How do you decide what type of paint to use?

[Bill Anderson]

For most of my 70 plus years of model building, I've almost always used Testor's or Model Master's enamel paint.  But since my "come back" to building auto models, I've used Tamiya and Testor's lacquer a few times - mainly because they offered the color I was after.  While I used some acrylics on model railroad cars and structures, I have not used them on model cars.

So my question is, what drives you to use enamel, lacquer, or acrylic paint?  For me, its been the choice of color, but I'm sure you all have other reasons.

Thank you! 

[stitchdup]

I mainly use auto acrylics. The main reason is i can get them locally without having to find a supplier that will ship to the islands for hobby paints. There is a small range of tamiya available but its only about 10 colours and theres rarely any primer left. I also use some paints by war hammer for brushing but again its whats available local but i like them for metal tones or interiors. And i've got various different washes and effects from a variety of model companies. the majority of my large parts are duplicolour and recent mostly from the hdr range of ral colours as they are pretty good flake sizes for models

[Shark]

I build mostly race cars and use automotive lacquer quite a bit. MCW and others have a ton of colors and can mix anything. So of these paint jobs have several different colors on them, with lacquer by the time you are done cleaning your gun, you can re-tape for the next color. Most times you can rub them out the next day. Plus they seem to cover better.

[StevenGuthmiller]

I made the decision to use automotive type lacquers many years ago for a number of reasons, and as any color that you can imagine is available in pre-mixed, ready to airbrush jars through after market providers such as MCW and Scale Finishes, I can find no reason to use anything else.

Lacquers such as this are easy to work with, spray beautifully, lay down super thin and smooth, dry and cure extremely quickly, and as they’re lacquers, there’s never any of the unnecessary drama of finding what clear will work over it, and what won’t.  
There are vast advantages over most enamels, such as a much reduced tendency for runs, sags, fish eyes, detail hide, pooling and draw away from ridges.

Not to mention the often extremely long drying and curing times and finicky re-coat recommendations.

If you’re main objective is something that you can slap on fast in one or two coats, enamel might be your choice, but if you want a truly high end, professional paint finish without a lot of rigmarole, lacquer is the only choice in my opinion.

I use a multiple coat system consisting of a number of coats each of lacquer primer, color and clear, followed by cutting and polishing, and I’m very rarely disappointed, and almost never required to remove the paint to start over.

 

 

 

Steve

[Rodent]

4 hours ago, Bill Anderson said:

For most of my 70 plus years of model building, I've almost always used Testor's or Model Master's enamel paint.  But since my "come back" to building auto models, I've used Tamiya and Testor's lacquer a few times - mainly because they offered the color I was after.  While I used some acrylics on model railroad cars and structures, I have not used them on model cars.

So my question is, what drives you to use enamel, lacquer, or acrylic paint?  For me, its been the choice of color, but I'm sure you all have other reasons.

Thank you! 

If you have experience airbrushing acrylics for your model railroad hobby, you may want to consider using them for interiors and undercarriages. I typically use Tamiya or Scale Finishes on bodies, but I am learning to use acrylic on other parts. I know that the "R" word is taboo here, but I like their aluminum very much. I just painted some baffle trim for my kitchen lights with their semi-gloss white and was pleased with it as well. I can see it on 60s-70s white vinyl seats. Both of these colors sprayed out nicely and cover well with very little paint used. Their other stuff I can't vouch for.

Know what works for you in your climate, but don't be afraid to try new things.

[Bill Anderson]

I was under the assumption that automotive lacquers would attack plastic.  It sounds like this is not a good assumption. 

Can anyone elaborate on that, or on paints that would possibly attack plastic?

[stitchdup]

9 minutes ago, Bill Anderson said:

I was under the assumption that automotive lacquers would attack plastic.  It sounds like this is not a good assumption. 

Can anyone elaborate on that, or on paints that would possibly attack plastic?

they do but the auto primers provide an extra layer of protection that prevents the crazing.

[gtx6970]

What color I'm after and who has it...

determines what type of paint i have to use

 

But for the most parts 

Tamiya or Duplicolor lacquer is 90% of what i use for exterior finishes.

 

Tamiya acrylics or testors enamels for everything else( brush painted) 

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, Bill Anderson said:

I was under the assumption that automotive lacquers would attack plastic.  It sounds like this is not a good assumption. 

Can anyone elaborate on that, or on paints that would possibly attack plastic?

Using a good quality automotive lacquer primer, and/or “primer sealer” is a must with acrylic lacquer.

Something that sprays on in thin enough coats that several coats can be applied without the possibility of hiding detail is beneficial.

The more “barrier” that you can add, the better.

I routinely use as many as 5 coats of Duplicolor “Sandable” primer, or Duplicolor “Primer Sealer” without any detriment to detail.

I of course realize that that number of coats might be considered excessive to some, but I feel it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

 

By the way, the red ‘62 Chrysler and the black ‘60 Merc pictured in my previous post were both sprayed with multiple coats of Duplicolor primer, color and clear lacquer, all shot directly from the soray can.

You can absolutely achieve a top notch finish with a rattle can, although the availability of hundreds or thousands of airbrush colors from aftermarket sources are definitely a huge plus.

 

 

Steve

[Deathgoblin]

Tamiya or Duplicolor lacquers for car finishes and I'm rarely disappointed.  Been using a "universal primer" by a company called Now for a year or so, works as well as any other, but it's only about $5-$7 a can.  Big disappointments with Testors Extreme lacquer last couple of times I've tried to use it.  Wish they'd bring back the other lacquers they had.  As far as interiors go, mostly Model Color or Citadel (Warhammer) paints.  Helps that I built an Aeldari (Eldar) Swordwind army, so I'm already familiar with their paints.  I also use craft paints like Apple Barrel, Delta Ceramcote and others.  Whatever works. 

[bobss396]

Enamel have been out for me for decades. Spray or brush, there are better things.

Car touch up paints are my general go to. I like Tamiya sprays, but have to be careful with polishing them. They go on thin and are softer than lacquers.

[Beans]

Color - availability - cost

Pretty much how I choose paints.  I also factor in what has worked for me in the past and to a lesser extent, what type of finish I am looking for.  Sometimes I am looking for a specific finish on interior parts or am heavily weathering something.  

[peteski]

William did not specifically ask about painting the car body, but it looks like many replies are assuming he was asking what paints to use for the model's body.

I wouldn't dismiss enamels so quickly for painting any part of the model. Of course I suspect that in the modeling circles "enamel" is a word used to describe Testors PLA enamels or Model-Master paints, just as "acrylics" is generally used to describe waterborne acrylic enamels.  Neither of those colloquial descriptions is really accurate.

For example Bob stated "I like Tamiya sprays, but have to be careful with polishing them. They go on thin and are softer than lacquers." Well Tamiya TS sprays *ARE* lacquers.

Many of the hardware store spray paints modelers use are actually enamels (even though they often use "hot" solvents which can attack bare polystyrene).

There is nothing wrong with using enamels of any type (including the old Testors paints).  If that works for you - keep using them.  There is also nothing wrong with using multiple paint types and chemistries while painting the model.  I do that after making sure they are compatible, or used on different areas of the model where compatibility won't be a problem.

Edited Monday at 12:33 PM by peteski

[TransAmMike]

OK, instead of starting a new thread, I'm adding on another question.

I've used craft acrylics, Createx and Mr. Hobby lacquers (that I really like.  After today's cleanup of the lacquer and it's mess I said to myself, self, I think i'm done lacquer thinner cleanup.

My question....What is the preferred Acrylic paint??

Comments, suggestions really welcome!!  ☺️

[StevenGuthmiller]

20 minutes ago, TransAmMike said:

OK, instead of starting a new thread, I'm adding on another question.

I've used craft acrylics, Createx and Mr. Hobby lacquers (that I really like.  After today's cleanup of the lacquer and it's mess I said to myself, self, I think i'm done lacquer thinner cleanup.

My question....What is the preferred Acrylic paint??

Comments, suggestions really welcome!!  ☺️

Even with acrylic paint, you may find yourself having to clean up with lacquer thinner sometimes.

I use very few acrylics, but when I do, it always seems to make a bigger mess of my airbrush than lacquer does.

 

 

Steve

Edited Monday at 10:29 PM by StevenGuthmiller

[NOBLNG]

I use lacquer thinner to clean the airbrush for all paints. It doesn’t work well for Vallejo paints though so I use windshield washer fluid for them.

[TransAmMike]

Well I do agree there will still be a time that I would have to use lacquer thinner. When I do use Createx I back flush and run lacquer thinner thru it before putting it away. 

[Dave G.]

The key to cleaning the airbrush after acrylic waterborne painting is to get it flushed, back flushed etc, immediately. I find Iwata Medea airbrush cleaner to clean Createx and Craft Paints very well. I first flush and back flush in good hot water, then move to the Iwata. I don't find hardware store lacquer thinner to clean up waterborne acrylics any better. In fact I've noticed later iterations of hardware lacquer thinner to be milder than I remember, even in clean up of enamels. EPA standards are creeping in. Anyway, my final rinse is just cold water.

By the way, in talking with one of the owners of Createx, he stated that they make the Iwata Medea product and that its a great cleaner for Createx paints.. And in my experience it's not particularly expensive at Hobby Lobby. I had bought it on a whim, not expecting much, but turns out I was very surprised at how well it works. However, you don't want to be breathing it's atomized vapors any more than lacquer thinner. It gives a throat cutting caustic like effect when vaporized or atomized. So back flush or spray it into a closed container and all is well. I use an old tissue box lined with paper towel. Works great for that or LT

Edited Tuesday at 11:51 AM by Dave G.

[TransAmMike]

5 hours ago, Dave G. said:

The key to cleaning the airbrush after acrylic waterborne painting is to get it flushed, back flushed etc, immediately. I find Iwata Medea airbrush cleaner to clean Createx and Craft Paints very well. I first flush and back flush in good hot water, then move to the Iwata. I don't find hardware store lacquer thinner to clean up waterborne acrylics any better. In fact I've noticed later iterations of hardware lacquer thinner to be milder than I remember, even in clean up of enamels. EPA standards are creeping in. Anyway, my final rinse is just cold water.

By the way, in talking with one of the owners of Createx, he stated that they make the Iwata Medea product and that its a great cleaner for Createx paints.. And in my experience it's not particularly expensive at Hobby Lobby. I had bought it on a whim, not expecting much, but turns out I was very surprised at how well it works. However, you don't want to be breathing it's atomized vapors any more than lacquer thinner. It gives a throat cutting caustic like effect when vaporized or atomized. So back flush or spray it into a closed container and all is well. I use an old tissue box lined with paper towel. Works great for that or LT

Thanks Dave. I can count on you to make good suggestions/recommendations. 

And concerning Createx. I always seem to have issues with when spraying at the beginning it does just fine but when stopping between coats, sometimes as little as 10 minutes the airbrush stops spraying. Also the Createx is liquid in the cup but after a while gets very thick. 

What ya thing? 

[Beans]

16 minutes ago, TransAmMike said:

Thanks Dave. I can count on you to make good suggestions/recommendations. 

And concerning Createx. I always seem to have issues with when spraying at the beginning it does just fine but when stopping between coats, sometimes as little as 10 minutes the airbrush stops spraying. Also the Createx is liquid in the cup but after a while gets very thick. 

What ya thing? 

Not an expert but I don't think I have waited as long as 10 minutes to recoat with createx.  Paint it, spray it with air (or light once over with a hair dryer if it isn't warm), paint it again.  Probably doing it "wrong" but it's worked for me so far.

[Dave G.]

17 hours ago, TransAmMike said:

OK, instead of starting a new thread, I'm adding on another question.

I've used craft acrylics, Createx and Mr. Hobby lacquers (that I really like.  After today's cleanup of the lacquer and it's mess I said to myself, self, I think i'm done lacquer thinner cleanup.

My question....What is the preferred Acrylic paint??

Comments, suggestions really welcome!!  ☺️

Mike, if you're liking Createx and craft paints, you might do best just to keep honing your skills on them. I've even tinted Createx with craft paints to make pastels. Also added 4030 to craft paints, then clear coated with 4050 or 4053. It's quite a diverse pair of products. And who wouldn't like a well done Candy 2o paint job ? Ya know, at one time I'd have pointed right to Tamiya's acrylic line ( X and XF paints) but it's not my direct go to these days.

 

24 minutes ago, TransAmMike said:

Thanks Dave. I can count on you to make good suggestions/recommendations. 

And concerning Createx. I always seem to have issues with when spraying at the beginning it does just fine but when stopping between coats, sometimes as little as 10 minutes the airbrush stops spraying. Also the Createx is liquid in the cup but after a while gets very thick. 

What ya thing? 

It sounds like you have 4012 thinner if it's thickening. Or else the thinner that has acetone in it , I forget the product number of that one. But I recoat in about 2-3 minutes anyway, as I heat flash each coat with a hair dryer, or if using double action, just blow air.

You want 4011 and add some retarder to it ( you have the Liquitex retarder I've suggested before). Or better yet, get the new 4021 reducer. This one addresses everything, tip dry, thickening, compatable with 4030, and leveling.

Also I believe that my thinner blend works without thickening and no tip dry. It's been a while since I've used that in Createx though, so not 100% sure. I've been using 4021 in both Createx and in craft paints probably for a year now.  Hope this helps, if not let me know and we can work it out.

Edited Tuesday at 03:45 PM by Dave G.

[Dave G.]

6 minutes ago, Beans said:

Not an expert but I don't think I have waited as long as 10 minutes to recoat with createx.  Paint it, spray it with air (or light once over with a hair dryer if it isn't warm), paint it again.  Probably doing it "wrong" but it's worked for me so far.

Createx can take heat from a hair dryer, especially the opaque formula ( the original Createx line). It was made originally to be heat set in a heat press on garments. I've done it, the press temp is still used and is pretty high. Well known in the T Shirt industry for the art work.

4030 is a urethane balancing clear, made to convert Createx from a flex type acrylic to a converted poly acrylic. This gives greater bond to hard surfaces like plastic models. It helps flow in the airbrush and produces a harder shell finish. But it doesn't play well with 4012 reducer fwiw. So 4011 was introduced, then 4021. You only need 10-15% 4030 in your mix for it to do it's thing. I never paint a model without it. 4050 will do the same but it's thicker product, I use that for clear coat, thinned a little with 4021.

[TransAmMike]

3 hours ago, Dave G. said:

Createx can take heat from a hair dryer, especially the opaque formula ( the original Createx line). It was made originally to be heat set in a heat press on garments. I've done it, the press temp is still used and is pretty high. Well known in the T Shirt industry for the art work.

4030 is a urethane balancing clear, made to convert Createx from a flex type acrylic to a converted poly acrylic. This gives greater bond to hard surfaces like plastic models. It helps flow in the airbrush and produces a harder shell finish. But it doesn't play well with 4012 reducer fwiw. So 4011 was introduced, then 4021. You only need 10-15% 4030 in your mix for it to do it's thing. I never paint a model without it. 4050 will do the same but it's thicker product, I use that for clear coat, thinned a little with 4021.

I did a repaint on the Willy's i'm doing, the pearl gold Createx.   I've used this same color paint a couple other times with no issue (maybe lucky I guess).

Anyway, I did use the 4011 and 4030 Balancing clear and a few drops of the Liquitex, air dried with the hair dryer.  I just couldn't get it to spray good. Maybe I just had the mix formula wrong or it was the 4011. Almost like I was spraying water onto it.

I will get the 4021. I actually remember another discussion about the 4021 but I forgot about it.

Thanks again for your valuable info.

 

 

[chepp]

Back to the original question, for paint in bottles (brushing and airbrushing) I've almost exclusively only purchased water-soluble ones in the past five+ years while continuing to use spray can (solvent based) but buying fewer spray cans than before. I still have some solvent-based bottle paints that I mostly use for brush painting but sometimes for airbrushing. I'm "using them up" as I transition to water-soluble ones. My reasoning for going to water-soluble ones is that I'm concerned about health issues that might result from the fumes of the solvents. For airbrushing either kind I wear a NIOSH filter-mask to protect against both the fumes and micro-particles.

I tend to avoid the cheap craft paints unless it's a special color, such as pearl yellow. Instead, I usually buy Tamiya or Badger brands.

 

Edited Tuesday at 08:24 PM by chepp

[TransAmMike]

4 minutes ago, chepp said:

Back to the original question, for paint in bottles (brushing and airbrushing) I've almost exclusively only purchased water-soluble ones in the past five+ years while continuing to use spray can (solvent based) but buying fewer spray cans than before. I still have some solvent-based bottle paints that I mostly use for brush painting but sometimes for airbrushing. I'm "using them up" as I transition to water-soluble ones. My reasoning for going to water-soluble one is that I'm concerned about health issues that might result from the fumes of the solvents. For airbrushing either kind I wear a NIOSH filter-mask to protect against both the fumes and micro-particles.

So what  brand "water souluble" paints do you use Charley?