Brush Painting

[Guest]

Hi guys,

As you figured, I am new here, and need some pointers. I am now into building model cars, especially Tamiya products, as compared to purchasing the die cast variable.

I brush paint the models as using air brushing at present is a no no, as I cannot get the hang of using an air brush. Trust me I have tried and failed miserably.

My brush painting looks much more better than that of the air brushing, however, I am getting little paint brush streaks. How can I eliminate that?

Call me weird, but I have tried the Tamiya paints and also the craft paints to get the result I want. So far the craft paints give me a better result, and the finished product is given a coat of clear laquer to give it that shine.

Just the brush streaks tend to show on close examination. Any pointers as to how to eliminate this ?

Thanks in advance

[Guest]

Bios. Not into building cars. But seems to me that the paint finish has to be perfection with a glossy finish.

I cannot see how you can achieve that with a brush. Probably shot down in flames by now.

What kind of airbrush have you (in detail) so that we can make a judgement that first up have you have the correct equipment ?

Secondly what paint manufacturer are you using ?

Third where do you feel your are going wrong when airbrushing ?

Laurie

PS welcome to this forum !

[mossiepilot]

Hi bios and welcome to the forum. Can't help with the airbrush as I'm a hairy sticker too. Don't use Tamiya paints when brush painting, I tried, doesn't work. For brush work I use Vallejo model air and model colour which give a good finish.

Hope this helps.

Tony.

[Guest]

I don't use an airbrush and I paint in acrylic only.

to get a nice gloss finish I give a few coats of slightly thinned paint with a very thinned final coat. I use hairspray to give a nice laquer finish.

[flyjoe180]

I'm mostly a hairy stick guy too. What Colin said, thin the paint slightly. Use multiple coats and ensure the previous coat is completely dry before re-coating. Also, a gloss varnish after the paint job helps to hide brush marks quite well. I use enamels and can achieve a clean finish using these simple rules (although admittedly I don't usually paint gloss on large surface areas as you would find on a car body).

One more thing to add. Always ensure your brush is in good condition and clean. Any dirt or old paint will 'drag' your applied paint and leave marks. I usually clean the brush every few minutes in thinners, which also helps to thin the paint as discussed. Enjoy!

[Guest]

Joe's just mentioned what i forgot to add and could be the most important part ..... the brush.

I use a good qualtiy soft natural hair brush, the flat type.

[Guest]

Hello guys,

Many thanks to all the replies, it has helped answer a few of my questions.

To answer tecdes question on the airbrush, the make is "airbrush". As mentioned, it was a trial and it was a total mess up. I have seen many types of airbrushes, ones with a "cup" on top. The one I tried had a bottle at the bottom. I think they called it "gravity feed", but for some odd reason I could not get the desired finish.

The scale models that I paint are 1:24, as anything smaller does not meet my needs for a display.

Model paints that are freely avaialable in South Africa are either Tamiya or Humbrol. As mentioned, I have tried Tamiya, and it did not work, but I will try the Humbrol, since Tamiya is not ideal for brush painting.

Thanks again to all of your replies, much appreciated.

[Guest]

Bios not trying to convert you to Airbrush painting. But you need an airbrush for model making. Also, in my opinion experience says, a respected airbrush manufacturer's type. Also better off with a cup on top with a dual action.

I was poorly advised & it sounds as if you had the same experience as I had just awful. If you do try again use acrylics at least as a starter as it is easier. Also you will have an abundance of help from this forum both on choosing good equipment & also the art of airbrushing. The basics are not difficult at all to get a good finish. But practice is a must.

Laurie

[Guest]

tecdes, many thanks for the reply, and I feel I was informed incorrectly. I have used aerosol can spray paints for painting larger items extensively with no problems, and when I decided to go into air brushing, and having very little information about it, I jumped at the first mention of an air brush.

As mentioned, the result was terrible, and it was very very messy, with paint shooting out of the air hole on the bottle to all sorts of other things, that I just dumped everything into the box, without cleaning it. This was out of pure frustration I guess, coz I am very particular about things I purchase and the care that has to be given to delicate items.

And this may sound strange, but it was by pure chance that I ended up here, and thanks, I know when I do give air brushing another go, you guys would give me the best advice.

Many thanks once again. For now, I will give brush painting a try with the Humbrol brand paints, and see if I am happy wit the results.

[Guest]

Howzit Bios!?

Where you from in SA? I am in "the Big smoke" aka JHB

I must tell you that I have had some rather OK results with an "el Cheapo" R150-00 pot on the bottom single action airbrush before. You just need to get the pressure and the paint "thiness" correct.

If you want to stick to stick painting, I recomend you get humbrol enamel thinners or as I use mineral turps to thin the enamel. I find you can thinn ot toabout 35% without getting pigment seperation like lacure thinners tend to do.

As for a gloss coat, you could do the few thin coats and then if you can lay your hands on "future or pledge" you can brush this on as a final gloss coat, it self levels very well and is high shine.

Later dude

Theuns

PS. if you need to know something feel free to give me a call.

083 742 2928