Tamiya Panther A

[Lucky13]

Not a twin Panther?

 

[T Bolt]

I sprayed the yellow on the hull, turret and some of the smaller parts tonight. I also used an Eduard mask set for the road wheels and sprayed them with the yellow and then some green. The masks were a bit too large, and all had to be sliced and lapped to fit. Also, there were not enough to go around, and I had to reuse them some of them and stage my painting
This was my first time using acrylic paint to spray anything big. For sure I miss my enamel paints. Maybe it's just a learning curve, I hope. One thing I noticed is that the paint does not adhere to the plastic nearly at well as the enamels I'm used to. Hopefully it just takes longer to cure. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[fubar57]

Looking good, Glenn

 

[Airframes]

Looking good Glenn.
I'm not keen on any brand of acrylics, and I'll stick to the much better, tougher and much more versatile enamels for as long as possible.
However, on the very few occasions when I have used acrylics, I had to apply a primer, using light grey enamel. A thin coat is sufficient to allow those pesky "Mickey Mouse" paints to adhere.

Just noticed the "width" of the black on your wheels. The rubber tyres were the full depth of the wheel rims, not narrow bands as you have them painted. The box art is an accurate guide as to how they should look.

 

[WARSPITER]

This pic shows the two tyre types. Outer singles had more showing with the inners having a wider metal lip.

As to the acrylic paint, Tamiya kits tend to have a problem with stickiness - maybe the plastic ? Agree with the oil
based undercoat. Works fine and the acrylics stay on really well.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

I never used a true acylic so don't have the experience. The Tamiya paints that I've used for years now, though referred to as "Acrylics", are some sort of hybrid that is tougher than a pure acrylic and I've very rarely had bond issues. It's true that they scratch easily but that's a minor issue for me as such things are easily repaired.

 

[vandee]

Nice build, the kit is a bit odd but nice. I built it 35 plus years ago before I learned of model secrets, putty, sanding, and it really needed zimmerit which at the time I never heard of. My crude attempt, 30 plus years ago. My last attempt last year, Italeri with zimmerit. Much better detail.

 

[T Bolt]

Thanks for the advice guys, I will be using an enamel primer after this.

I broke out my Sotar 2020 yesterday and sprayed on the green striping yesterday and was disappointed with the results. (Picture 1) The airbrush was not at all happy spraying the acrylic and I began thinking of what the hell was I going to do with all these kits in the stash now that I can't get Model Master enamels anymore and, am stuck with these crappy acrylics.
After sleeping on it I remembered the tiny 1/76the scale Tiger I I built for the Kuusk group build and went back to it and saw that I has put a dark wash over the whole thing and thought, what the hell do I have to loose and want ahead thus morning and put a light black wash on the hull and turret, and a heavier one on the road wheels and suspension (pictured 2 & 3) and feel much better about it, so for now I'm not looking to sell off the stash. Yet.......

 

[Wurger]

 

[rochie]

Very nice Glenn.

Although i don't use an airbrush, I've read about the use of retarder for acrylic paint when airbrushing ??

No offence meant if your already using one or know about it.

 

[T Bolt]

No I'm not Karl, that's something I should try. This is all new to me, so any advice is welcome, especially about spraying Vallejo acrylics since I've kind of went all in with that brand and bought quite a few of their paint sets figuring it would force me to make the change from enamels.

 

[rochie]

No I'm not Karl, that's something I should try. This is all new to me, so any advice is welcome, especially about spraying Vallejo acrylics since I've kind of went all in with that brand and bought quite a few of their paint sets figuring it would force me to make the change from enamels.

Ok mate.

I use Vallejo model colour, I'm guessing you use model air, thats pre thinned for airbrushes ?

To be honest i did one model with an airbrush and hated it, went back to brush painting

 

[T Bolt]

The stuff I'm using for the panther and will use for the Fw190 that comes in the paint sets Vallejo model colour. I asked goog how to thin it and the answer was water so that's what I did. Maybe that's part of the problem. I have used Vallejo model air briefly on a small plane and it seemed to work out Ok, that's why I invested in all those paint sets.

 

[rochie]

The stuff I'm using for the panther and will use for the Fw190 that comes in the paint sets Vallejo model colour. I asked goog how to thin it and the answer was water so that's what I did. Maybe that's part of the problem. I have used Vallejo model air briefly on a small plane and it seemed to work out Ok, that's why I invested in all those paint sets.

I have almost no experience with an airbrush, but water should work to thin the paint !

 

[Gnomey]

Good work so far Glenn!

 

[fubar57]

I use Model Air straight out of the bottle and Model Color thinned with water 1:1. I also shake the bottles for a long time. If you think you've shaken them for a long time, shake them longer. When spraying, I spray for about two or three seconds and the stop and send a blast if air through the tip to stop paint build up. Vallejo is fragile, more so than any other acrylic but I've found if you are going to mask it, wait 24 hours and then de-tack the Tamiya masking tape more than you would normally do and spray away from the tape edge, at least for the first couple of passes. I remove the masking tape as soon as I'm finished spraying....slowly. I've had more paint lift using Tamiya than Vallejo and rarely use a primer coat. I think most people have problems with Vallejo is because they rush it. When Vallejo first started releasing their line, they were very hit or miss with their "authentic" colour matches but the newer ones seem to be closer. When did they change over, I don't know but I have some older ones that aren't even close. Now if I want to use a colour, I Google some builds to see if I've got a close enough colour

 

[T Bolt]

Thanks George, that's a big help

 

[Crimea_River]

..... I've had more paint lift using Tamiya than Vallejo and rarely use a primer coat. ....

I've only had paint lift once with my Tamiyas as far as I can recall and that was likely due to an oily surface. I don't prime as a rule either, only doing so to check surface prep. I really like the Tamiya XF ranges. They can be thinned and cleaned with water but IPA is better. No need to use their pricey specialty thinner unless you get into using their lacquer based primer and LP ranges. The XF paints dry quickly and can be masked minutes after application. I saw Spencer Pollard do this at a model show demo I attended and I was blown away - done it ever since. I don't use a retarder and thin the paints with IPA about 60 thinner to 40 paint or even thinner depending on what I'm doing. The disadvantage of Tamiyas is that mixing is often required to get the desired colours but I've built up recipes over the years.

 

[fubar57]

That is great to know, Andy. I wasn't aware I could thin with IPA, I buy it in bulk at Costco for AB cleaning. I usually wait 24hrs before masking Tamiya....no more