Brush painting

[TransAmMike]

Let me begin by saying I so far have painted the bodies and undercarriages on the majority of my a few more than a dozen or so of my builds with rattlecan store bought paint (usually Krylon).

But I have painted most of the suspension parts, interiors and miscellaneous items  with brushes using easy cleanup and mistake correcting acrylic. 

That being said, is there any solution to avoiding the dreaded brush strokes.  Recommended brushes, paints, thinning??

[Ctmodeler]

1 hour ago, TransAmMike said:

Let me begin by saying I so far have painted the bodies and undercarriages on the majority of my a few more than a dozen or so of my builds with rattlecan store bought paint (usually Krylon).

But I have painted most of the suspension parts, interiors and miscellaneous items  with brushes using easy cleanup and mistake correcting acrylic. 

That being said, is there any solution to avoiding the dreaded brush strokes.  Recommended brushes, paints, thinning??

Easy one. Use enamel instead. Even the little testors bottles work wonders on small stuff and dry stroke free !

[TransAmMike]

Worth a try but I have found on larger surface areas you still see strokes. Maybe thinning would have helped. I still like using acrylic though because if you mess up it's easily wiped off.

Thanks for comment.

[Ctmodeler]

1 hour ago, TransAmMike said:

Worth a try but I have found on larger surface areas you still see strokes. Maybe thinning would have helped. I still like using acrylic though because if you mess up it's easily wiped off.

Thanks for comment.

Use a spray either a can or an airbrush on everything you possibly can lol. I try to brush as little as possible cause it just simply doesn't look as good as spraying

[RichCostello]

16 minutes ago, Ctmodeler said:

Use a spray either a can or an airbrush on everything you possibly can lol. I try to brush as little as possible cause it just simply doesn't look as good as spraying

I agree. I'll paint most small parts while they're still on the trees, and then touch them up with a sharpie or gel pen if needed.

[Dave G.]

I'm a tree shooter too for the most part, certainly for small parts that are all one color . The body and or fenders/hood etc are removed of course. That said, some things need a brush, it really helps a lot to thin the paint a little to both keep film thickness down and brush strokes out.

[TransAmMike]

Thinning could be the key and I'm sure the brush type can also make a difference.  I have a lot of small brushes of different materials and some do seem to have different results.

I may have to start thinning even more but when you get too thin the paint doesn't cover very well.

[Dave G.]

4 minutes ago, TransAmMike said:

Thinning could be the key and I'm sure the brush type can also make a difference.  I have a lot of small brushes of different materials and some do seem to have different results.

I may have to start thinning even more but when you get too thin the paint doesn't cover very well.

Try taklon brushes for acrylics and see what you think. I like that for acrylic paint.

[Kit Basher]

1 hour ago, Dave G. said:

Try taklon brushes for acrylics and see what you think. I like that for acrylic paint.

X2. Taklon seems to give the best finish with acrylic paints, and seem to hold up better to washing with water. Also, load your brush so you can get full coverage in one stroke, if possible. For larger surfaces use a larger brush. The more you brush it, the more brush strokes you will have. Most paints will self level if left alone.

[TransAmMike]

Gonna try the taklon.  Hobby Lobby sells them so will get one this week to try.

[Dave G.]

7 hours ago, TransAmMike said:

Gonna try the taklon.  Hobby Lobby sells them so will get one this week to try.

And as far as thinning, you need enough to make the paint flow out or level out but not so much you can't load the brush. I make a thinner I use in most acrylic paints for airbrushing and that works fine for brushing too. All your craft paints will thin with just  water really, or a thinner for airbrushing. Tamiya acrylic paint brushes best with just retarder added. Some folks over in FineScale Modeler forums use Tamiya only retarder but I use Liquitex only because it's fully liquid and I have it on hand. Works great. Also with Tamiya and some other brands try lapping strokes or so called touching strokes rather than over lapping strokes, it will flow together if mixed right.

[TransAmMike]

I do like using craft paints for brushwork.  I'm gonna have to try some experimenting with thinning. I'm wondering alchohol or windshield washer instead of water.  

Thanks again for the replies.