Jump to content

Switching from Enamels to Acrylics


Recommended Posts

Hi guys

Thinking of moving over from Enamels to Acrylics and I have some questions if you don't mind.

I know that there is a secret artform to airbrushing acrylics and I'm trying to find out what that is?

From what I have read here, you need to use a retarder. As I understand it Tamiya Acrlic Thinners has a built in retarder, correct?

What should the ratio be etc.

Will my Badger 360 handle acrylic paint? Are there any things I need to be aware of when cleaning?

Any tips or advice will be appreciated.

Thx

John

Link to post
Share on other sites

John,

They're all going to be a little different. I use Polyscale and make my own thinner, which is a mix of 50% alcohol, and 50% distilled water. I usually mix about 60-70% paint and 30-40% thinner, and spray that at about 15-20 psi. There is some inevitable clogging over longer spraying sessions, but a quick wipe of the tip takes care of it.

Your Badger will be fine with acrylics.

By the way, the Polyscale also handbrushes like nothing else.

Link to post
Share on other sites

i've never used a retarder and have done just fine. I use polly scale and tamiya. Stay clear of MM acryl, and have never tried gunze or xtracryl, althogh I've heard good things about both.

They do dry fast, but thats usually not a problem. Like Joe said, a quick wipe of rubbing alcohol on the ab tip will take care of things, and back-bubble if the flow stops all together sometimes helps.

they do need serious thinning though - rubbing alcahol (cheap) and water (even cheaper) are the way to go for that.

Link to post
Share on other sites

When I'm doing a long session I keep an old paintbrush and a small pot of alcohol to remove any buildup from the tip. I add retarder (Cryla "Flow Enhancer") to most acrylics, including Tamiya. Always use Tamiya's own thinner with their paints, ditto Xtracylix (also good for handbrushing). I use a Badger 155, it's the same tip (I understand) as the 360 and one selling point was how well it worked with acrylics.

HTH, welcome to house-and-spouse-friendly airbrushing. :cheers:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Welcome to acrylics! You'll love them! I use pollyscale and tamiya paints with no trouble. I thin my paints with rubbing alcohol...a 50/50 or 30/70 mix. If it looks like milk, your in the range.

A couple of things that will improve your success rate:

ALWAYS mix your paints outside your color cup., keep your air pressure low so the paint won't dry before hitting the plastic...keeps the pebbly texture away. Also, I used to always have problems with clogging... I thought it was paint building up on the tip. It ended up being unmixed chunks of pigment INSIDE my airbrush. I always mix my paint, not shake it, but I still had problems...solution? I raided a pair of my wife's old panty hose and strain my paint now. You wouldn't believe how many chunks it catches...it's really made a difference with the performance of my airbrush. Hope this helps...BTW, I use a IWATA HP-BC and I love it.

Kyle Williams

Mobile, AL

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi John,

The first thing you must know is that there is different kinds of acrylic paints. It is impostant to know this difference to know what kind of thinner you need to use.

The goups are:

1) Isopropil based (tamiya, xtracrilics, gunze)

2) Isobutil based (Model Master Acryl, Aeromaster)

Paints like tamiya and gunze can be thinned with isopropil alcohol, that you can find at drugstores, supermarkets, etc. Some paints, like Gunze, accept high dilution (Correct word??) like 8 or 10 parts of thinner for 1 part of paint. I usually work at 7:1. Remeber that in this dilution you'll have to work at very low pressure (about 8 or 10 psi)

The other paints (MM Acryl and Aeromaster) use other thinner, based on isobutil alcohol that is hard to find. I suggest that you use Aztek Airbrush Cleaner to thin this paint at a maximum ratio of 1 part of thinner to 1 part of paint. I usualy use less (something like 2:3). When I use these paints I add a retarder (only 1 drop of retarder per each 1 ml of thinned paint).

Cheers

Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't use MM Acryls for large applications (can't bring myself to make the switch to acrylics), but I've found that they're just fine for small applications such as cockpits. They seem to be fine anywhere that they won't be handled on a regular basis.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Im very happy to see this thread, as I'm planning on making the same move myself.

Having experience only with Humbrol enamels -

1) Why is one brand better than the other? (i.e you uys say MM is no good - why?)

2) When you say "airbrush beautifully" - what do you mean?

is there a difference in the final result between one paint brand and another?

Thanks...

Link to post
Share on other sites

I think that there should be a dedicated thread for all of the ACRYLIC paint comments...might help the guys that are switching from enamels.

That said, I started using Polly Scale over 10 years ago and the results are very good. If you want the absolute best flat finish, add 15 drops of Liquitex Flow Aid to each bottle, stir well and the strain the paint through panty hose patch...make sure your wife doesn't catch you.

Unlike most of the guys on this subject, I thin with Polly S Airbrush Thinners...a 50/50 ratio for the first coat then add more thinners as I go along. I spray at 15 psi using a Paasche VL and force dry with a small hair dryer. This allows for very fast finishes...without dust bunnies getting in the paint.

To give the paint more "tooth" sand the model with 600 grit wet paper and wash it off with warm water and a drop or two of liquid dish soap on an old soft toothbrush. This will give a very hard finish that will take a lot of abuse. To prove a point, I finished a 1/48 Spitfire to decal stage in 1.5 hours. This included all three colours, masking and clear coating...all with Polly Scale.

Have fun be be careful..even with Acrylics wear a paint mask and use an exhaust fan or spray booth.

Barney

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for all the responses and comments guys, really appreciated.

I noticed that a lot of focus was on air pressure, slight problem, i'm still using propellant cans. (not 2 worry, compressor purchase is in the pipeline). Until I get a compressor, how much of a problem are the cans going to be?

Does PollyScale produce modern colours for the USAF and USN? I can only obtain Tamiya locally (can imports others) meaning mixing of the desired colours.

Why should MM be avoided?

Barney, plan on still utilising my mask. Read a thread somewhere about the pigments in acrylic paint that end up in your lungs. Acrylics appear to be easier to cleanup if u mess on the floor etc. hence the idea and if you forget to ventilate I'm guessing I won't end up with a headache.

Thx

John

Link to post
Share on other sites

John...using propellant cans might be a problem as there is no way of regulating the pressure. Acrylics dry fast and unless you can get the pressure down you'll have problems with grainy finish and clogging nozzle.

Polly Scale has most of the military colours that you might need from WW1 to the present...and you don't have to lighten them for "scale effect" as they are pre-mixed that way.

Barney

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...

Hi John,

You don't have to avoid MM Acryl, just need to learn how to work with this paint. It is more complicated to work than Tamiya or Gunze, but have much better results.

Ther's some pics of my last work. All the painting was done with Model Master Acryl:

Fw190kennel007a.jpg

Fw190kennel008a.jpg

Fw190kennel009a.jpg

Fw190kenel002.jpg

People that say that this paint is no good is because don't know how to work with it.

trust me MM Acryl can give you the best finish on the market.

Cheers,

Claude

Link to post
Share on other sites
I don't use MM Acryls for large applications (can't bring myself to make the switch to acrylics), but I've found that they're just fine for small applications such as cockpits. They seem to be fine anywhere that they won't be handled on a regular basis.

Ditto on this one....

Link to post
Share on other sites

I use MM acrylics for almost all my painting with no major problems.

Good thing about MM acrylics is the wide color choice and availability. ( I can't get pollyscale or gunze here)

Only bad thing about MM acryl (also true for other acrylics) is the need for good surface prep. The paint sticks a lot better when the surface is totally clean. Always wash your model with soap and water prior to painting.

Occaisionally you will get a chip or two. These can usually be filled in by hand or spot-painted with an airbrush.

Always use the brand name MM Acryl thinner when airbrushing. Using alcohol/water doesn't seem to work well. But most of the time, MM Acryl doesn't need to be thinned much.

Acrylics do clog the tip of the airbrush faster. You have to keep a cotton swab and some thinner ready for a quick swipe of the tip. Once you get used to this, it is not a problem.

I've been using MM Acryl (primarily) and Tamiya acrylics for the last 3 years, built 10 or so aircraft, and even won a couple of awards.

Best thing to do is try it! You learn the most by doing things yourself.

Good luck.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I have slowly been switching over to Polly Scale acrylics. The finish is very tough for an acrylic paint. The only exception to this is if you are spraying over a NMF, then you will probably get some minor chips, but brush painting over those chips is easy, and it won't leave brush marks.

I am still torn between acrylics and enamels as the tip-dry problem is something that is, well, a real pain in the arse! I also find that cleaning is easier with enamels. Most folks here will disagree with that, but that has been my experience.

I really like how they shoot, and the finish is great too, but cleaning the airbrush as well as continually wiping off the tip is a real bummer.

Shawn

Link to post
Share on other sites

I use gunze all the time with their thinner. No problems at all. Just so you know, i've tried vallejo as well, and man i'm never using that brand again! sanding/polishing the paint made it come off in large chunks, instead of being sanded down. it thins with distilled water, which isn't so good for clean up (gunze thinner doesn't dissolve it at all). i don't have MM here, just gunze and tamiya, and both work tremendously fine. as usual, top notch japanese engineering

you can try something with your acrylics - if you find your finish a little too grainy after spraying, load up with thinner (as if you're cleaning the airbrush out), bubble back a bit and spray it out onto the model. kinda allows the paint to level itself back a bit

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...