I am going through a process of replacing my old humbrol enamels some of which are dried up, with more airbrush (and modeller) friendly paints.

What would people recommend I go for, paint wise ? (I am looking at acrylics for ease of use through the airbrush, and I already ave one or twol Tamiya paints)

My options I have identified are
Tamiya
Gunze Sangyo
Xtracolor from hannants
.. any other suggestions ?

Thanks for your advice

--dave

hi Dave , it depends what you feel comfortable using, i like tamiya acrylics to base my models they spray well and dry quick .you can put on the base colors highlights shadows and camo in one day. ( with no distractions ) but for me enamels take to long normally 12 too 24 hours between each coat , if you like to crack on with your model then try acrylic or if you like to take your time enamels will do, Vallejo are also a good choice they dry fast and go on smooth , but the best thing about tamiya is if you don't like the paint job put the model in ( Mr muscle ) for about 20 Min's wash under the warm tap and it will strip off all the paint and you can start again. but if you have not tried these paints before its best to practice on an old kit first just until you get the hang of them. hope this helps !!!!

i use a mix of vallejo ant tamiya. usually tamiya for a.f.vs groundwork, e.t.c and vallejos for deatily parts ,figures and so on.

I prefer Tamiya acrylics. Very easy to use with excellent results.

Airfix are bringing out their colours in Acrylic now.

yo murdo, any idea when.

Where is a good place to get vallejo paints from?

--dave

would that be mr muscle floor cleaner, or one of the products from gunze which all seem to be called Mr-something?

Also, is it a good idea to thin tamiya acrylics with isopropanol, since I have rather a good supply, or do i have to use the (pretty expensive) tamiya thinners?

--dave

Mr muscle oven cleaner the foam stuff in the spray can, you can thin tamiya with car screen wash, use the isopropanol for cleaning out your air brush or to thin the paint,

cheers tony, thats a great help

--dave

no problem.

Hi Tony,

Try here mate.

http://airfix.com/humbrol-paints-and-accessories/paints/

Hi Dave,

I am a huge fan of Polly Scale . They make 136 military colors. Which are most accurate are open to debate, but for my money and experience, Polly Scale is far superior to Tamiya for airbrushing and adhesion. Here is a test I did of Polly Scale VS Model Master VS Tamiya

is pollyscale available in the UK?

i think you may only pick them up at shows, i tried them before i started using tamiya and found they dried quick clogged my airbrush took ages to stir to get a good consistency and never shake the bottle, you get nothing but air bubbles, i found them to be too much work .

Brings home the acronym YMMV ( Your Mileage May Vary)! Interesting. I always had more trouble with Tamiya (and especially Model Master Acryl) drying/clogging. I thin my PS about 30-40% with their own PS Gloss and maybe a drop of water. I can get 10 minutes of fine-tip spraying at 12-15 psi without trouble. Examples: My 1/100 F-105 was free-handed with PS, as was my /72 FW 190 and 1/48 Ki-61:


Conversely, the spattery squiggles on my JU 88 are Tamiya!


As for stirring, a decade ago I bought a battery powered stirrer. I doubt I've stirred with a stick since. BTW, I've tried both Badger's and the one sold by Micro-Mark . Micro-Mark's is far superior.

Yes, NEVER shake paint, PS or others.

YMMV!

Yes, at Hannant's

a recent e bulletin says that they have stopped stocking Pollyscale- when it's gone...........etc

Hi Dave
I say NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
am I destined to be the last of the Humbrol users?????

In reality I'm following this with interest,as I'm starting to get into acrylics, brush only at this stage.

Chris

Hi Chris,

While I acknowledge that they are very good for brush painting, been using for years, when I sprayed them through my airbrush, it took the best part of a day to ventilate my model room properly (window only, no extraction)

Tamiya acrylics are VERY bad for brush painting btw, the second layer seems to strip the first off

--dave

I´d recommend you to get Gunze Sangyo Aqueous acrylics, as these can be both sprayed and brushed with amazing results. They don´t dry as blazingly fast as Tamiya.

I´ve started switching from Tamiya to almost using Gunze ATT.

Can be a bit hard to find though. If you can´t find em´ try --> www.luckymodel.com

They have fast delivery and very good service

Just my 0,02

Cheers! // Emil