Can I get some painting info

[Antonio Vasquez]

 I’m using a gloss  acrylic paint for the first time normally I  use testers enamel.  I have been thinning  the paint about 75 percent paint 25% water.  After about four coats I can still see the primer through the paint. Is it normal to have to put a lot of coats on?  The paint coming out of the container is very very thick so I am having to thin it . From the tutorials I have seen on YouTube they say thin the paint to the consistency of milk.  I am thinning it a little thicker than that  but it is still very transparent when I apply it.

[semorebutts]

I just started airbrushing to  I use Tamiya acrylics. I thin it 2 parts paint to 1 part thinner, but I always put the thinner in the airbrush first and that seems to work for me. I don't prime but the I don't think it would show through. sorry I can't be  any more help.

[Antonio Vasquez]

59 minutes ago, semorebutts said:

I just started airbrushing to  I use Tamiya acrylics. I thin it 2 parts paint to 1 part thinner, but I always put the thinner in the airbrush first and that seems to work for me. I don't prime but the I don't think it would show through. sorry I can't be  any more help.

I’m not airbrushing, aside from the large areas I’m painting by brush.

[Thistle17]

Antonio I used Tamiya Acrylic paint in a brush on mode straight out of the bottle. I had primed on a light grey and the white just didn't cover. I then sprayed on Tamiya white primer and it still took 4 coats of the white overcoat to satisfy me. I too could still see a slight grey through the white primer. The thinning just didn't work for me. I did not apply heavy coats

Here is a reference to a painting guide via model railroaders that we posted on our web site: 

https://www.modelshipwrightguildwny.org/resources-shopnotes

See Painting Shop Note and look at the second PDF. I would give you the direct reference address but I forgot how I got it. It is a free publication.

Joe

Edited January 2, 2018 by Thistle17

[Antonio Vasquez]

3 hours ago, Thistle17 said:

Antonio I used Tamiya Acrylic paint in a brush on mode straight out of the bottle. I had primed on a light grey and the white just didn't cover. I then sprayed on Tamiya white primer and it still took 4 coast of the white overcoat to satisfy me. I too could still see a slight grey through the white primer. The thinning just didn't work for me. I did not apply heavy coats

Here is a reference to a painting guide via model railroaders that we posted on our web site: 

https://www.modelshipwrightguildwny.org/resources-shopnotes

See Painting Shop Note and look at the second PDF. I would give you the direct reference address but I forgot how I got it. It is a free publication.

Joe

Thanks for the info, it was very informative 

[Roger Pellett]

On the model that I have been building I have been mixing my own paints from artist’s acrylics- the stuff that comes in tubes.  Nothing very scientific, I don’t understand chroma, use of a color wheel, etc.

 

I start with a few basic pigments, bright red, van dyke brown, white, black, and grey.  Combinations of these colors make attractive muted colors typical of the eighteenth century earth tones.  I then mix these with matt medium (again by eye) and thin with water until thin enough to pass through my air brush.  To work in my air brush, the paint must run freely from a mixing stick.  If it dries in blobs it’s too thick.

 

Many (maybe six) coats are required to cover and to produce a good finish.  Acrylics can be hard to brush as the paint must be flowed on.  Brushing it out tends to leave streaks with the previous coat showing through.

 

Roger

[druxey]

Some colors are more transparent than others and need more coats to cover adequately.

[Canute]

To add to what Druxey says, reds and yellows are usually the most translucent/transparent colors. I'd use a white or light gray primer if applying onto a dark surface.

Edited January 4, 2018 by Canute
Clarify my reply

[Antonio Vasquez]

On 1/4/2018 at 4:10 AM, Canute said:

To add to what Druxey says, reds and yellows are usually the most translucent/transparent colors. I'd use a white or light gray primer if applying onto a dark surface.

I’m thinking I should have used a white primer, oh well, live and learn.

[jwvolz]

Which acrylic paints are you using?

[Antonio Vasquez]

4 hours ago, jwvolz said:

Which acrylic paints are you using?

These are the acrylic paints that I was able to get from our local Michael’s. 

[Paul Jarman]

I have this problem with gloss. They tend to be a bit thin. I use Vallejo (not sure on spelling). they are very good. I no longer use gloss I find it better to paint with a mat paint and then varnish. This way I can apply as much or as little varnish depending on the shine I want. If you look at my hull you can see it looks like I have glossed it but I haven't. I do this with all the parts.

Paul

[Jörgen]

You can thin it lesser and higher the air preassure instead for the airbrush. Just test it and don't pay so much attention to the "milk consistens". 

[jwvolz]

You are much better off trying to get some proper hobby paints, rather than "craft" paints. They are weak in pigment, and it is also larger in particle size so they just don't lay out smoothly. As you found, they are also thick, and when you have to thin them to brush or airbrush consistency they get weaker still and don't cover well.  

 

I'd recommend Tamiya, Vallejo and Model Master acrylics. All much better options. 

Edited January 11, 2018 by jwvolz

[Landrotten Highlander]

I think I can add a few reassurances as well as tips.

 

When I paint miniature figures (be it white metal or resin) I tend to prime them with either black or grey (a normal car primer in spray can works fine).  I use either hobby paints (Vallejo or Scale 75 - both are acrylics) or artist oil colours (the student ones tend to be cheaper, but have less pigment in them).

 

I am thinning my paint a bit more than most (they are closer to washes - which has the consistency of weak tea), and always need to use multiple coats.  How many depends on the colour, but as has been mentioned before ,red and yellow are very transparent/translucent colours.

 

What I tend to do is use white gesso paint on top of my black primer where translucent colours will be used. (for your information, the gesso I am using is the same thing artists use to prime their canvasses).  I often have to put 4 layers of gesso on before I am starting to get satisfied with the whiteness.  And on top of that I have to use multiple coats of say red - usually another 4 minimum.

 

I also tend to paint the lighter colours first, then move to darker tones ( I will need fewer coats of paint this way than if I were to paint dark first).

 

Having said that, my latest bust (I painted a bust of Yoda) has on places (particularly his eyes) 25 coats of paint on it - andI am still not 100% satisfied with the transition, so I might add another few coats.

Edited January 11, 2018 by Landrotten Highlander

[Antonio Vasquez]

3 hours ago, jwvolz said:

You are much better off trying to get some proper hobby paints, rather than "craft" paints. They are weak in pigment, and it is also larger in particle size so they just don't lay out smoothly. As you found, they are also thick, and when you have to thin them to brush or airbrush consistency they get weaker still and don't cover well.  

 

I'd recommend Tamiya, Vallejo and Model Master acrylics. All much better options. 

 Yeah I would have to order those pants from Amazon or from an online hobby store, I picked up the pants that I got there from the local Michael’s I realize that they’re probably not that great for painting  plastic. The testor enamels that I have do cover better.  I like the soap and water cleanup of the acrylics.

[thibaultron]

Many years ago I went to a museum, where they had a very detailed model of a riverboat that had been (model) built in the 30s. Unfortunately it had been painted with what looked like house paint! The finish was thick, lumpy, looked terrible!

[Bob Cleek]

As mentioned above, you get what you pay for in paint. "Craft" paints will simply not have the amount of pigment, ground finely enough, to really get the job done without many coats and this will tend to fill in the detail more than desired. Given that "artists' oils" or acrylics in tubes will last a very long time after opening (unlike jarred paints,) their use is actually more economical. I prefer oil paints to acrylics, particularly for airbrushing (acrylics can tend to "spit," especially when thinned with water. Acrylics that can be thinned with denatured alcohol are quite good, dry quickly, an advantage if spraying, and permit water clean-up, although I prefer solvent clean-up myself. Your mileage may vary.) The most expensive component of any coating is the pigment. The tubed oils and acrylics cost more because they have more pigment and less solvents (or water) in them. It's a lot cheaper to buy good paint and then thin it with much less expensive solvents. For oils, the standards are linseed oil (available in the health food stores as "flaxseed oil") and turpentine. If you try to buy these solvents in art stores, they often charge an arm and a leg for them. You can buy the same in a regular paint or hardware store in a quart or gallon can for a fraction of the cost. If you live somewhere that they've outlawed oil-based paints and solvents, you can still find what you need on line, or go to acrylics, if you wish. Considering the amount of time we invest in building a model, it's really foolish to cut costs on materials which cheapen the final results of our labors.

 

I've never found it necessary to use a spray booth for airbrushing. So little particulate and fumes are sprayed with an airbrush, it seems overkill, not to mention that the vacuum in the booth only draws ambient dust right into what you are painting. These boxes seem to have been a product designed for people who use "rattle cans" to spray model cars and the like. Aerosol paint cans put out relatively huge amounts of paint in a wide spray, unlike airbrushes.