Brush Painting Enamel vs Acrylic - Your Thoughts?

Tamiya brushes fine, just thin it a little with retarder ( Tamiyas recommended method). I don't use their retarder as I use Liquitex in acrylics anyway,no need to buy yet another product and it works fine.

Enamel vs acrylic is personal choice. I can live with either one. Most all paints brush better with one sort or another of thinner.

I've used Tamiya acrylics for 99 percent of my painting for decades...but for priming and detail-painting, I still mostly use Testors 'square bottle' enamels. (If I could buy their 1163 'Military Gray' by the quart, it would be much handier for my priming. )

As the OP pointed out, they're convenient and easy to use, with great coverage and little worry about brush-strokes. And for those with concerns about spraying volatile (and smelly) thinners into their immediate environment -- my original reason for switching to acrylics, while living in an apartment -- rinsing out a brush in a little jar of thinner/cleaner presents no real problem.

One thing I like about enamels is that it both brushes and sprays very well.  The only drawback to me was the slow drying time with gloss enamels.  I solved that problem with a homebuilt drying box.

Hi Ajidica:

          I have always, 72 years now, thinned Testors by a small degree, Say 25-75 in favor of paint of course. It has worked as well for me as the now Gone PACTRA-No Brushmarks-Gauranteed!! I never have liked Acrylics because of the Lousy Brushability UNLESS you add something to them!

I started out buidling models and painting them with hand brushed enamels long ago. Acrylics did not come along until years later, so that was a learning curve there. But in the long run, for hand brushing, in the majority of cases in my experience, enamels are better performing, with the exception of drying time as stated above. And yes, those little Testors square bottle are still pretty economical. Even if they do cost quite a bit more than the old ones that had $.29 on the lid from back in the day. 

stikpusher

And yes, those little Testors square bottle are still pretty economical. Even if they do cost quite a bit more than the old ones that had $.29 on the lid from back in the day.

Stik, I don't know what your vintage is...but I've still got a bottle of (still viable) gloss green that says $.15 on the lid. 

gregbale

Stik, I don't know what your vintage is...but I've still got a bottle of (still viable) gloss green that says $.15 on the lid. 

LOL! Well, more than likely, that was when mom and dad were still paying for such things for me and I had no concept of cost or money...

Back in 1958, 1959 and 60 Testors enamels is pretty much what we had and they always have worked fine and still do.Pactra was like a shot of Geritol though, fantastic enamels, a few different color options from Testors etc.  I had a 108 customer paper route so I always had money enough to feed my model and bicycle needs etc. I remember Testors bottles at $.15 but I'm thinking I recall it being less than that, like $.12,maybe even $.10 at a local hardware store at the time. It's kind of a long time ago so I could be wrong lol !

You mean like these?

The clear lacquer was a dime.  Splurge on the Battleship Gray -- it was all of 19 cents

You wouldn't see those fancy faceted glass bottles today.    IIRC, more than one of these handgrenades got blown up with a firecracker

oh well -- pictures be inverted today == fixed it

EdGrune

You mean like these?

The clear lacquer was a dime.  Splurge on the Battleship Gray -- it was all of 19 cents

You wouldn't see those fancy faceted glass bottles today.    IIRC, more than one of these handgrenades got blown up with a firecracker

 

oh well -- pictures be inverted today == fixed it

 

 

Wow look at those !

For brush painting it's mostly Vallejo model color mixed with a little water.  I've had great results with those paints.  I do like those Testors enamels when painting gold and silver.  The rare times I use Tamiya it's always used with their retarder.  

Testors by Glenn Hanson, on Flickr

This predates me.   I can't remember Testors Liquid Glue

25 cents.  I do remember using a tube glue, not Testors

And later, when the paper route paid off you could graduate to one of Ed 'Big Daddy' Roths colors

Gee, Testor's deals with custom car designers pre-dated their [much] later 'Colors by Boyd' Coddington.    Perhaps someone can deal with Dave Kindig/AKZO Nobel for some of their colors.   It won't be Testors

GlennH

Testors by Glenn Hanson, on Flickr

 

I remember those too and thinking they were really getting out of hand !

EdGrune

This predates me.   I can't remember Testors Liquid Glue

25 cents.  I do remember using a tube glue, not Testors

 

That was the first liquid cement I ever used, and it was a major improvement over any brand of tube glue. It was still produced as of a year or two ago, but the label changed a long time back.

Space Ranger

 

 

EdGrune

This predates me.   I can't remember Testors Liquid Glue

25 cents.  I do remember using a tube glue, not Testors

 

 

 

 

That was the first liquid cement I ever used, and it was a major improvement over any brand of tube glue. It was still produced as of a year or two ago, but the label changed a long time back.

 

Still see it on the shelf, little taller bottle and red label.  Way more than a quarter though, like everything else

                                                                                

That's a ghost from back in the 60's.

After all those years it's a wonder that it still works.