Best acrylic paint for brushing

[coolhand]

Hi guys.

I am currently using various brands of enamel paints,but am considering making the switch to acrylics. I like the idea of being able to apply 3 or 4 coats of paint in a day rather than wait 24+ hours for each coat to go off.

I do have a small amount of experience with acrylics and have used the following:-

Revell - I find these very easy to work with but they do not come in the colours I need (mostly make WWII aircraft and armour).

Tamiya - Although these can be brushed, I find them difficult to work with at best.

I was therefore wondering if anyone could recommend a good brand of acrylics for brushing? My online research has come up with 3 brands in particular, Lifecolor, AKAN and Gunze. I would be very grateful for people's views on these.

Many thanks

Andy

[Rick Brown]

Personally I like any of the Vallejo ranges followed by Xtracrylix.

Tamiya is ok when used with W&N Flow Improver.

[The dragonborn]

Lifecolor has a lot of aircraft specific colours and they brush well, but I prefer Vallejo Model Color for their coverage(white and yellows included) and smoothness. on the other hand their color matches are not really geared towards aircraft modellers.

BTW My biggest eureka moment with waterbased acrylics was to use a proper thinner(Revell's are great IMO) and not tap water

Good luck.

[Albeback52]

Hello Andy.

I think it really is case of you pays your money, you takes your choice. You will probably get at least 50 different answers to your question. Personally, I like Revell Aqua colours & Humbrol - these are the ones I use most. I also have a number of Lifecolour paints which are also very good. I also use Tamiya paints. They are fine IF you use their own proprietary thinner as, they are not water based .As an alternative, I found that isopropyl alcohol works well as a thinner/cleaner for Tamiya paints. (that's medical alcohol - the stuff they swab your skin with before an injection. It's easily available online.

From my own personal experience, I would avoid Xtracrylix and Hataka acrylics like the plague. Poor colour density and even worse adhesion are why I won't use them.

Allan

[825]

Tamiya's are awful as they literally dry as you brush. I have stopped using them but to be fair I haven't tested them since my conversion to using Flow Improver. Xtracrylix brush well and Evan better if they are thinned with said Flow Improver. There is a really wide range of colours available and freely available from Hannants.

Revel also brush well and the secret again is thin them, either with their thinner or Flow Improver. Their blacks and metallics are good but the range is a bit restricted, unless you want Luftwaffe colours. Games Workshop's range of Citadel paints are superb and there are loads of matches but I have yet to see an Extra Dark Sea Grey, Dark Slate Grey or Sky equivalent. But their range is wide and particularly good for generic colours.

Though my bottom line would be always add Flow Improver, it is like magic.

Actually the new formulation Humbrol acrylics in the screw closure bottles are pretty good as well.

[Albeback52]

Tamiya's are awful as they literally dry as you brush. I have stopped using them but to be fair I haven't tested them since my conversion to using Flow Improver.

I found the same problem with Tamiya acrylics but, once I added a few drops of thinner to the paint they worked just fine. I cannot comment on Flow Improver as I have never used it

Allan.

[cruiserguy]

Hi Coolhand,

I would say Vallejo ModelColor followed by Lifecolor I've tried others such as Humbrol, Coat D'Armes, Tamiya, and Revell, but these ModelColor and Lifecolor stand out.

Best Wishes,

Will.

[coolhand]

Thanks for the replies guys, some really useful info here.

Cheers

Andy

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

Tamiya paints will brush vey well if you thin them with Klear/future/quick shine. Just don't expect solid coverage in a single coat.

Xtracrylix will also brush well like this, again, not in a single coat. THE best acrylics for brush painting are the old Aeromaster range or the Polyscale range. However both are hard to find now.

If you can work out colour matches or don't mind mixing hues, the Games Workshop Citadel colours brush really well, and are definitely worth a try.

Cheers, Jonners

[Daniel]

Vallejo For me too. Games Workshop for specific colours.

Dan

[Marvel Onkey]

I like Vallejo (although I find them a bit sensitive to being handled once they've dried), they brush very nicely.

Humbrol I've struggled with, I've found them a bit gungy in the pots.

Revell seem to get a good rep form the brush painting fraternity.

I'm not knowledgeable enough about colour matches to comment, but I agree with the fans of flow improver, it really is good stuff.

[Giorgio N]

Both Vallejo Model Colors and Lifecolours in my experience brush beautifully. I also like the Xtracrylics range, never had a problem brushing them and they have some very accurately matched paints.

[Mitch K]

I've used Vallejo a lot, and they work very well hand-brushed.

[andym]

THE best acrylics for brush painting are the old Aeromaster range or the Polyscale range. However both are hard to find now.

Amen to that! I do miss the Polyscale and Aeromaster ranges, I have quite a few left but some are running low. They were excellent paints,

Regards,

Andy

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

Just a note to say that if haven't tried using clear or quick shine as a thinner of your waterbased acrylics when brush painting - do give it a try. It really does extend the drying time of Tamiya & Xtracylix paint, and also works well to thin down things like Lifecolour, Citadel and Revell acrylics which can be a bit gloopy from the pot.

The only comment I'd make about acrylic paints in general ( which I use exclusively nowadays) is that they do tend to be less fragile when applied over a primer coat.

Even if you don't have an airbrush - grab yourself a can of Halfords grey plastic primer, Warm the can in a jug of hot water before you spray, and then use that as your primer coat. It makes a world of difference.

Jonners