Help eliminate some rookie errors

[tigerdriver]

ok well my spit looks like it just crashed so learning curve part 2 is a 1/48 airfix hurricane

i am using tamiya acylics and possibly too cheap a brush...



paint wise my main disasters were brush stroke issues , a wierd patchy semi gloss finish in places and a total failure on the canopy . i have read terrys guide but its a bit info overload at the mo


brush strokes and patchiness i am guessing i didint thin the paint enough ... i was using water

canopy wise i was trying to kinda dry brush in the frames as the masking concept was a bit mind blowing


HELP lol

 

[Airframes]

Can't really advise on brush-painting with acrylics I'm afraid. Quite frankly, they aren't very good for large areas - anything bigger than, say, a 1/48th scale seat, whatever they're thinned with. The main reason is their make up, with the synthetic polymers. This not only causes heavy areas, or streaky areas, but of course dries too quickly to allow the paint to be 'laid off' correctly, thereby eliminating, or at least reducing, brush marks. I believe there are inhibitors available, to slow the drying process, but as I don't normally use acrylics, I don't really know much about them.
As for the canopy frames, there really is no substitute for masking. They can be painted free-hand, with a good quality, fine-pointed brush, but not so well with acrylics, and it needs a steady hand and good technique.
One of the reasons it's difficult, no matter how good you are, is the material the canopy is moulded from. The surface is 'harder' and 'glossier' than the polystyrene used for the 'solid' kit parts, and wants to repel paint, including enamels, especially around curves on the edges of the frame mouldings. By masking, the paint can be laid down easily, without fear of having to spread onto the clear areas, due to the requirement of getting the paint down relativel heavily on a relatively tiny area. It's best to mask, and then be prepared to give the framnes at leat two coats, allowing the first coat to dry thoroughly before applying the next coat(s).
It's not as difficult as it looks, but it is time consuming, sometimes tedious, and needs precise positioning, using good tape, such as Tamiya masking tape.
When it comes to painting, and masking, there are no short cuts (as with most areas of modelling). But then, as Wojtek would say, modelling is not a race! If you want an instant model, get a die cast !
Hope this helps a bit.

 

[Wurger]

First of all a few pictures would be a great help with an assesment what went wron with the painting of the conopy.
Secondly I agree with the post above. In addition I can tell you that these inhibitors that make the drying of acrylic paints longer are called retarders. So if you need to buy any of these you should look for a liquid colled Retarder.Most of paint manufactures offer a such liquid.

Masking of any conopy has to be made accurately.I mean masks have to be sticked to a cockpit surface firmly.Especially at edges.It'll stop going a paint under masking.. Also there is another way of making cockpit frames painted.The way is very useful for a kind of conopies that were a frame type like the one of the Hawler Hurricane.But it doesn't mean it can be useless for other kinds. You can apply some paints at a clear decal sheet, then cut off a few thin ( narrow) strips of the painted area.And then stick them to the frame traces accordingly . Quite easy right?

 

[tigerdriver]

lol for a given value of easy .... i can see the logic though thanks .

 

[Wurger]

Your'r welcome.

 

[looney]

What is a good enamel paint to start with? Almost finished my 1st model, painted with revell acrylics and somewhat happy with the result (speed and my own skills are the main reason it didn't turn out better).

I'd like to try enamels for my next build.

 

[Wurger]

I always reccomend Humbrol oil enamels for beginners. However the quality of their tonality has gotten worse recently. So you have to be careful with them as you can find two tonalities of the same enamel in two cans.

 

[Crimea_River]

Another possibility of your troubles could be the amount of thinning. I typically use an airbrush, which does require thinning but I'm not sure that I would thin them at all for brush painting.

 

[tigerdriver]

i didnt thin the tamiya thinners on the spit and wasnt too pleased with the results

the paint dryed before you had a chance to spread it properly and they was no chance to try and work out any brush marks

i have just started a 1/48 hurricane and am using tamiya thinner this time, i guess about 3:1 ... and it seems to flow a bit more and also seems to be drying a more even shade too

 

[Wurger]

For airbrushing a paint should be thinned 50/50%.A few drops of a thinner more can help with better going through an airbrush. But the correct setting of a proper PSI range is important as well. What PSI number do you set usually?

 

[tigerdriver]

sorry that was just brush painting

i just bought a cheap airbrush on ebay but thats a whole new learning curve... need bodge up a spray booth or i wll end up with a badly camoflauged imac

 

[Wurger]

Ah.. sorry. Right.. brushing. Unfortunately acrylic paints aren't enough good for the kind of applying. Oil enamels ( for instance Humbrol ones) are better for that. Enamels have to be thinned in a way to get their consistency of the batter.For applying it should be used a brush no.1-3 ( it depends on a model scale.) Their working endings should be rounded for painting fuselages and flat for wings and other flat surfaces. Of course these rounded ones can be used for colouring of all surfaces. Big surfaces have to be divided into a few smaller ones and brushing one by one. A very important thing is to wash a model with a warm water and some soap and then made dry before its brushing. Contrary to acrylic paints , a primer for enamels is unnecessary. However yellow,red and white need it. I suggest applying of a thin coat of a gloss enemel at areas where these colours have to be brushed firstly.