Very hard time with paint flow!

[aurfalien]

Hi all,

So I've Tamiya bottle acrylics and am having a hell of a time with em.

They don't seem to flow smooth.

I've tried tricks like dish washing soap and alcohol.

Any tips on how to brush paint on Tamiyas smoothly?

Thanks in advance.

[Guest]

I dip the very tip of my brush in plain old water before dipping it into the paint when I use acrylics. Thinner if I use enamels. Even then, you won't get perfectly smooth paint. I spray paint everything possible. Brush only the very small parts.

[aurfalien]

Ok cool, I'll try that. Gotta admit my experience with brushing on paint has been miserable.

Sometimes it turns out good, other mostly bad so I end up stripping and starting over.

Also, I've seen forum members use some kind of clay as a sticky stand during paint etc..

Is this plain old silly putty by chance?

I've been using balled up tape which is hard to manage.

[935k3]

A few drops of this to jar. I think Micheal's or Hobby Lobby has it.

[aurfalien]

Cool, I'll try that. Nice suggestion (I hope).

[Miatatom]

A few drops of this to jar. I think Micheal's or Hobby Lobby has it.

Make sure you only use a few drops. Most tips I've read that suggest Flow Aid only call for about 1 to 2 ml in a 100 ml mixture of thinner.

[aurfalien]

Ok will do for sure, thanks much for the tip.

[taaron76]

What are you thinning them with and what ratio are you using?

Tim

[aurfalien]

Well, I was using a drop or 2 of dish washing soap in a 23ML Tamiya bottle. That didn't seem to make any diff.

I do have Tamiya acrylic thinner but haven't used it yet as I'm unsure about ratios and weather its ok to mix in the paint bottle from fear of pigment breakdown.

I used alcohol but simply by dipping the brush and then mixing with a few drops of paint in a palette.

I suppose the Tamiya thinner is best but where should I mix it and what ratio?

[jwrass]

Brian,

Let me preface this response that I am not a fan of anything Tamiya makes other than models.

Being one who makes much of my living swinging a brush (see profile) I would say that Dales suggestion hits pretty close to home.

In all the responses their are no mention of brushes, brushes are as important (if not more so) than paint viscosity.

I have found that most modeling brushes are stumps. Try using some good artist brushes Taklon, Golden Taklon, or any good brush rated for acrylics.

Another process that will help your brushing is proper loading and paletting of the brush, try this procedure and I think you will find your brushing results much better. This procedure can be used for any medium of paint with great results

Loading and Paletting a brush:

1) Moisten the brush with the thinner you will be using.

2) Dip your brush into the paint and work the paint into the brush by paletting, Meaning: Dip brush into paint. On a separate piece of plastic, shinny magazine page, tin or a artist palette, work your paint into the brush by moving the brush back and forth (or to and fro) with a lite touch until the brush is fully loaded to the ferrule, you may have to dip and palette several times until the brush is fully loaded, you may also have to dip into the thinner and work the brush on the palette to get the paint consistency you want ( I prefer a creamy consistency) Paint consistency (or viscosity) plays a large roll in application, for brushing large areas a thicker consistency would be preferred, for small details a more ink like consistency would be preferred. If you find you have overloaded the brush, simply remove the excess by stroking the brush off to the side of the palette with no paint.

It doesn't take much time to master paletting and the results will speak volumes.

I hope this helps!!!!! Peace, Jimmy "RASS"

[Matt Bacon]

I think the most important things you need to know about Tamiya water based acrylic paints in a jar are:

1) ALWAYS apply them over primer

2) NEVER go back over an area that you have already painted in that session. Wait until the paint is fully dry (I usually wait until the next day after a night in the airing cupboard) before doing a second coat.

Oh, and though you can thin them with water, you really should use the X-20A thinner. As for consistency, look at a freshly opened new pot, and aim for that. They shouldn't need thinner to flow smoothly when new. My plastic box-shaped bottle of X-20A has lasted me five years, mostly just thinning opened pots for brushing (I do spray them very occasionally, but for that I use a "hotter" thinner.)

bestest,

M.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Matt Bacon

[aurfalien]

Wow, MANY thanks and duly noted.

Awesome tips! I'm stoked.

* UPDATE

Seriously I've re read this a few time, spot on suggestions, really uber super.

Edited March 5, 2015 by aurfalien

[aurfalien]

UPDATE;

While I'm still waiting for Liquitex, I've been employing jwrass and Matts suggestions and using Tamiyas thinner (X20A fromage). Finally painting is no longer a friggen nightmare OMG.

Things are actually turning out how I'd like them. Keeping ones palette proper is key as is a proper paletting technique.

I was speaking with my local hobby shop and they mentioned while Tamiya is better then Testors etc..., they do require work to look right.

They mentioned Vallejo as one that works great out the bottle. Perhaps Gunze too?