Brush painting drama with Tamiya acrylics

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Bert-Jan - 13 Aug 2007 17:25 GMT

Hi All,

The header is kinda explains my problem.

As Pactra acrylics (Pactra at all, I think) is no more available here I had
to turn to Tamiya acrylics.
Although I used Tamiya and Pactra with airbrushing (I also mixed them with
no problem what so ever)
I CAN NOT brush paint with Tamiya acrylics.
Seems like every second brush stroke takes away the first, leaving a crappy
spot with NO paint.

Also very fine brushing is no option as the paint seems to dry on the brush
too fast.
The oly way to get it on in a civilized way seems to be applying a very
thick coat and getting that right with the first brush stroke, taking care
not to overlap strokes.

Any body have the same pro blem or am I the only sucker in town.
If this is a known problem, does anybody have a solution.

I've tried Vallejo, but I don't like'em either.

Signature

TIA and Cheers,

Bert-Jan

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Bruce Probst - 14 Aug 2007 03:05 GMT

> I CAN NOT brush paint with Tamiya acrylics.
> Seems like every second brush stroke takes away the first, leaving a crappy
> spot with NO paint.
>
> Also very fine brushing is no option as the paint seems to dry on the brush
> too fast.

First: you have scrubbed the plastic and applied an undercoat, right?

Thin the paint. Apply multiple thin coats.

Curiously I found Tamiya paints to be fine straight from the bottle
when I was painting metal miniatures. Painting plastic models I've
found thinning to be essential, multiple coats are essential, and you
must give each coat time to dry thoroughly. Even so I wouldn't
attempt to brush-paint any large area; the paint doesn't really seem
to "grip" very well. I've only been working with 1/76 armour kits (so
far), so I haven't really had to worry about "large areas" as such.

Bruce
Melbourne, Australia

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Bert-Jan - 14 Aug 2007 21:21 GMT

>> I CAN NOT brush paint with Tamiya acrylics.
>> Seems like every second brush stroke takes away the first, leaving a
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> Bruce
> Melbourne, Australia

I was painting over freshly airbrushed pactra and Tamiya, yes so you
could say the surface was kinda primed.

Thinning the paint did unfortunately not do the job. Perhaps I should
thin the paint even more.
I am used to Pactra Acr which paints just like your standard enamels.
So I think I'll have to change my Modus Operandi.

Larger areas I airbrush.

And indeed it's the "grip" that give me a headache.

Thanks,

Signature

Cheers,

Bert-Jan

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PaPaPeng - 14 Aug 2007 03:34 GMT

>Also very fine brushing is no option as the paint seems to dry on the brush
>too fast.
>The oly way to get it on in a civilized way seems to be applying a very
>thick coat and getting that right with the first brush stroke, taking care
>not to overlap strokes.

Brush painting is hard to lay down an even colored smooth coat. I do
armor and figures where I don't really want an even colored coat and
I prefer brush painting. To get the subtle effects you find in oil
paintings I use a clear gel called acrylic extender (also called
acrylic retarder) available from an artists supplies store. It
carries water based acrylic paints such as Tamiya very well. You will
have to use it to get a good feel of the many properties it has. When
dry this carrier shrinks to pull the brush applied paint into a
beautiful "invisible" coating. Try it.

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Bert-Jan - 14 Aug 2007 21:23 GMT

>>Also very fine brushing is no option as the paint seems to dry on the
>>brush too fast.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> dry this carrier shrinks to pull the brush applied paint into a
> beautiful "invisible" coating. Try it.

No it not really is, when you are using Pactra paints.
Well it doesn't get as smooth and thin as airbrushed, but I found coverage
very good with Pactra.

I sure will give it a try!

Thanks

Signature

Cheers,

Bert-Jan

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Maciek - 14 Aug 2007 08:35 GMT

> I CAN NOT brush paint with Tamiya acrylics.
> Seems like every second brush stroke takes away the first, leaving a
> crappy
> spot with NO paint.

This happenes to me sometimes too. Not always and I'm not sure what are the
reasons - because sometimes the painting is OK. Maybe it's the kind of
plastic that behaves that way. I recall painting PST IS-2 - it was very
difficult to paint it. After the layer has dried, painting the second one
was removing the first? Can you imagine - the second layer had to be painted
in 'getting-that-right-with-the-first-brush-stroke' way. :) But this
happened only once. Revell model plastic seem to like tamiya paint. Also
metal figures are quite pleased being coated in tamiya :)

I can only suggest multiple thinned layers, I add vallejo retarder and some
tamiya thinner.

> Also very fine brushing is no option as the paint seems to dry on the
> brush
> too fast.

Retarder again :)

> The oly way to get it on in a civilized way seems to be applying a very
> thick coat and getting that right with the first brush stroke, taking care
> not to overlap strokes.

That can kill details.

> Any body have the same pro blem or am I the only sucker in town.
> If this is a known problem, does anybody have a solution.
>
> I've tried Vallejo, but I don't like'em either.

The plus of Tamiya is once it dries it's soo incrediby flat. No other paint
(acrylic) is that flat. Great for fabric painting.
Of course until you touch it ....

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Bert-Jan - 15 Aug 2007 23:24 GMT

>> I CAN NOT brush paint with Tamiya acrylics.
>> Seems like every second brush stroke takes away the first, leaving a
[quoted text clipped - 33 lines]
> paint (acrylic) is that flat. Great for fabric painting.
> Of course until you touch it ....

I'll give the retarder a try. Thanks.

But as flat as Tamiya acrylics can be, nothing can beat a final coat of
Pactra Flat Clear!! In my group of modellers "Pactra Flat Clear" and
"Pactra Flat Black" are magic words!!!

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Cheers,

Bert-Jan

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someone@some.domain - 16 Aug 2007 00:55 GMT

>>> I CAN NOT brush paint with Tamiya acrylics.
>>> Seems like every second brush stroke takes away the first, leaving a
[quoted text clipped - 39 lines]
>Pactra Flat Clear!! In my group of modellers "Pactra Flat Clear" and
>"Pactra Flat Black" are magic words!!!

dull cote goes in there for me. it's cheaper on large areas plus you can thin
the hell out of it to make any degree of subtlety.

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Maciek - 16 Aug 2007 07:24 GMT

> But as flat as Tamiya acrylics can be, nothing can beat a final coat of
> Pactra Flat Clear!! In my group of modellers "Pactra Flat Clear" and
> "Pactra Flat Black" are magic words!!!

Well I'm gonna have to disappoint you - I do own 'Pactra Flat Black' and it
CLEARLY loses with tamiya flat black in terms of flatness :)
I can paint a test fou you and send in email :)

Well but it's not really important since its flatness will be lost during
painting and the varnish should be applied last :)

Never seen Pactra Flat Clear in action though.

Maciek

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Pat Flannery - 17 Aug 2007 01:33 GMT

> Never seen Pactra Flat Clear in action though.

They had it when I was a kid; and it was _extremely_ flat. In fact, it
was so non-reflective that it might not be accurate for most military
modeling subjects which tend to get at least bit reflective with time
and weathering.
You really had to stir it well prior to use.
About the only thing I ever saw that was completly flat finish was a
helicopter for night use that was coated in some sort of thick and very
rough dark OD anti-IR paint. It looked like it was covered in medium
grit sandpaper. This can't be good from an air drag point of view.

Pat

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bluumule - 16 Aug 2007 01:15 GMT

One thing you might want to take a look at is the type of brush you
are using. All paint brushes are not considered equal. Different
fibers work better with certain paints. I've found Tamiya paints have
a hard time sticking to certain plastics, therefore a primer is
suggested.

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Model Forum / General / Models / August 2007

Brush painting drama with Tamiya acrylics