brush paints

[cj112674]

whats your guys' favorite, or best brush paints that you use? i'm talking about for painting engines and such. i just bought the testors stuff and i was thinking of ordering the tamiya stuff, they do have brush paints don't they?

[Guest Gramps-xrds]

Well in my opinion, if it's coverage and the absence of brush strokes you want, I use One Shot sign lettering enamel. It covers way better than any model paint ever made. In most cases in 1 thin coat. It dries in a couple hrs, can be thinned and sprayed. The only drawback is it still contains lead so I wouldn't use it on anything that small kids could get to. And make sure it's used in a well ventilated area.

[Guest Gramps-xrds]

Theres the sign painting experience again, just 1 question though Gramps, whats wrong w/ lead paint? It was my favorite food as a kid

Seriously, though when it comes to painting tips, especially brush (or chicken feather) painting, Gramps is THE MAN. Take his advice!!!!! it works for me

ledsled ol bud you kill me

[abedooley]

Well in my opinion, if it's coverage and the absence of brush strokes you want, I use One Shot sign lettering enamel. It covers way better than any model paint ever made. In most cases in 1 thin coat. It dries in a couple hrs, can be thinned and sprayed. The only drawback is it still contains lead so I wouldn't use it on anything that small kids could get to. And make sure it's used in a well ventilated area.

You must know how to pinstripe. I love pinstriping. I want to learn so bad!! I never thought of using One Shot for models. BRILLIANT! That stuff is so nice. It comes in really SWWWEEEETTTT colors too!!!

[Guest Gramps-xrds]

You must know how to pinstripe. I love pinstriping. I want to learn so bad!! I never thought of using One Shot for models. BRILLIANT! That stuff is so nice. It comes in really SWWWEEEETTTT colors too!!!

Abe I've done some stripen in my time. Just curly que stuff. It takes yrs of practice to do long stuff. I like one shot and you can mix it to get just about any color or shade you need.

[Guest Gramps-xrds]

Abe, Marks right, you have to be aware of what paint you're putting over what base. I guess it's second nature to me and I don't even think about it. For some one new to paints it can cause problems.

[cj112674]

well, i wouldnt say im new to paints, i have been a body tech for about 12 years now. BUT, i am new to hobby painting though.. i'm aware you have to be careful with putting types of paints over others, but i was just wondering what brush paints look better than others. i notice with my very first project in years, that the testors paints are kind of crappy. i believe they are enamels, i'm not sitting right in front of them right now, but i think they are enamels. ive noticed it takes a lot to cover the white up, and the brush strokes show as well. it's probaly just me, im sure, being new and all, but i try to go in just one direction when brushing, but it still seems to look kind of bad. maybe it's time for an airbrush, i'm used to useing base/clear or single stages, and rubbing out, on real cars that is, not small plastic ones..lol.. thanks for all the answers guys!

[Guest Gramps-xrds]

An airbrush would certainly eliminate just about all your brushing problems.

[Brendan]

well, i wouldnt say im new to paints, i have been a body tech for about 12 years now. BUT, i am new to hobby painting though.. i'm aware you have to be careful with putting types of paints over others, but i was just wondering what brush paints look better than others. i notice with my very first project in years, that the testors paints are kind of crappy. i believe they are enamels, i'm not sitting right in front of them right now, but i think they are enamels. ive noticed it takes a lot to cover the white up, and the brush strokes show as well. it's probaly just me, im sure, being new and all, but i try to go in just one direction when brushing, but it still seems to look kind of bad. maybe it's time for an airbrush, i'm used to useing base/clear or single stages, and rubbing out, on real cars that is, not small plastic ones..lol.. thanks for all the answers guys!

I mainly use Tamiya Acrylics. Mainly because there is a lot of moisture where I live. I used to use enamels, but did not like the finish of them after they dried.

Acrylics are better for flat colors. Big advantage with acrylics is that they usually dry within a day. Enamels are better for the glossier colors. The big disadvantage with enamels is that they can take a week or longer to dry.

If I have to paint anything bigger than my thumb, I will airbrush or spray paint it. But if it's smaller, you can use a brush and the brush strokes are not as noticeable. Another thing, be sure to use a good brush for painting. I prefer natural hair brushes for my painting. They seem to flow the paint better. Not uncommon for me to spend $20 for a single brush. I also have several brushes that I use, like fine point brushes that I use for detailing and flat brushes that I use for covering area.

Get a couple of paints and just experiment to see which ones you prefer. Just make sure you stir them up thoroughly before you use them. Don't shake them since that is how you get air bubbles into the paint. When you use a brush the air bubbles will come up.

Hope this is helpful.

[Olle F]

An airbrush would certainly eliminate just about all your brushing problems.

Absolutely. I use the airbrush for pretty much everything, except detail painting. The paint goes on thin, no brush strokes and it's easy to build up the paint coat just enough to get good coverage. And if you use enamels, you can also reduce the drying time considerably by thinning the paint with lacquer thinner. Once you get hooked on airbrushing, you'll never look back.

[FactoryStock54]

I've used Tamiya, Citadel, Polly Scale, Gunze Sangyo, Model Flex, Accu-Flex, Pactra and Revell.

I prefer Polly Scale by far and away for hand-brushing; I've used it for about 13 years with excellent results (both hand-brushing and air-brushing). Thinned with Tamiya X-20 A Thinner I get ZERO brush strokes and superb coverage.

Matching colors from their Railroad and Military colors lines you can aproximate many popular automotive shades, especially good for engines and interiors. Mixing colors is easy and gives you an almost endless pallet of choices.

While I'm moving away from PS for painting bodies now (I greatly prefer Tamiya TS colors decanted from rattle cans for use in the airbrush), I've achieved some very fine hand-brushed and air-brushed finishes in concert with graduated abrasive cloths.

[abedooley]

Get a couple of paints and just experiment to see which ones you prefer. Just make sure you stir them up thoroughly before you use them. Don't shake them since that is how you get air bubbles into the paint. When you use a brush the air bubbles will come up.

Hope this is helpful.

I've noticed that they do get air bubbles pretty easily. What I'll do is shake it really good and then I cut the tips off of the long Q-Tips and use the stick for a stirrer and just stir it up for a min. or 2 until I dont see any bubbles. I use spray cans if I have the color I need. I do have an airbrush I have never used because I cant afford an air compressor right now. I have never used an airbrush before at all too. I need to go get some spray cans to use with the airbrush seeins how it has the adapter for it and then I can use my jars of paint and I'll have ALOT more options. The only spray cans I have now are:

KRYLON FUSION:

Red Pepper/ Safety Red

Gloss Black

Satin Black

Satin White

Sunbeam/ Safety Yellow

Textured Shimmer Black (NEVER EVER BUY THIS STUFF FOR MODELS)

Regular KRYLON:

Metalic Brilliant Silver

Respendent Red- GLITTER SPRAY

Matte Clear

TESTORS:

Grey Primer

Competition Orange

MODEL MASTERS LACQUERS:

Daytona Yellow

Wet Look Clear

I have not used the Lacqueer yet. Can't wait! I eally need to get an air compressor. If anyone has one they think is junk, I'll take it off your hands and see if I can fix it.

[Olle F]

Revell makes PAINT??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I believe it's made by German Revell, I have never seen it here in the US anyway. http://www.emodels.co.uk/plastic-kits/inde...mp;filter_id=11

[GerN]

I've tried to limit myself to brush-painting acrylics, and all my comments refer to acrylic paints. Pactra had the best acrylic paint for covering large areas, but no more. Testors isn't bad. Tamiya and PolyScale dry too quickly to brush paint large areas unless you use a retardant, or thin with Future (about 60 Tamiya, 40 Future). You must use a good brush: very soft and at least 5/8 inch wide. For clear-coating with Future, you can even use a make-up brush. For me, this is the best way to paint a body black: Testors flat black, followed by Future. Another good clear coat for acrylics is Tamiya gloss clear. It will soften some acrylics and help reduce brush marks. You must keep brush strokes to a minimum, and use enough paint on your brush to allow the paint to self-level, but not so much that you get runs. Some of the non-modeling hobby paints are too coarse for a car body finish. Try to always test paint by brushing it on something like a car body. Acrylics can be sanded and rubbed to a great finish, but you must be quite careful; its easy to overdo it and have to do over. Especially if you are mixing acrylics, check for wet-sanding compatibility: you may need to only dry-sand.

[Harry P.]

Lots of alternatives...I prefer acrylics for brush painting small parts because they cover well, dry fast, don't show brush marks and cleanup is easy...all you need is water. I also use lacquers and metalizers when the situation calls for them.

As a general rule I'd stay away from the little square bottles of Testor's enamel. Nasty stuff. It thickens in the bottle quickly (you always have to keep adding thinner to the paint to keep it brushable). It takes forever to dry, brushmarks are a problem, and if you get the slightest bit of paint on the threads of the cap and/or neck of the bottle they can be almost IMPOSSIBLE to open if you haven't used a particular bottle in a while.

Enamels are definitely NOT worth the hassle.

[sdrodder]

for my brush paints a prefere testors paint. They go on nicely on my projects and i have never had a problem.