Micro applicators - any good?

[Neil.C]

Just spotted some micro applicators in somebodies post, never heard of them before.

 

Are these handy for painting small parts (which I have trouble with) - better than a brush?

 

Pro's and cons please.

[Work In Progress]

They ARE brushes, at least the ones I have are. 1mm tiny little micro-fibre brushes. Pros: cheap, and semi-disposable. Cons: may not be compatible with some of the more more aggressive paint chemistries, but those are probably not things you;ll be using on a plastic model kit anyway.  Perfectly ok with normal paints made for plastic scale modelling..

[thorfinn]

As a (relatively) recent convert to these, I would heartily recommend them. Very useful for painting small parts and doing quick touch-ups...and they're 'bendable' for getting into recesses a brush can't conveniently reach.

 

But my most frequent use of them seems to be for removing those bits of tinted 'wash' that a cotton bud can't reach: crevices and valleys next to engine nacelles and the like. Also useful for 'tiny' adjustments of the same, without the fear of messing up everything around the target 'spot.'

 

Cheers

[ReccePhreak]

2 hours ago, Work In Progress said:

Cons: may not be compatible with some of the more more aggressive paint chemistries,

I use them to apply Mr Surfacer, and used to throw them away after they got too dry & clogged up. Then I discovered they clean nicely with full strength Lacquer Thinner, and it doesn't hurt them a bit. So, I doubt if there is any paint that would damage them.

 

Larry

[3DStewart]

Neil.C. In my view, no.  Use a good quality small sable brush for fiddly painting.

 

I only use my micro applicators very occasionally and probably won't buy any replacements. For micro application of superglue etc, I find wooden tooth picks cut to shape and split like a quill cheaper and easier.

[Mike]

I've moved this away from WWII Aircraft for obvious reasons.

 

As to the topic in hand, I'd say no too.  A micro-brush is really useful just for applying small amounts of liquid to an area.  A bit of CA accelerator, or similar.  It's not a paint brush.  If you're after a re-he-he-he-heally good paint brush, go for a Windsor & Newton Series 7.  I use a 000 most of the time, and they're awesome.  Look after them and they will give you several years' service for under a tenner.  They're miles more accurate than a toothpick, micro-brush or cat whisker

[Stalker6Recon]

Mike, just out of curiosity, do you need to thin the paint before applying in such a small quantity? Do you use a retarder to break up the surface tension? Or flow improver? Are those the same thing?

 

Back when I was modeling in the 80's, all I could find paint wise, was testors enamels. The surface tension made it nearly impossible to put on small parts without leaving a glob of paint, drove me crazy. Now in the modern era (again, I guess we are always in the "modern" era) using acrylics, it is probably more forgiving than enamels. But I don't really know.

 

Any tips that will help us both out? Thanks a million,

 

Anthony

[Mike]

3 hours ago, Stalker6Recon said:

Mike, just out of curiosity, do you need to thin the paint before applying in such a small quantity?

If you're talking about detail painting with a paint brush, I usually just add a drop of water to the paint, which I mix on an old Pringles can lid.  I had an addiction to these pointless tubes of calories once, so have a huge repository of them left

 

If you're still hoping to use enamels if you have them, you could try some Mr Color Levelling thinner, which has (as the name suggests) a self-levelling compound in it.  It's also the nicest smelling (IMHO) and least corrosive cellulose thinner I've used.  A big 400ml bottle will last ages, even if you use it when spraying synthetic acrylics like Mr Color (Gunze), Tamiya or the new Real Colors.   For those aforementioned acrylics, the Mr Color Self Levelling thinner also gives the smoothest, most robust finish you can achieve with those brands when spraying.  If you're thinking of using it with other acrylics however, test first in a spare pot, as some acrylics are incompatible, and will turn to jelly goo when you mix them.  Finding this out in your airbrush colour cup is not a fun experience

[Stalker6Recon]

6 minutes ago, Mike said:

synthetic acrylics like Mr Color (Gunze), Tamiya

Yikes....I did not know there was such thing as synthetic acrylics. Right now my pathetic collection of paints (maybe 20 colors total) is primarily Tamiya acrylics, which I have never used before, again cause I haven't built a model in decades. It is pretty much the only paint I could find.

 

Recently I happened upon a store in the Philippines, there are very few here, but after ten years, a simple phrase change and this store showed up. To me, it is my Mecca, they have everything I could imagine, Tamiya, gunzo, lifecolor and probably others as well. So I have tried to settle on acrylics, but may have to use some alclad metalizers for the exhaust, which I believe are enamal based. Not sure if that is safe to use with acrylic paint, or a recipe for disaster?

 

Before these forums, I never heard of leveler, retarded, flow improve, and still not sure which ones are relevant to me. Scary being this clueless, but everyone was a beginner at some point!

 

Anthony

[Mike]

1 minute ago, Stalker6Recon said:

Tamiya acrylics

You can use Mr Color Self Leveller with that, yes    Don't mix enamel with acrylics... it seldom ends well

 

Acrylics are pretty good these days, but some brush better than others.  Tamiya aren't great for brush painting, but some people manage it, so if you need to learn how, I'd get onto Google.  They airbrush very well though, but like all acrylics, they're not as robust as enamels, so handle with care.  I sometimes add a layer of clear gloss over a delicate colour, just to be on the safe side.  Many, many things we have to learn in this hobby, and if you've got your eyes open and strive to improve that learning never stops

 

One thing you can always be sure of - the folks here on Britmodeller are always happy to help each other, and that goes double if you demonstrate that you're doing your best, so a quick Google of a topic before asking for help is always a good thing.  Mind you, sometimes I forget that we're all sitting in front of/holding the repository of all human knowledge, so don't feel too bad about forgetting occasionally If you need to know how to Google, just Google it

 

If you were UK based we could recommend you some good paint sellers, but you're on your own in the Philippines, sadly unless there are other Filipino members here?  I suspect there are actually

[Stalker6Recon]

I have found the IPMS branch, so I am asking questions there as well. I try to spread it around, Google here, arc there, Facebook some, britmodeler etc. I actually have so many questions that I am probably scrambling my brain trying to soak it all in.

 

What I have learned to do is cut/paste specific info into my "things to buy" notes, or my "tips and tricks" notes. Trying to make madness of my method, or is it the other way around?

 

So my alclad burn iron metalized won't exactly mesh with my Tamiya paints, that is definitely good to know. Just not sure how to achieve the effects though. It seems that the metalizers are enamel based only, or am I once again scrambled up?