Mixing paints

[Defiant911]

Hello, I am new to the forum. I have made models in the past although it was about 30 years ago so I’m very out of touch. I have recently bought a 1/72 scale spitfire as a practice bed to use as a learning curve which has raised a few questions. Apologies in advance as some will probably be daft questions.
firstly I have painted my model using mostly acrylic paint although I accidentally painted one part of the camouflage in enamel due to not reading the pot. It appeared to go On ok and didn’t cause any real issues as far as I could tell. It was slightly glossier but by the time a put three coats of gloss varnish on the paint looked pretty uniform. Firstly despite my mistake should you ever mix paint types?
Also I have an airbrush and my ultimate goal is to spray paint my models. Which is best paint to do this for best professional finish?
Your help is appreciated.
carl

[Dave Ward]

Carl,
welcome to the forum. You can mix acrylics & enamels, on a model, just make sure they're thoroughly dry before overpainting, or masking. I think every modeller has his own favourite brand of paint, you have to experiment a bit to find the one that suits you. I use acrylics ( less smell & easier to clean up ) for airbrushing - I use Vallejo, AK interactive, MiG Ammo & Hataka paints - each has their own strengths & faults. Personally I find the Vallejo Model Color & Model Air ranges are consistently good, and widely available.
Dave

[Defiant911]

Carl,
welcome to the forum. You can mix acrylics & enamels, on a model, just make sure they're thoroughly dry before overpainting, or masking. I think every modeller has his own favourite brand of paint, you have to experiment a bit to find the one that suits you. I use acrylics ( less smell & easier to clean up ) for airbrushing - I use Vallejo, AK interactive, MiG Ammo & Hataka paints - each has their own strengths & faults. Personally I find the Vallejo Model Color & Model Air ranges are consistently good, and widely available.
Dave

Thank you Dave,
I will look to try some of these paint brands for myself and see how I get on. It’s always better when you know it’s been tried and tested by others and proven to work well.
Carl

[Dave Ward]

Carl,
a lot can depend on what is available in your local area - I buy all my stuff on the internet, so I've been able to try quite a few paint ranges - It can be easier to to buy dedicated sets - like the Mig Ammo Late WWII Luftwaffe colours set, which gives you the 4 camo colours, in one package - there are packages to covers ALL sorts of ages & nationality - good, if you haven't attempted a particular scheme before. You will end up with duplicate colours eventually - that's the time to start buying individual paint pots. Have you used a primer before painting camo?
Dave

[Defiant911]

Carl,
a lot can depend on what is available in your local area - I buy all my stuff on the internet, so I've been able to try quite a few paint ranges - It can be easier to to buy dedicated sets - like the Mig Ammo Late WWII Luftwaffe colours set, which gives you the 4 camo colours, in one package - there are packages to covers ALL sorts of ages & nationality - good, if you haven't attempted a particular scheme before. You will end up with duplicate colours eventually - that's the time to start buying individual paint pots. Have you used a primer before painting camo?
Dave

I attend to go online as there a few model shops in my area that seem to stock a good range. On my first attempt I did not use primer, just went straight to paint. As I say I painted the base colour in the lighter acrylic paint then went over it with the enamel stripes. Not sure if things would have reacted if I’d done it the other way around.
carl

[Guest]

Firstly despite my mistake should you ever mix paint types?

There are no “shouldn’t”s in building models — you may just discover something doesn’t work or give unexpected results (which may come in handy at times). You can paint acrylic over enamel and the other way around just fine, but like Dave said, wait for it to dry before doing so.

It’s inadvisable to physically mix acrylic and enamel paints, though: one needs to be washed out of your brush with something like white spirit and won’t dissolve in water, the other needs to be cleaned with water and won’t dissolve in white spirit, so mixing them is asking for trouble

Also I have an airbrush and my ultimate goal is to spray paint my models. Which is best paint to do this for best professional finish?

There are lots of different paints that spray well. Some need thinning, others can be sprayed straight from the bottle. Everyone has their own preferences, and the best advice is to try a couple of different brands to see if you can get along with them. (This goes just as much for brush-painting, by the way.)

[Defiant911]

Thanks for all the comments. I expected a steep learning curve so I’m prepared for a few surprises along the way. I e got a nice 1:48 scale Tamiya Lancaster waiting to be built with all the Eduard upgrades but I will build half a dozen practice smaller models to get some experience before attempting that one.
Carl.