hmmm you sure you didn't get them from greatmodels.com? I didn't know Squadron carried them... these are the ones in the little squeeze bottles right?
If it is and it sounds like it is: (I use those almost exclusively)
your questions:
| QUOTE: 1) The thinned (possibly too thin) acrylic paint goes on milky and I can't seem to get the subtle soft edges that I can with enamels-why? |
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you've already answered the question.. they are overthinned. try using a tad less water. I've actually sprayed them out of bottle with no huge problems... with the water you can get a little lower on pressure to get better detail. ... Just only a drop or two per cup normally does it.
| QUOTE: 2) Acrylic paint doesn't seem to flow as well as enamel, it doesn't fill panel lines without special attention- what am I doing wrong? |
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See question #1, and a retarder can help... also take a cotton bud moistened with an ammonia based window cleaner or such and wipe the tip of your airbrush if it starts acting up and spraying odd patterns.. you'll get used to it...
| QUOTE: 3) What sort of curing time should I allow. |
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about 24 hours or more... allow 10 to 15 minutes between LIGHT coats, the full time before switching colors or masking
| QUOTE: 4) What can I add to acyrlic paint to make it 'retard' a bit (I thought about detergent) |
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Tanky answered that for you... many companies make an acrylic airbrush medium and it can be found in an art store where they sell the artists acrylic paints and such... BUT... if you can get your hands on Vallejo's thinner, the aircraft colors you got are made by them... it has a retarder as well as an adhesion agent. (the adhesion agent I suspect is white glue) But it works wonders... use 1 drop per every 3 drops of paint. (personally I just guess how many drops of paint went in and use acoordingly amounts of the thinner)
| QUOTE: 5) What goes with want? can I use laquers over the acrylic, can I use enamels over acrylics or acrylics over enamels, how does it go with Future (or Pledge- I'm in Aust.) |
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once FULLY cured you can spray anything over them... as Tanky said I wouldn't put down a heavy coat of lacquer on them but instead would probably put the pledge as a barrier between the paint and the lacquer...(and let the pledge cure 24 to 48 hours as well) enamels can be sprayed directly on them as long as the acrylic are given the 24 hour plus cure time...
Things I have learned with using them:
Spray light coats... they go on BEAUTIFULLY when put on like that and tend to spray on better like that... sometimes it might take me 3 or 4 coats to completely cover the fuselage but the end result is worth it... Also priming with a complementary primer helps in coverage too... light colors go great over white primer, darker colors better over grey. I just use the plain old spray can of Krylon primer from the hardware store. Auto stores are good places to get it too.
Clean the tip often (the cotton bud with window cleaner on it).. like ever 5 passes or so... it will save you the hassle of the pattern getting a wierd spray pattern or worse yet, droplets.
If you don't already have it, invest in some needle lube, I know there are sources for it in AU. Badger Regdab and Medea Super Lube are two names it goes by.
If you can take the patience to learn these I think you will be so happy you'll want more of that type of paint. Once you get in the routine it is no hassle whatsoever.
One of the nicest parts for me is clean up between colors is ammonia window cleaner in the cup sprayed through at 40+ PSI... no fussing with smelly thinners!! Also there is almost zero waste of paint since you measure it out with the bottle dropper.
One of the biggest things is that they aren't enamels and some of what you have learned won't apply.. experiment a bit and see what works best for you... but I've given you a few of the basic guidelines...
OH!!!! and on mixing... if these are the type in the squeeze bottles just shake them in the bottle before dispensing... about 20 or 30 seconds.. they mix up nice.. if you are mixing two shades of them mixing them well with a toothpick in the paint container you put them in works best...
Feel free to post any more questions on it!
Good luck!!!
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massive typos