Hi all,

I am going to start building plastic models again. In the past, I have used Estes enamel paints (the kind that come in the small, squarish bottles), but:

1) They took forever to dry and I had a problem of getting my fingerprints embedded in them!

2) It seems many on this forum prefer water-based paints.

So, what would you recommend and why? What line of paints has the widest selection of colors, compatibility, etc.? I will be painting by both hand and with an airbrush, at least that's what I am aiming for.

Online links will be appreciated!

Thanks!

On second thought, I probably meant Testors. Fuzzy memory! (:-)

In general, go for enamel paints when handbrushing & acrylic paints for airbrushing. When painting figures it's a different realm.

I tend to use the Testors MM line for all my needs........ the Enamels...... that's all the local shop has anyway

If you want to get used to one sort of paints then Vallejo do both a pre-thinned range for airbrush and a range for brush painting. Both acrylic so easy clean-up.Excellent.

Vinnie

Thanks for the replies, everyone! I have seen the Tamiya paints around here: are they acrylic or otherwise?

Welcome to Armorama scubyfan. All Tamiya bottled paints are acrylics and their spray cans are enamels.

I have sprayed acrylics and enamels through my airbrush, and I would recomend acrylics, but for hand brushing I would say enamels kind of stick better to plastic.

Same here. I more or less only spray acrylics (tamiya) and brush with humbrol enamels... and oils for figures. I spray filters of enamels as well. Enamels, IMO, are the best all round and can be used for airbrushing, brush painting, washes and dry brushed. The drying time is a long enough to work with and is hard the next day.
I have 2 bottles of model master/testors. Rust and rubber, but I never use them as it can be a few days and they still seem sticky. I have read about others complaining about this also.
Humbrol is my preferred enamel.

For me I prefer Testers Model Master. They have a great color range and work good for brushing, great for airbrushing and for washes as well. Did I mention the great color range

Thanks, guys! And for my last question: where do you purchase your Tamiya Acrylics from? My local hobby stores only have Testors. An online retailer of such paints would be great!

Hey Scuby,

http://www.squadron.com
They have all the paints metioned above.Also Polly S and Gunze Sanyo.I prefer Polly S (acrylics).I think Polly S brushes on fine and thick really no need for second coat.Never any brush strokes either.

AJ

Thanks, AJ: that seems to be the ticket!

I second PollyS. The best acrylics I've used. Great colors, too, especially my favorite weathering colors. Who doesn't like Grimy Black?

Stephen

I use MM acryls and polly S acrylics for most of my airbrushing and handpainting..I also use MM enamels for hand painting only. I have tried the tamiya round bottle stuff, have a few bottles...dont really like the tamiya paints...my 2 cents

welcome Scubyfan !

This is what I use :

Airbrushing : Humbrol or Revell enamels and Tamiya acrylics
Brushing : Humbrol or Revell enamels
Brushing (Figures) : Van Gogh Oils (by Talens) drying = very slow
Brushing (Figures) : FlokArt Acrylics (by Plaid) drying = fast (or very fast depending on the thinning percentage)

Try different brands and decide what suits you best !

Good luck and keep us posted on your projects !

Model Masters acrylics is my firsts choice
Cunze Sangyo and Tamiya supplementary if some colours are not available
Metallizers from Model Mastersfor metallics
Humbrols for th e few enamels i use
Van Gogh - Talens oils
Andrea figure primer as a primer
Andrea colours for figures
Windsor and Newton brushed series 7
thats my equipment and works fine

Hi
I use humbrol enamels for all of my painting mainly because there's nothing much else available round here except tamiya acrylics.
Pete

Well, I have two main choices: Model Master and Testors. I choose acrylics for everything that I possibly can, only using enamels when I absolutely have to. Acrylilcs dry faster, have a less pungent smell, and, of course, easy clean-up. Though, enamels have a better selection of colors, but dry much more slowly, a messy clean-up, and one can easily get high after 10 or 12 hours at your workbench. (Come on, we've all done it! :-) ) I haven't tried anything else, so I can't give you anything else than this. Thanks for your time.