Upgrading my standard of paint.

[TheChronicOne]

Still, crayons are good, won't have to worry about a second coat for good coverage...

Ya know... ACTUALLY, as a purely "artsy-fartsy" thing I could paint up a plane in a nice, really flat white, then use crayons on it.. If I use quality crayons it should work pretty well! It could be like.... a three-dimensional plane out of a childs coloring book or something.... could be kind of neat.

[DogfighterZen]

Still, crayons are good, won't have to worry about a second coat for good coverage...

Ya know... ACTUALLY, as a purely "artsy-fartsy" thing I could paint up a plane in a nice, really flat white, then use crayons on it.. If I use quality crayons it should work pretty well! It could be like.... a three-dimensional plane out of a childs coloring book or something.... could be kind of neat.

Well, i've never used them for that purpose and never heard of anyone doing it so, i  have no clue what it'll be like but could come out pretty cool for all i know.

[Rick Lowe]

When we had a speed building competition at the club, we used magic markers for the paintjobs...
But then, we were building them in teams and had about half an hour...

1/48 F4F Wildcats in purple... oh, the huge manatees!

[scooter]

Still, crayons are good, won't have to worry about a second coat for good coverage...

Ya know... ACTUALLY, as a purely "artsy-fartsy" thing I could paint up a plane in a nice, really flat white, then use crayons on it.. If I use quality crayons it should work pretty well! It could be like.... a three-dimensional plane out of a childs coloring book or something.... could be kind of neat.

Just keep them away from any Marine vet friends you may have.  They enjoy snacking on them

[TheChronicOne]

When we had a speed building competition at the club, we used magic markers for the paintjobs...
But then, we were building them in teams and had about half an hour...

1/48 F4F Wildcats in purple... oh, the huge manatees!

You know that sounds fun as hell to be honest. 

Still, crayons are good, won't have to worry about a second coat for good coverage...

Ya know... ACTUALLY, as a purely "artsy-fartsy" thing I could paint up a plane in a nice, really flat white, then use crayons on it.. If I use quality crayons it should work pretty well! It could be like.... a three-dimensional plane out of a childs coloring book or something.... could be kind of neat.

Just keep them away from any Marine vet friends you may have.  They enjoy snacking on them

That's hilarious.  The most popular google auto-fill After "Marines " and the letter "E"   is "Marines Eat Crayons."   Out of all the possibilities that could start with "E" and yup...  "eat crayons" is the winner.


"If God in his infinite wisdom did not want Marines to eat crayons he would not have made them in so many pretty colors." -Gunny R. Lee Ermy

[zenrat]

I've thought I could do wild custom paint jobs on model cars with felt tip pens onto of white undercoat.
The tips of the felt tips clogged up.

[Rick Lowe]

I've thought I could do wild custom paint jobs on model cars with felt tip pens onto of white undercoat.
The tips of the felt tips clogged up.

I would have picked they'd bleed outside where you wanted them, but there had to have been some reason why it wasn't the 'latest and greatest technique' for car modelling...

yet another Great In Theory But Not In Real Life situation...

"If God in his infinite wisdom did not want Marines to eat crayons he would not have made them in so many pretty colors." -Gunny R. Lee Ermy

That sounds like something The Gunny would/should have said... and as the old saying goes, "If it ain't true, it oughta be!"...

[DogfighterZen]

Marines eat crayons...  makes sense, though... 

[TheChronicOne]

I could watch FMJ just for Gunny alone. 

[NARSES2]

You really will find that as far as brushes are concerned you get what you pay for. Once purchased look after them and they will last an age 

I can't help with any advice as to where to get them that side of the pond I'm afraid (UK I could  ) but look at or in art suppliers to start with.

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks, that's what I'll do. I'm considering a trip to the LHS today.

I've been "going" long enough now that I have 5-6 "go to" brushes that I use 99% of the time so I figure I can just start buying same, but in a higher quality brush, and if I ever need more buy them one at a time. This way I can justify shelling out for them. There are racks of supposedly high quality brushes at the store that I will peruse.

I bought a $5 set with like 16 in them and while a couple are decent, most are trash and should come out of the package directly into the bin. I found ONE in that set that works half way decent and I've been using the hell out of it but it goes in and out of phases of shedding like a dog does twice a year and I'm pretty tired of that. It's maddening to brush out something and get it looking good only to scope a brush hair embedded in the paint... then all of a sudden it's either leave it there or run the risk of fouling the finish trying to get it out. Tired of that. I'd rather fork out extra money for a good brush than FIGHT some crappy one that costs me time and creates frustration.

I'll post any goodies I find if I decided to buy anything today. 

[NARSES2]

Without wishing to teach you to suck eggs. Flat brushes - I find up to about 3/8ths the most useful for larger surface areas and round brushes, I find 000 to No 2's the most useful for more detail work.

[TheChronicOne]

Without wishing to teach you to suck eggs. Flat brushes - I find up to about 3/8ths the most useful for larger surface areas and round brushes, I find 000 to No 2's the most useful for more detail work.

That's awesome! I must be on the right track because that's exactly what I've settled on as my favorites. That 3/8 or so flat brush is my favorite.     GMTA...     These work for most anything. I have some other brushes I'm reserving for things like dry brushing or mottling that I've yet to use but methinks the vast bulk of brushes I can just leave at the store and 10 or less grand total will be all will ever need. 50,000 brushes sitting in a cup may make one look like some sort of distinguished artist but uhhh..... pffffft. 

Only thing I've notice that I really WANT and don't have is something like a single bristle brush and/or some micro brushes. I've tried using toothpicks and needles which only work to a certain extent. I'm thinking about taking one or two of the 16 trash brushes and turning those into something that might work in this capacity by snipping off most of the bristles and just leaving one, or 3 or 6 or whatever.       

[NARSES2]

For dry brushing and mottling you'll find older, "tired" brushes work best.

As for trying to cut a brush down in order to make it suitable for detail work ? Very hard to do, indeed nigh on impossible. I'm not saying you couldn't but Just invest in a 00 or 0 and see how you go.

I use toothpicks at time, but sand the tip so it gets finer (it also helps minimise the grain" and keep them clean. Don't try and carry to much paint on them. Dip them, do a little (I mainly use them for switches etc), clean them, dip them etc.

[TheChronicOne]

I'll bear that in mind. I remember you mentioning the sharpening of the toothpicks at some point in the past and have been doing that for when I clean up my cockpit glass but for some reason it didn't occur to me when I use them to paint! 

As far the 00 and 0 brushes.. well, that's my problem! I'm finding even these to be too large for certain things like detailing pilots and cockpit panels. I've gotten a little bit better at it by adding only tiny amounts of paint to the very end of the brush but still find them lacking at times.

I'm definitely trying the sharpened toothpick next time around though. That'll get me by just fine I'm sure... until I can get to the hobby store or shop online. I had to cancel today's trip because I looked at my bank account and decided I'd rather eat than have fancy paints and brushes. 

Fish 'n Chips for lunch today!