Acrylic Paints

[Mossie]

I'm thinking of changing from enamels to acrylics.  I've always used Humbrol enamels for a number of reasons.  I grew up with them, they're available at most model shops nearby, they're hard wearing and give a good finish as long as you stir them for several hours before hand!  My one experience with acrylics was a bad one (can't remember which, but probably the ill-fated Humbrol range), they were very thick, gave an orange peel texture & chipped at the first available opportunity.

I'm thinking of changing for a number of reasons as well.  First, I've moved house & the only place I can model at the mo is in the dining room, which is part of a through living room & the fumes from enamels & thinners to stink the place out.  Second (& more important in my book, but not if you talk to the missus), I've heard they dry a lot quicker & I might be able to get stuff done a bit quicker.

Do they dry significantly faster?
What are the pluses & negs of the brands easily available in the UK?

Cheers,

Simon.

[Leigh]

Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em, mostly all I use for airbrushing these days.

+'s yes they do dry faster, some brands in just a matter of minutes, clean up is alot easier, mistakes are easier to fix as they happen, finish seems to be alot smoother.

-'s seem to need more coverage for solid colours and yellow and white can be a pain in the butt (now i use white primer :dum: )

As for brands dunno wot's available in the UK but I swear by Misterkit an Italian brand but they only do WWII and earlier colours, I love Gunze Sangyo both these brands dry glossy in about twenty minutes. Not a great fan of Tamiya but I've heard the trick is that you HAVE to use Tamiya thinners with them.

Still do all my brush painting with enamels though.

[Geoff_B]

Hornby will be launching the Humbrol line of Acylics that got delayed from last year. This should encompass the complete Humbrol range plus they are changing them to be accurately matched as well as including the old Authentic colours (well many were for railway scheme so thats no great surprise now ).
The age of enamel is coming to an end i think as legislation is driving the trend.

Other choices in the UK that can be found is the Revell Aqua line of colours but again these are matched to Revells existing line up rather than recognised standards. Games Workshop warhammer colours are useful for the more basic colours and metallics but obviously are not matched to specific camo colours.

Hard to find except on-line or in some better model shops are the Xtracrylix line from Hannants, Lifecolour from Italy, Valejo, Gunze Sanyo Mr Color from MDC. Most of these are matched to exact colours and tend to work well but do require the use of their own thinners rather than water for thinning for spraying.

G

[lancer]

*popping up from internet oblivion* I can heartily reccommend the Lifecolor acrylics without reservation!!. They are a dream to work with go on brilliantly with brush and airbrush. I get mine from TAHS at West drayton.  

[Mossie]

Thanks guys!  The new legislation was one of the reasons for me changing, better to start now rather than be stuck when it comes into force.  I've just found today that my model shop has started stocking Tamiya Acrylics (cheaper than I thought at £1 each), handy for when your missing that one colour that'll take a week to come along in the post.  There's a games Workshop that's easy to get to as well so I can maybe pick stuff up from there too.  Any specific colours I need I can pick up off net suppliers.

I'll look out for the Humbrol range when they come out, I've always liked the enamels, hopefully, these'll be a lot better than the original God-awful stuff that was launched some years ago & should be easy to get hold if model shops just change over.

Meanwhile I'll get back to my secret santa build that I've started with good old Humbrols, but it's taking an age to dry with the cold weather!

Cheers again,    

Simon.

[Geoff_B]

Tamiya tend to be orientated toward colours supportings its own range, so its not that useful to RAF camo. Mr Colour of the Gunze Sanyo range available from MDC cover many of the RAF standard colours and Xtracrylix from Hannants and some retailers also cover the RAF range as well.

G

[Radish]

I tend to use Tamiya Acrylics, but the Games Workshop range has some super colours (especially the metallic ones) and forget the names (or not ) just look at the range of reds, purples, browns, flesh, etc.. Terrific.  

[John Howling Mouse]

I use Testors Acryl for both airbrushing and handbrushing but I'm really getting into the Polly Scale stuff for handbrushing lately (it's now distributed by Testors too).  I asked the LHS-guy who conned---ah---convinced me into trying Polly Scale if they can easily be thinned for airbrushing and he replied, "Why bother?"   And one look at all his armor on the shelf and I'd have to agree that it is very forgiving for handbrushing.

Oh, and Tamiya acrylics can be thinned with a few drops of isopropyl alcohol and cleaned up with Windex.

[Stephen]

I switched to acrylics several years ago and I've never regretted it.The Vallejo Model Colour range is fantastic for brush painting and can be airbrushed as well.I thin with tap water.The Xtracrylix stuff is wonderful if thinned with their own brand thinners,I get mine from here http://www.sbxmodelshop.co.uk/ with VERY quick delivery and postage free for on-line orders. I'm relatively new to airbrushing but I have found that priming the kit is essential (Halfords) with acrylics and that if you're overcoating with Klear then Vallejo requires several coats for a gloss finish as it just soaks the stuff up.

HTH

Stephen

[Shasper]

I love Testors acrylic line so much that it's pretty much what I buy now (VERY handy for those late nite Dorm builds), I tried Tamiya once but I wasnt impressed with the way it would screw-up when I'd do multiple strokes in one spot.


Shas B)

[BlackOps]

Add another very satisfied Testors/Model Masters Acryl user. I love the fact that acrylics are easy too use and odor free (I too work at the kitchen table).

I add Liquitex Flow-Aid when airbrushing as a thinning agent and it works great. I just add 5 to 10 drops to my paint cup and stir, you may have to experiment depending on your cup size and how old thick your paint is.

[Geoff]

Tamia (also available in rattlecans) and Games Workshop stuff is good.
I have started using the Revell D paints (the ones in the little cubes) and they seem ok too.
I only brush paint, or use a rattlecan.

[Martin H]

Xtracylix all the way, owt else is for girls.  And that includes the Aeromaster ones.

They spray well and brush well. Can't go wrong.

i dont disagree with u there Lee, but the range of colors is quite limited at the moment. and Hannants dont seem to be any hurry to increase the range for now.

[van883]

I love xtracrylix.....and the warhammer paints......

Van

[NARSES2]

Xtracylix all the way, owt else is for girls.  And that includes the Aeromaster ones.

They spray well and brush well. Can't go wrong.

i dont disagree with u there Lee, but the range of colors is quite limited at the moment. and Hannants dont seem to be any hurry to increase the range for now.

Apparently that's to do with the display units ? If they increase the range they need new units - heard it somewhere and it's daft enough to be true ?