Revell & Humbrol Acrylics

[spike7451]

Well for my Hawk & Tornado project's, I decided to break the mould & use acrylics. Boy was that a mistake!

For one,both bottles are a nightmare to open & the 'opening instructuions are far to hard to read,Resulting with paint everywhere from the Humbrol one.As to the finish,well as I brush paint,it's bad.

Thankfully it ws base coat on a quick build Airfix 1/72 GR4 done as in flight GR1 So I'm not too worried.

Guess I'm sticking to good ol' enamel!!

Merv

[Mike]

I can remember trying to brush paint Tamiya Acrylic Silver back in my former encarnation as a modeller... I think it was the rocket bells of a Space 1999 Eagle, and wondering to myself whether I'd got a duff batch. 25 years on & it's not changed much, but acrylics are great to spray, and don't smell half as bad as enamels or lacquers after a spraying session. There are some people that can manage to get a creditable finish from brush painting with acrylics, but I can't remember how it's done.

[Craig]

Tried and failed myself.

Long live Humbrol and XtraColor!

Craig.

[Peter Marshall]

For brush painting acrylics ( normally I use model colour , but works with Tamiya as well ), you have to thin about 20%, then brush on a few thin coats. Helps a lot if you have sprayed a primer of some kind first, even if it's just a basecoat of an acrylic, to give the paint something to stick to.

Using them neat just doesn't work, they are too thick to flow well. However there are still some colours that are more difficult than others, the best example I know is Tamiya X-18 Semi Gloss Black, which is just about impossible to paint with a brush.

HTH

Edited November 30, 2008 by Peter Marshall

[JosephLalor]

I hand-brush exclusively, given that I have to move round a lot, from rented room here to B&B there. My experience, and I speak only for myself, is that hand-brushing acrylics is slightly but not much more difficult than doing so with enamels. I've had good experiences with Gunze Sangyo, Humbrol, Vallejo and Xtracrylix, rather less so with Tamiya, the latter because of a tendency to drag up the previous brush stroke. I think it's a matter of making sure the surface to be painted is properly prepared and free of grease. That said there are times when I would appreciate an airbrush, such as applying feathered-edge or mottle camouflages, or applying matt varnish coats. With the latter I apply two coats, first spanwise and vertically, second chordwise and lengthwise, so any streaks are parallel to the airflow - instant weathering!

Regarding the existing Humbrol pots and the Revell Aqua ones, I use a screwdriver to lever the lids off. The design of the pots for the relaunched Humbrol acrylics is a bit daft in that it just invites people to twist off the bottom of the pot, as well as which, the 'do not twist' symbol on the bottom is not intuitively clear.

Joseph

Edited November 30, 2008 by JosephLalor

[Julien]

Merv,

handbrushing with acrylics is a bit of an art. All need to be thinned a bit. I thought lifecolor was thin enough so did not follow the instructions, when I did the results were much better.

The only one I think is bad are Humbrol, I have not been able to get good results with them. To be honest most I got were like sludge in the pot and then only half full. I threw most of mine out and kept a couple for small jobs like switches etc.

Best results I have had with xtracrylix, lifecolour and gamesworkshop.

Julien

[spike7451]

Merv,

handbrushing with acrylics is a bit of an art. All need to be thinned a bit. I thought lifecolor was thin enough so did not follow the instructions, when I did the results were much better.

The only one I think is bad are Humbrol, I have not been able to get good results with them. To be honest most I got were like sludge in the pot and then only half full. I threw most of mine out and kept a couple for small jobs like switches etc.

Best results I have had with xtracrylix, lifecolour and gamesworkshop.

Julien

Thats how I found it too!Thankfully it scraped off the model with no effort!

Merv

[little-cars]

I have been told the Vallejo Air range is good for hand brushing.

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

Hi - having used acrylics exclusively for the past 10 years ( if not a bit longer), my own experience is that most brands require some thinning to brush paint with.

The notable exceptions being the old Aeromaster Warbird range and the Pollyscale range ( both of which are now OOP). These were some of the nicest paints ever to brush on - good pigment density, a very fine finish and they didn't drag up when recoated. I still have quite a few and they do seem to last OK as long as you keep the screw threads on the bottles and caps clean, and ensure the lids are put back on firmly.

Having tried various thinners for acrylic paints over time, I have found that Tamiya thinners works very well with Tamiya (of course!) Gunze and Lifecolour. It will also thin the Revell acrylic, and you can use it to make washes with the Vallejo paints too - though it will only take a small amount of paint to thinner or it goes gloopy.

If you are brush painting using tamiya thinners - its a good idea to add a brushfull of thinners ot the already thinned paint during you painting session - you see that the paint will thicken up quite quickly as you use it (as the alcohol from the thinners evaporates out). Re-wetting the paint with more thinners keeps it workable longer and doesnt affect its perfomranc ein my experience. Similarly if you over-thin, just leave it for a few minutes and it will thicken up again (which is also a handy tip if you have paint thinned for the airbrush and need to brush paint smaller items in the same colour I have found).

Tap water will also work very well, but sometimes a brush full of tamiya thinners also helps as it breaks the surface tension of the paint. - this is a good trick for Citadel / Games Workshop paints

For Xtracrylix - their own thinner is best in my experience.

The other thing to note with some acrylic paints is that you really need to give them a damn good stir before use. A shake wont do all the time. There seems to more propensity in acrylic paints for the pigment to settle away from the carrier if the bottles sit around for even a short time, and you really need to get in there with a bit of sprue and stir up the pigment properly. Then put the lid back on and give them a good shake too.

Acrylics are also a lot less likely to adhere properly to plastic that's got any kind of grease on - whether its mold release agent or finger grease. Give your model a good clean with soapy water or get a big mop-type brush and liberally clean with some Isoprop before you paint. You can also use a primer - like Gunze Mr Surfacer or Tamiya fine primer - both in spray cans. These both provide an excellent acrylic friendly surface to apply paint to, whether its brushed or airbrushed.

HTH

Jonners

[spike7451]

Cheers for that Jon.

Merv

[Giorgio N]

Just to add my 2 cents, some acrylics don't like at all bare plastic. Vallejos for example are really great to hand brush, however I never use them on bare plastic when large surfaces are to be painted, I always prime the surface first. Lifecolors seem much better, and I sometimes use these as primer.

Talking about Vallejo, the Air range can be used for brushing but I find them a bit too thin for that. Makes sense, as they're are supposed to be airbrush ready. The standard range is brilliant though ! The only problem for me is that good air forces matched colours are not many. And most conversion charts I've seen are not too correct.

Giorgio