entire line of bottles and sprays).

I'm considering switching to Tamiya, since that's waht's readily available to me. Alternatively, I can order them online, but for supplies I'm a hands-on type of guy.

Can anyone chime in on their experience with Tamiya acrylics (bottles) and laquers (spray) working as a "system" of paints?

Thanks!!!

 

The Testors news is old. Just to clarify, Testors is eliminating their almost their entire ENAMEL line of paint. They still carry acrylics (I know folks say they suck but I’ve never had issues airbrushing them). Tamiya are good but their color line isn’t something to write home about (about 80 colors). You’ll probably end up mixing your colors you need in order to get the shade you‘re looking to achieve.

 

Humbrol enamels are good.

Mission Model paints have been getting rave reviews and I like them.

Scalehobbyist still carry Model Master enamel paint line, so stock up while you can.

I have a wide variety of paint brands in my stash besides Model Master in both acrylic and enamel. Gunze, Tamiya, Pollyscale, Humbrol, Mission Model, Aeromaster, LifeColor, and Vallejo. 

So don’t be afraid to stock on a wide variety of brand of paint and don’t stick to one dedicated brand. 

Sheep, I believe Testors has discontinued most of the enamel FS colors only, not all of the enamel line the last I heard from the guy behind the counter at one shop I went.

Tamiya paints are very good and behave somewhat like enamels so I use some of their colors. The issue with them is that they don't have a full color selection and some shades have to be mixed. I would also echo the use of their own thinner to get the best mileage out of them.

I have heard great things about Mission Model Paints but haven't tried them yet.

Mr. Color has a solvent type acrylic paint line like Tamiya's and spray equally well.

I have tried Vallejo Air acrylics and IMO are finicky, not durable as in scratching very easily. Good thing with them is their HUGE color selection.

I only use Tamiya now, for airbrushing and brush painting.  For brush painting, all you need to do is add 1 drop of their paint retarder, (with a couple of drops of paint in a palette) and they hand brush beautifully after that.  

Yes, the downside is they only have about 100 different colours.  For me, this is fine.  I only need so many shades of grey!  Mind you, I'm mostly a car modeller, but 100 different colours is fine for my purposes.  

I have also heard great things about Mission Model paints.  

When I see the new paint racks in hobby shops and craft stores, I wonder if the news about Testors was fully accurate. It looks to me as if they are eliminating military colors, for whatever reason.  New Testors paint racks I see have lots of enamels- just not the military colors.  They even have new enamel colors like semi-gloss.  It looks like we may have to sharpen our mixing skills.  I too regret the loss of the myriad of military colors, but I still like Testors paint. It brushes and airbrushes well.  I have beeb using it since the forties and fifties when I bought Testors dope for flying models.  I did use Aero Gloss for awhile, but always returned to Testors.

 

Yes, the local hobby shops here still stock Testors & Model Master enamels. Along with many other paint lines. Testors website still shows enamels and although the line up has changed recently, they do not appear to be going away... yet. 

I now buy all of my paint on line. For one thing, I just don't think the LHS have enough turn over any longer.

GMorrison

I now buy all of my paint on line. For one thing, I just don't think the LHS have enough turn over any longer.

 

The ones down here do. Business is good for them. Brookhurst stays open until midnite on Friday & Saturday. They gotta be doing something right. Aside from hosting our AMPS chapter once a year on site.

I’m relatively new to the airbrushing game, so take this with a large grain of salt. I’ve used I’ve used Tamiya on my last build and it ran great out of my cheap Amazon airbrush as well as my NEO without much care about pressure. I thin with either Tamiya thinner or isopropyl alcohol at 50:50. Straight out if the bottle it’s Ok for brush touch ups or small parts. Used the brush to paint my pilot. Larger areas are a no go for me with a brush. That could very well be operator headgap though. Only draw back here is you will need to do mixing and such to get the colors you need. Not a lot of different shades available. If you’re building a Tamiya model, they will tell you the ratios though. I’m building a Bronco with my son and we went with Vallejo Model Air since they had to colors he liked available. So far I’m not impressed with how it sprays and mixing the little droppers is a PITA, which affects how it sprays. I’ve got a mini drink mixer coming, so we will see. I’ve trued 3 colors and it was hit or miss with how well I could mix the paint. Those droppers are a mixed blessing I guess. Brushing is the same. Mix it well and it works. Don’t and it looks goofy. Hope this helps.

Rambo

Mission models paints are color matched to RLM colors.

 

 

No they’re not all color matched strictly to RLM colors. They’ve added more colors to their line for modern jets, WW2 Allied, RAF, Russian and Japanese aircraft as well as armor.

I stick with Tamiya acrylics. Low odor, easy cleanup, spray great, brushing is not as good but I've always brushed with straight paint, not sure if thinning it would help with brushing. I personally have found no issues with thier color choices and have always been able to find what I need or something close enough to make me happy. Can't help you on the laquer sprays, never used them.

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

 

 

Rambo

Mission models paints are color matched to RLM colors.

 

 

 

 

 

No they’re not all color matched strictly to RLM colors. They’ve added more colors to their line for modern jets, WW2 Allied, RAF, Russian and Japanese aircraft as well as armor.

 

Your right I should of worded it differently, them having color matched RLM colors is the reason I'm switching over.

Name a paint brand and I'll teach you how to make it not work right.