Do I really need to airbrush it?

Yann Solo wrote:

Thanks guys, actually I think it turned out ok for the landing gears. I don't know about the Krylon primer but I have a can of Krylon clear satin coat and when I sprayed it on a painted and Future protected part, it went thru it and the plastic was reappearing.  Can you get good result with a spray can on tiny parts with small details?

With Future over it too???  I think it's possible that one or the other, or both the acrylic and future were not cured well when you sprayed it.  I use Future exclusively for priming a model for Alclad II and that is a lacquer and it has never eaten through the future... another possibility is the Dull was sprayed a little thick and it had time to work on the over coats a little better...

Personally I prefer the acrylic dull coats, Polly Scale, Vallejo, Color of Eagles.  The MM Acryl Flat Clear really didn't appeal to me though, it seemed to leave a bit of a whitish tinge to the kit afterwards... To me the acrylics mentioned provided a 'duller' dull than the Testors and other enamel/lacquer dulls...

Yann Solo wrote:

There is one thing you have to know first, I do not, like most of you, have a decent hobby shop in my area so each time I need something, I have to find it on the net and wait for the order to come in.  I don't have that white primer in hand so I might use some light grey or something ... but thanks for the advise.

Ahh.. but a hardware store or anywhere that sells spray paints is bound to sell a can of Krylon white primer... actually any can of white enamel primer will do the job...

hkshooter wrote:

*note to self, Don't buy Tamiya white*

haha, well you can layer it up slowly.  but my experience had been 3 coats of white and still having the semi transparent problem, and with my crappy control one go is all it needs to ruin a paint job.  worked well after I started using white primer, Tamiya or Gunze Sangyo Base White 1000 with a little more lacquer thinner.  I'd say grey can work out for aircrafts as a primer since I personally haven't seen a pure white fighter jet cept for maybe the thunderbirds, lay several coats of white on top of that and  you should be fine.

There was an old thread with people's complaints regarding that white acrylic.  If you do a search in this section of the forum you will get a bunch of results, like this one,

http://www.finescale.com/FSM/CS/forums/494610/ShowPost.aspx

or that, etc.

http://www.finescale.com/FSM/CS/forums/344109/ShowPost.aspx

archangel571 wrote:

Oh no... that's the notorious part about Tamiya flat white.  You need to lay down a layer of their fine white primer first...  or go with enamel

I presume the problem is the same with their gloss white?

There is one thing you have to know first, I do not, like most of you, have a decent hobby shop in my area so each time I need something, I have to find it on the net and wait for the order to come in.  I don't have that white primer in hand so I might use some light grey or something ... but thanks for the advise. 

Each time I think I have everything I need, I screw up something. I'll post some pictures so you can tell me how bad it turned out!

Doesn't worked as well with Tamiya Acrylics, I airbrushed the landing gears and bays with flat white and the first coat was horrible, the paint seemed to go only in the depressions and it was not evenly spread. At the third coat, the result is not that bad but could have been better.  The problem comes from my airbrush I guess!  It's the Mighty mini made by testors and its a basic model without pressure adjustment. The only thing I can do is get further away or closer to the model and adjust the needle. And if I go to far away, the paint seem to dry before reaching the model!!!  I use the Tamiya thinner which as the retarder in it but I guess that's the way it goes when you play with acrylics.

I'll spray everything with Future tonight so I can do some weathering tomorrow (first experience with weathering also)  I might also take some pictures so stay tuned.

Yann Solo wrote:

I just used my airbrush for the first time and it worked like a charm!  I started my 1/32 F/A-18 Hornet and the cockpit is now painted.  I think I'm in love with Airbrushing.  I used Model masters enamels and everything was perfect, even cleaning was easy with the domestic thinner.  Now I will have to try with Tamiya acrylics!!!!

I've been able to download some very interesting PDF files that gives different techniques for airbrushing and weathering effects so I think I'm a little bit more confident right now. 

I just discovered that I had a Millenium Falcon that I made about 10 years ago which I never painted. I'm sure it'll be a great model to practice on.

Thanks all!

Unless you are like some of my colleagues here who are commercial artists or such the airbrush should do ya good.  As Scott said the milk jug will be your best friend at first.  Me and my jug go waaaayyyy back!    I still prime it now and again to try some new technique before doing it on an aircraft.  Oh yeah and spray in several thin coats.. especially with acrylic this helps keep the peel and rub offs down to a minimum.

Good luck to you and post your results!  We'd love to see it!

Yann Solo wrote:

I guess I'll have to buy the alcohol in bulk package next time I go at the grocery store.  Thanks again for the tips and advices.

Bgrigg wrote:

Before you jump in I should add that a properly cleaned surface is also necessary. Some people recommend mild solution of dishwashing liquid and water, but I've always used a wipe down with isopropyl alcohol and then another wipe with a clean, dry cloth. You may also want to consider using Tamiya's rattle can primer if you are planning to paint a light colour like white (in case you're planning on ever building the late, lamented Avro Arrow!). I haven't personally used a primer yet for painting, but I've not used white except for small details, and I use a brush for those.

I guess I'll have to buy the alcohol in bulk package next time I go at the grocery store.  Thanks again for the tips and advices.

Bgrigg wrote:

Tamiya acrylics spray just fine. Just be careful to let the paint fully cure, as opposed to dry. Acrylics dry from the outside in and you should leave each coat to dry for at least 24 hours. Window cleaner with ammonia (Windex Blue formula) cleans up Tamiya acrylics wonderfully, follow with a rinse of distilled water (hard water will build up calcium in the AB) to wash out the ammonia, which can stain the metal of the AB. I thin to the consistancy of 2% milk, and it covers large areas just fine. It is better to spray many "thin" coats than one heavy coat.

Thanks a lot my canadian collegue! I'm a little more confident now, I'll jump on it tonight and see how I can deal with all that.

I have a big collection of Acrylic Tamiya paint.  Is it ok?

Or do I have to buy enamel paint? 

I know that acrylic dries faster than enamel so I will probably have to thin it a lot and it may be difficult to cover large areas. Right? 

BTW, I have two 1/72 A-7E corsair that I will probably not finish cause its too small and not enough detailed for me, so I will do what you suggested me and try it on those models first.  I'll just give them to my young kids afterward so they can play with it.  That way, I will feel as I didn't lost all my money in these stupid kits.