looking for your advice about painting

[AFC]

Dear All,

Nothing better than doing my first post in this forum with a real nice newbie questions :-)

Although I put together a couple of kits before I've never gone as far as hand brush painting. So, and before shooting questions about washing, weathering and so on, please allow me to go to the basics..

sorry if they're too many Q's for just one thread...

1) I've bought a starter kit (this one) to start with. Is this any good to start with?? I don't really intend to do much artwork for now so just some painting and camouflages kind of thing...

2) I understand that I need to mix water paints with water or Aqua mix (is there a big difference between them?) but not sure about what to do with enamel paints. Should I mix them with thinners?

3) (Now a very basic one) what is the difference between a thinner (e.g. Revell Thinner) and a diluant that you can buy in any home appliances store?

4) As I've just started my "painting kit" I have few enamel jars and some others with Aqua paints. I guess it's not a good idea to mix both...is that right? What can happen? Should I try LOL?

5) In every kit I assembled so far they all refer to have details painted before the kit's done. Should I do that? Or should I leave the painting to the end considering I intend to use primer?

7) Any other piece of advise?

Apologies for this too long thread but I'll start my first "real" painting job this Sat so would like to collect the most info I can...

Thanks for all the help...

Cheers

AC

[Guest]

Thats a lot for sure,welcome to the site. Take a few to look and search through the quick tips and or the tutorial threads here, they are a wealth of great info. Heres a link to a good one to get you started

http://www.scale-models.co.uk/tutorials/2298-back-basics.html

[Guest]

Trey has pointed out a good link there for you, I can add a few comments on my own experience that may give you a few pointers:

If you use Aqua based paints then, you will have to prime your model,I have found water based paints create more problems then they solve,always protect each layer with a cover medium, as if you dry brush with enamels then you will rough the surface and even flake the paint,( Bullyboy enamel thinners love to attack water based paint), same as if you pin wash or full wash with oil paints, the thinner will eat at your paint, but I believe there are some good non aggressive pro washes out there.

Best not to mix enamels and Aqua based, enamels are the great white sharks of the paint world and will eat most things weaker than them.....lol

Thinners are a minefield, its so easy to get this wrong, best to start with the manufacturers recommended thinner, Im old school so I like ISO and cellulose....

Now this point is down to taste, painting before glueing....well I like to glue before I paint, unless its like cockpit details etc, nothing worse than seeing the glue eat your paint job, and create a nice looking blob of mank on your kit.

Never have been a fan of compressed gas airbrush kits, never used them so cant really comment on that, but you may start to get gas stutter as your tin gets low, this then spits your paint rather than spraying it, plus the pressure is not regulated, so it will get weaker as time goes on.

Im sure the guys here will help you, and give you other tips and tricks.

Ray

[stona]

I'd have answered almost exactly as Ray has above.

I'd just add a couple of points about thinning your paint. With water based or other acrylic paints I'd go with the manufacturers thinner until you gain experience and confidence. These thinners often contain retardants and flow enhancers which,later you may add youself to your own generic thinner such as the isopropyl alcohol (ISO) mentioned.

Enamel paints are more forgiving and most can be thinned with a turps substitute,white spirit or cellulose thinners.

Everyone develops their own system for painting but most will construct some kind of subb-assembly and paint that before the next stage of construction. Glue,or even glue vapours,can certainly mess up a nice paint job.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

The big challenge with compresssed gas airbrush sets is that as you use the gas the temperature falls and the pressure drops correspondingly. Consequently the more you use the air brush the lower the pressure drops. This obviously affects your painting and is a bit of a pain. Also going for an airbrush set up that doesn't have a reservoir can be a bit of a challenge. As you hold your finger on the trigger the pressure drops again affecting your brush performance.

You really want to look for a set up that incorporates a compressor with an air reservoir. These are of course more expensive but far less prone to the problems mentioned above.

[stona]

You really want to look for a set up that incorporates a compressor with an air reservoir. These are of course more expensive but far less prone to the problems mentioned above.

Absolutely right,and if you are going to be spraying on a fairly regular basis a compressor will pay for itself in "canned air" in a surprisingly short time.

Cheers

Steve

[AFC]

Thanks for the link. I've read it all before posting my questions...still had the doubts after the (great quality) articles in Back to basis. now a bit less confused so let's see how it goes

[AFC]

in the meanwhile another Q came to my mind...should I use primer to ALL parts (even smaller details) or should it just be used on those which are exposed (i.e, exterior parts of the model)?

[AFC]

" I would say that you can almost invariably apply enamel paints,by brush or airbrush, without the need to prime at all

sorry guys! I think Stona answered this in a different post

I think I'll apply the primer when the model is done and only to the outside ... interior details I'll just brush them with enamel.