Help please.

hard to say without more info there is a learning curve with the newer acrylics need to experiment with pressures and ratios.Here are some generic tips.

Clean or use a good primer like Tamiya Extra Fine

Use the paint companies thinner

Vallejo offers a Flow Improver,it should be used.

But to give more help we need more specifics.

Hi, Clifford - It has been several years, since I changed from enamels to acrylics, it took some time to get comfortable using them. Now I find acrylics to be much better, for my use.

I've only tried a few brands, Model Master, Vallejo and Tamiya. For me, Tamiya is the most adaptable and easy to use, consistent results, not complicated at all. With regard to tip dry, I use Tamiya's X-20A or Tamiya's Lacquer Thinner as the thinning agent, and I mix the paint heavily thinned. 

For a single color base coat, I'll spray it thinned at about a 50/50 mix. For detail work, like camo or small restricted areas, I'll reduce it by 70 or 80%. That has almost entirely eliminated tip dry, but I still keep some Q-tips soaked with alcohol or lacquer thinner handy, after about ten or twenty spray passes I'll give the needle a quick swipe with the Q-tip, rotating it in the front area of the AB tip.

My working air pressure is normally 12 - 18 psi, hardly ever above 20. That gives me a useful spray pattern, for effective coverage and atomization.

Whatever paint system you use, I recommend a thorough stirring of the paint with something like some sprue, a stick or small metal paddle. It's important that all of the bottles ingredients be completly blended, just shaking the bottle won't suffice, you'll likely leave a thick wad of the solids left at the bottom of the bottle.

I use mostly dual action, gravity feed Badger airbrushes, but the above two paragraphs apply whether I'm using single action or dual action types. The thinning ratios I gave were intended for Tamiya use, Vallejo has very different characteristics.

Brush painting Tamya acrylics is another matter, unless you add a retarder like Golden or Liquitex, it doesn't work very well. For brush painting I use Vallejo Model Color, not to be confused with Vallejo Model Air, which is intended for airbrushing. I highly recommend Model Color for your brushing needs.

I hope you find a regimen for acrylics that will work well for you. They will provide you with good, durable finishes, once you get comfortable and proficient with using them.

Best of luck to you.

Patrick 

Clifford,

Didn't really want to respond to this request but couldn't let request for help go unanswered.  You will find so many different opinions on acrylic paints I just found it was easier to just buy some and learn as you go.  Heres my two cents worth.

Acrylic paints can be a real pain in the butt.  Like you I love my model master paints and have stocked up on them.  I use them on all of my ship builds but I know one day they will be no more. 

I suggest you start visiting you-tube and watch the demo's on the brands that are out there.  Tamiya is great for airbrushing but lousy for hand painting.  Vallejo model paint is great for both but here in San Antonio Texas I have to add retarder and thin the paint down (even with Vallejo model air paints) or it will clog the airbrush. MIG and Ak are good paints but have the same issue as Vallejo. AK has just come out with a acrylic paint that they say will not dry at the tip and clog the airbrush.  I haven't tried the paint yet as I am well stock with other brands.  Acrylic paints are not as durable as enamel paints so I clear coat the model as soon as the final coat is dried and cured.

I am looking to move on to Laquer paints once my acrylic paints are used up (unless there is no other option).  I don't mind the smell as I worked in places of evern worst air in my youth.  My paint booth also does a very good job of venting the fumes out of the room. 

I only been back to modeling these last six years and been trying different brands and learning what works with them and what doesn't, just as you must have learned when first using Model Master. 

Marcus

Thanks for the information, for one thing at my local Hobbytown I was told to prime my model which is something I have never done. Secondly I was told that if I did not seal my finish before masking it the tape would peel my finish off.  Enamels just seem more simplfied and easier to work with.Vallejo products are available to me or Hataka from Sprue Brothers.

Cliff, try getting some Humbrol enamels in the small tin. They hand brush really well and ab just fine and they have a bazillion colors.

I'm like you and love my enamels and I hate to see some of the military enamel paints being dropped by MM. They are still making several colors do not all are gone.
I have tried my hand at some acrylics and they are not the same as the enamels for me. The Ak real colors are Lacquer and spray close to how the enamels do. I do not like Vallejo except their Panzer Ace colors that hand brush very well.

I recently tried MMP acrylic paint and was impressed at how well it performed but it's a complete different animal all together.

I've had great success transitioning to Mr. Color.  I thin with their leveling thinner and haven't had issues.  Closest thing to enamels I've found in terms of thinning and finish.  

Tamiya have been equally good for years.  

99% of my work is with a single action Paasche H.

Clifford

Secondly I was told that if I did not seal my finish before masking it the tape would peel my finish off.

That part of the advice is wrong. Proper priming is what will protect your from paint lift due to masking. A sealant coat has nothing to  do it.

There are two purposes for a clear 'sealant' coat that come to mind. First, to alter the sheen. For example, you used a glossy enamal on a tank and you want a flat finish. So you apply a matte clear. Second, to provide a protective barrier coat to perform washes and so forth. For example, you plan to use an oil-based wash, so you apply a coat of acrylic clear to provide a dissimilar barrier coat. (this is so your paint job doesn't get destroyed when you clean up the excess wash with mineral spirits or whatever)

Maybe there are other reasons I didn't think of, but again preventing paint lifing due to masking isn't one of them.

keavdog

I've had great success transitioning to Mr. Color.  I thin with their leveling thinner.

Tamiya have been equally good for years.