Mix n' Match Paint Brands

Thanks guys...

Abarne, you covered all the things that I was curious about. In the end, I think it really is trial and error when it comes to paint. However, I will use some of your suggestions/ideas to get me going down the right path. Thanks so much for the input! :)

Welcome back to the hobby.  I think I know what you mean about being overwhelmed by all the new choices available. 

For general work, I use mostly ModelMaster enamels.  I have easy color availabilty at the local hobby shop, like their adhesion to plastic without futzing around with excessive cleaning, priming and what not.  I don't think that I have ever tried mixing with non-MM brands of paint.  For thinner, I have used both Kleen Strip mineral spirits available for next to nothing at Home Depot as well as Testor's Model Master airbrush thinner (at considerably greater expense), and have not noticed any difference in how the paint performs in the airbrush.

I do use some acrylics, for painting vinyl tank tracks, weathering, and specialty situtations where it is advantageuos to be brushing with a paint type that is different than the undercoat.  i.e. you can brush acrylics over cured enamel or vice versa and not worry about the brush coat dissolving and mixing with the under coat.  For acrylics, I use both ModelMaster Acryl and Tamiya.  I do a lot of mix and match with them, i.e. mixing Tamiya acrylic thinner, Tamiya flat base, and ModelMaster Acryl together for airbrushing, and not having any ill effects.

One interesting thing that I have noticed about acrylics vs. enamels, is that they don't spoil.  Occaisionally, I maybe have left the cap on an enamel jar not perfectly tight, and six months later the paint is now a blob of goo that can no longer be thinned and used.  Or if I try to save some leftover thinned enamel after airbrushing, I find that after a few days the paint has again congealed into a useless blob.  With acrylics on the other hand, if the paint in the jar has turned to goo, I just add acrylic thinner, stir, and it's good as new.  With acrylics that have been thinned for airbrushing, I have saved little containers for months on end.  The colors separate from the thinner, but again, it stirs right up and sprays perfectly.   

De gustibus non disputandem est. That's Latin for there is no disputing a matter of taste, and that's what you'll get with a question like that. I use acrylics almost exclusively, and prefer Tamiya and Polly Scale. Some I know won't use anything but Gunze Sanyo, which I won't use. Others prefer Testors Model Master, with which I've never been much impressed.

Best recommendation is to try a few and see what seems to work best for you. 

As far as mixing different brands of paint in the bottle, don't. Sometimes it works, but when it doesn't  you have a royal mess in the bottle, in the airbrush, and on the model. The reason is that different brands use different binder, resin, oil, pigment, solvent, and additive combinations. Usually different colors in the same brand are compatible (although not always!) but different brands may not be.