JViguers wrote: |
cbaltrin wrote: | MM on the other hand really has no "strong points" IMO -- they are the jacks of all trades and masters of none in the model paint world. |
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You're funny. I've used Tamiya, Gunze, Vallejo and MM acrylics and I still prefer MM enamels. They flow better, have a better viscosity and richer pigments and are alot more durable. Out of all acrylics I like Vallejo Model Air but it needs primer for better adhesion. |
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They are more durable than Tamiya/Gunze for sure; however, that is probably the last thing I consider when choosing a paint for a particular task. Anytime I am using a "fragile" acrylic like Tamiya, I am usually following up with a "durable" clear coat or painting something that won't get ware. I am not knocking MM Enamels, they were all that was available when I got into this hobby (actually, I think the little square testors bottles where all that was available). All I am saying is when I am going to paint something, I choose the best paint for the job at hand, and MM seldom falls into the category of what I need.
Here is what I mean:
If I am painting a cockpit I want a base cockpit color that will dry fast and hand brush well. I want it to dry fast because I want to start painting the cockpit details soon after I airbrush on the base coat. I want it to hand brush well because I might need to go back and touch up some goofs after bush painting other details. For this task I always choose Polly Scale. It dries in minutes and hand brushes beautifully. It also does not dissolve the underlying paint when hand painting the details. If I had used MM enamels. I would need to wait several hours for the base coat to dry and, when I did get around to painting the details, it would dissolve the underlying layer of paint. Then I would have to wait several more hours before dry brushing and clear coating.
If I was going to airbrush some lufwaffe mottle cammo on a German 109, I would grab some Tamiya or Guze because there is just nothing better for detailed painting close to the surface of the model. You can thin the stuff down to practically nothing with 91% alcohol which results in the paint drying practically as soon as it hits the model. Just as importantly, it will have virtually no visible over spray. If I tried that will MM enamels, the paint would not dry and I would get spiders everywhere from wet paint pooling on the surface.
If I want to paint an aircraft tire, I would grab some Polly Scale since if hand brushes and flows so well and very level and streakless. I would just touch the loaded tip of the brush where the tire meets the wheel and the capillary action would draw the paint around the edge of the wheel, after which I would hand paint the rest.
I guess it all boils down to what kind of painting you are doing. Sometimes you actually want you paint to dry slow, such as when you are trying to put a nice gloss coat on a race car. Beautiful gloss finishes are hard to achieve with fast drying acrylics. Acrylics also don't perform well in high volume airbrushing (painting large areas quickly) Usually, they dry to fast for the distance required to travel from the airbrush to the surface of the model. They also dry on the tip of the needle and these dry bits eventually get blasted off of the needle onto the surface of the model. I am finishing a large 1/48 B-17G and will probably use enamels for the exterior finish (however, I will likely use Mr.Color's excellent synthetic lacquers for this job).
A final note about Tamiya paints in particular, you won't find a flat white, gloss white, flat or gloss yellow on the market that even comes close to the opacity of Tamiya (I have not tried Vallejo yes however). All Tamiya paints are very opaque; however, it is extremely noticeable with their white and yellow paints--mostly because other brands have been so horrible with these colors.