What paints do you use

[bb-56]

Does everyone here use name brand flats What I am trying to figure out is can you save money and use basic acrylics from the craft store or are they too glossy.

[Karsten]

I tried using some in an effort to weather/rust a test ship. Pretty much wiped right off with water.

I do use it for water effects over Acrylic Gel from straight paint, thinned with water to washed with a brush with nothing but water to blend the various shades....Then seal with Future Wax.

So maybe if you painted the ship (after it was Primed) with art store craft painted and sealed it with something you might have some success.

Karsten

[les]

I'd stick with paints made for plastic models. I use Tamiya almost exclusively now. Good paint, no smell, thin with iso-alcohol.

[Sean Hert]

The pigments in craft paints aren't ground as finely as hobby paints- they look weird on you models, as well as the adhesion issues that were already mentioned. Leave the craft paints be. Having hobby paints look right is sometimes a big enough challenge!

[bb-56]

Thanks I suspected that just wanted to be sure the experts where not using 1$ paints while I was using Poly Scale.


I am having trouble finding these Model Master Marine colors online are they enamels or acrylics?

[Rob]

Actually - you can use art / craft paints on models.

Besides the obvious oil washes, you can also use gouache or watercolours for washes.

Tube acrylic or gouache can also be used for painting solid colour, ie a hull.

Paint like this will not adhere to either plastic or resin, so you need to prime first or use these colours over an enamel base.

If you want to use paint of this sort, do a lot of practice first and don't buy cheap paint. The important thing is to learn what each type of paint will do and what YOU can make it do.

For good quality art paint, you are looking at spending a lot more than you would on enamels or hobby acrylics.

Cheers,

Rob

[Elvis965]

Try looking for the Model Master Acrylics here:

http://www.hobbylinc.com/

Bob

[Jadefalcon0]

I now exclusivly use Tamiya paints. Faint smell (doesn't smell to bad actually, but any smells from toxics are bad) and the paint behaves 95% of the time for me. Comes off real easy too, if I overpainted something a quick toothpick rubbing action (or use a tiny bit of thinner and a swab) it would come right off.

Airbrushes like a dream, handbrushes ok and the spray cans (which I use) are excellent. They can get a bit expensive, but then again Tamiya is known for quality stuff. I can never switch back, the only other brand I use is testors for metallizer and dull coats.

[Edward Pinniger]

The pigments in craft paints aren't ground as finely as hobby paints- they look weird on you models, as well as the adhesion issues that were already mentioned. Leave the craft paints be. Having hobby paints look right is sometimes a big enough challenge!

Craft acrylics aren't much good for actually painting models (as you say, the pigments are fairly coarse/chalky and they don't cover or adhere well) - but they are perfect for weathering. They have just the right consistency for drybrushing, and the matt, grainy finish represents rust, mud, soot etc. well.

I'd like to try the new Humbrol/Airfix acrylics, as they seem to have a much larger colour range than Revell (almost as many colours as their enamel range) but I haven't so far found a local hobby shop which sells them.

[RoddersUK]

I cheat.
I see no reason to pay a small fortune for miniscule pots of Humbrol or Tamiya paints for larger scales.
I use 500 ml aerosol cans of grey primer, red primer and matt black from Halfords, principally because I do 72nd and 48th scale so need a lot of paint.
The 3 colours described are superb and give a very good result, with care.
Other colours are used for the lesser items and unfortunately I have to use the Humbrol and Tamiya products, but, as the use is less they last longer.
For hull and superstructure 500ml cans work for me.

RoddersUK

[nboyd383]

It can be used, I use a big bottle of brown hobby paint for rust on a ship it turns out rather orange on a grey ship and its non finely ground pigments make it look like real rust but only once the whole model was painted

[ajkochev]

Testors basic and ModelMaster Bottles and sprays as well as the Walmart generic basic color spray paint(White, Black, Almond, Red) are my main ones.

I use Ceramacoat craft store paint for some details and weathering. I actually dilluted and used these to paint the greens on my IJN Shinano with an airbrush. It wasn't to bad to use, but had to immediatly cover the paint once it dried with Testors dullcote which help seal and make the paint more durable. If I hadn't, the paint would come off with the slightest touch. I found that a Ceramacote Burnt Sienna overlayed with thinned Testors gray makes a great IJN linoliem color.

[spikesliew]

Had the same thought and tried craft acrylics once. The much coarser pigments clogged up my airbrush big time, and I ended up spending the better part of an hour cleaning everything out..

[Devin]

I haven't used the craft paints, but I do use Liquitex artists acrylics and they work wonderfully. They come either in bottles or tubes; the bottles are obviously not as thick as the tube paint and easier to work down with thinner to airbrush. Liquitex makes flow enhancer and drying retarder specifically for their paints. Since they're artists grade, there's no problem with coarse pigments. 2 oz. (59ml) bottle generally costs less than $3, and with thinning it goes a long way.

-Devin

[Ron Smith]

Like Devin I've used the artists' acrylics by Liquitex, Golden and another brand whose name escapes me at the moment to custom mix colors and thinned them with the Liquitex airbrush medium. I've also used them for water or ground bases and they work fine.

The only uses I've found for craft acrylics are water or ground bases and hand painting figures. The pigments are too coarse for airbrush work. They're also more expensive than the artists' paints per unit and they use names like "spring apple green", "maple leaf red", "duty blue", etc....I prefer the color names used on artists' paints because they tell you what the pigments or pigment mixes are. Liquitex and Windsor-Newton also give you the Munsell value.

[spikesliew]

The ones that i toyed with (unsuccessfully) were Daler-Rowney System 3s