paint of choice?

There really is no one paint of choice. Some guys like enamels, some like acrylics, some like lacquers. Experiment with different brands until you find YOUR paint of choice.
If you experiment keep in mind that different paints require different thinners and different paint-to-thinner ratios for airbrushing.
I've been using Testors enamels all my life because I'm too chicken to start fiddling with different brands. But the next time I try a metallic finish I'm going to go with Alclad II because Testors metalizer has a shortcoming (it peels easily when masking).
When you start airbrushing be sure you have good ventillation and a full respirator that filters out organic vapors. Post a thread asking about the best respirator to get and you'll get a more detailed response.

Best wishes

Dave

I find ways to get all I can out of everything available... enamel, acrylic, lacquer, Testors, Humbrol, Gunze, Tamiya, Alclad II, Spaz-Stix and some day, MCW too. Figure out how they work with and against each other & see what you can make happen with it. The only stuff I've disliked have been real auto paint and mega-mart spray paints (like Krylon) because it attacks plastic and craft store acrylic because it doesn't adhere to models well. There's plenty available in model paints now, so I feel that there is no need to ever consider mega-mart spray paint or craft store stuff anymore.

My paint of choice would have to be enamels. Like djrost commented above; it's what I grew up on and I mastered it's uses for my modeling. I have been having very good trys with Tamiya acrylics. I struggle with the trade-offs with both types of paints. With enamels I get off-the-rack color-matched FS standards with no mixing, superior adhesion with no primers, excellent brush painting, but then there's the need for ventalation. With acrylics I enjoy ease of clean-up using water, nontoxic prep and airbrushing, but it suffers by poor adhesion, lack of available colors facilitating the need to mix custom colors, in some cases poor brush-painting ability and the demand for primers in some situations. The happy medium, well..for me I learned to use both depending on my needs. The paint of choice for you will be which ever your comfortable with, or for most, the one brand that most provides the best performance and less headaches over-all in how you use them for your models. Until paint manufactuers can develop an acrylic that can perform like enamels, I'll continue to raise the banner for the "tried and true" enamels.

Carson welcome to the forum, and also back to modelling.

I can only speak from experience, but on returning to modelling after a 15 year hiatus, and with a young family I decided to go the acrylic route, due to concerns over the fumes generated while spraying.

I've tried several different brands, from Tamiya, to Vallejo, and including MM, Gunze and Lifecolor. They all have their merits, but I have ended up using primarilly Gunze, as the paint itself is excellent, and the range of colours, both WWII and modern FS is comprehensive. I still use paints from the other manufacturers where no Gunze equivalent exists.

When all is said and done, it comes down to what suits your needs.

Best of luck with your return to modelling.

Karl

carson -

Gonna go with KJ on this one. Acrylics are safer and easier to work with. Hard to beat a water clean up. I can pertty much use acrylics like the old water paints we had when we were kids! If you're looking for a super high gloss finish, acrylics can give you that too, but there's more work involved. Most of my stuff is mil spec, so flats are fine.

Been using Model Master Acryls and have been very pleased, just find one that suites your needs AND is readily available in your area.

Archer out.