Oil or Acrylic?

Adriaran wrote:

I'm currently using oil or enamel based paints for my models. They're kind of expensive, and it doesn't come with much paint.

Quite. Don't figure out the cost per gallon—you might give up modeling…

Adriaran wrote:

I've noticed quite a few of the guys here on the forum say they use acrylic paints. Acrylic meaning the kind of paints you can get in the tall, 2 oz. containers for a buck at your local craft store?

NNNOOOOoooooo! Not the same at all, although some have posted that certain brands seem to work. Paints formulated for plastic models are rather specialized—they're intended to bond to plastic, for one thing, and pigments are probably considerably more finely ground. Those are the things you would notice first.

Adriaran wrote:

Do these paints act differently in an airbrush?

Yep.

The only real answer is to become a paint miser: never thin (reduce) more than you need for a given task (a matter of experience—you can always stop and thin more). Never thin a whole bottle. Never return reduced paint to the original bottle. Learn how to keep paints in good condition for years. (FSM has apparently bought my article on the subject, so hopefully that will appear in the near future in some form or another.)

I find modeling acrylics much easier to use. The primary difference is that with acrylics, application to a CLEAN substrate is absolutely necessary. By clean, I mean nearly surgically clean—not sterile, but no contaminants on the surface at all. 

Triarius wrote:

The only real answer is to become a paint miser: never thin (reduce) more than you need for a given task (a matter of experience—you can always stop and thin more)

I'm new to this, so.......how do you know how much to thin or whether to thin at all? Is it just a way to use less paint, or to change the color?

Adriaran,

I suggest getting some tech sheets on the paint. These are developed by the manufactures who lets face it have spent lots of money developing the paints and want you to have good results. Follow there sugested reduction formulas. Be sure to get an accurate way to measure everything. Then pracice on spare parts. Only after you fell you are ready to step up then you can experiment.

There are some companies that sell premixed paints and never mix brands

Good Luck

Mike 

I use Tamiya Acrylics, and yeah, they're expensive, but then I don't buy coffee at Starbucks for the same reason. I can't complain, with few exceptions the paints last a fairly long time.

Triarius is right, the el cheapo acrylics aren't for models. 

The thing with acrylics is that they are pretty user friendly. They don't smell as bad (which is not the same as they don't smell), and clean up a whole lot easier. I use Windex with ammonia to clean the airbrush, but acrylic paints wash off the hands with plain old soap and water. I find they airbrush a bit better than the enamels do.

I have good results with using 99% Isopropyl Alcohol as a cleaning agent. A quick wipe, let it air dry (very quick!) and you're ready to paint.

Adriaran wrote:

Triarius wrote: The only real answer is to become a paint miser: never thin (reduce) more than you need for a given task (a matter of experience—you can always stop and thin more) I'm new to this, so.......how do you know how much to thin or whether to thin at all? Is it just a way to use less paint, or to change the color?

Doesn't change the color—it shouldn't! If it does, your thinner is very incompatible with the paint!

Most paints have to be reduced (the proper term, for reducing the viscosity) or thinned (as it is frequently improperly called by those uninitiated in the complex and sometimes arcane field of coatings technology ) for spraying. The amount of thinner needed varies with the brand and often with different paints within the brand. Some scale modeling paints are formulated so they don't require reduction. I don't use those for ecomomic reasons.

The general rule of (paint stained) thumb is to thin the paint until it reaches the consistency of 2% milk. And yes, I do measure both the paint and the reducer very carefully. This is not just because of my obsessive-compulsive scientific background—it helps to prevent the vicious "Oops! Too much thinner! Oops! Too much paint!" cycle.