Using acrylics....Tutorial?

[ratdoggy]

Doing a Surfrod Stroker McGurk. Tried finding an enamel that had a skin tone for Stroker

Some suggested acrylics as the local Hobby Lobby didn't have the Tamiya paint that was suggested.

So I bought some craft ones...Now what? How would I thin it for my airbrush?

Brush it on? I've brushed it on and it looks poopy

Seems thinner for acrylics is kind of all over the place

Done searches here but the hits on acrylic are rather large and can't find a tutorial

[stitchdup]

Lokk for a thread called createx, lots of good info on acrylics in it

[Mike 1017]

Vallejo Model Paints - Hobbyworld-USA (hobbyworld-usa.com)

 

[Dave G.]

To thin craft paints for hand brushing just put some out on a dish or paint palette and thin with water till it flows off the brush for you.

Airbrushing is another matter, water here isn't the greatest solution. Several thinners work but the best I've found is my own which is a spin off of Bobby Waldron's at Genesis Models. He has a video on making that and it's close enough, though he does mis state what alcohol is in Tamiya thinner..

[Skip]

I'd second the Vallejo paints, Hobby Lobby also carries the single bottles of flesh tones needed so you can pick up light and dark flesh tones to mix the desired tone.   For the Vallejo Model Color paints you should need very little if any thinner.  If you do I would use the flat "varnish" medium or even a drop of their thinner.  For spraying acrylics.  I know that lots of people advocate the use of windshield washer fluids; I've had much better luck using the same brand of paint's reducer / thinner intended for their brand of paint.  Figure it this way, most paint companies spend a ton of money to formulate their product line, including reducers and thinners, so why cut corners and try to reinvent the wheel.  Your paint work is the first thing most people are going to notice about your work, why take chances?

[Slimguy]

Hello Mike.  I am not able to comment on best paint for the flesh tones but I do have a comment regarding painting with the acrylic paints.

I too was a bit frustrated with my acrylic brush painting skills.  So I acquired a couple of the Weird-Oh's models just for the express purpose of working on my acrylic brush painting techniques on a larger surface than those afforded by an engine block, or a seat for a 1/24 scale car.

 I used both Tamiya and Vallejo acrylics.  I found that I did not need.to thin these paints at all.  When brushing I used a moderate brush load and painted the model trying not to be sloppy when I brought a fresh loaded brush onto the model where I had previously run out of paint.  I found that it took three to four coats of paint to get a nice smooth and clean look.  The first coat will look rather terrible with all the brush marks.  But you will see after the second and third coat that the brush marks begin to disappear as the paint smooths out and fills in.  All in all I was happy with my results and now I feel a lot  less intimidated by brush painting acrylics.

The nice thing about the acrylics is that they dry very fast so you can do a second and third coat within a few hours of each other, although I let each coat dry overnight and got really good results.  After my final coat I sprayed it with Tamiya flat clear or regular clear depending on the look I was going for.  The other advantage with the acrylics, especially for the Weird-Oh's, is the wide variety of colors available.  

I have never tried the craft paints, but I do have a Weird-Oh's surfer series I may experiment on using craft paints for the water and waves.