I am getting started on some painting, and would like to know which you guys prefer... acrylics ( water based ) or enamels? I have heard that enamels have richer color, but acrylics are easier to clean. I would love to hear some opinions.
I ONLY use Accu Paint (not AccuFlex which is water based). Accu Paint has quit a few different colors available and most are a pretty good match, though some aren't. The paint can be pretty thick or pretty thin, depending on how much thinner they added when they made it. It's great stuff because it cleans up VERY easily with Acetone or Laquer Thinner. I have a little squirt bottle (I think N Scale Supply sells a similer one, BTW) which I use to clean my air brush with. I have it filled with thinner and once I am done shooting a color, I simply squirt a stream of thinner in the cup and then right into the brush. Clean in LESS then 10 seconds. Accu Paint dries glossy and you can achieve a glass like finish if you apply it correctly. SMP Industries (who makes Accu Paint) also makes several different finishes which are by FAR the best I have ever used. All of the custom painted model photos I post here were painted with Accu Paint. I think water based paints are a pain to clean up. Hope this helps you!
all i use is polly s paint which is water based as i can't used anything with harsh fumes for the fact that they would kill my snakes as my snake room and my paint room is one in the same but, i get great results from polly s. i used accu flex for awhile but began to have some quality issues regarding drying in the bottle and poor sprayability, also sometimes color would vary at times from bottle to bottle. polly s has never let me down and get better results than i ever could've imagined than accu flex. i have noticed polly s bonds to handrails pretty good too without any extra prepping. i will tell you that if you are going to spray with airbrush don't skimp on it, buy a decent one before you start and you will get good results if properly used and paint is decent. when i first got into painting 10 years ago i bought just a cheap $15 airbrush and regretted it after ruining a few kato shells after stripping the bad jobs off of them.
As I handpaint everything, I prefer the enamels. They tend to go on thinner so the details aren't hidden. I use mainly Flouquil Railroad Colors but let them settle really well first then dump out about half of the thinning agent, otherwise they're too thin to handpaint with. From many years of experience painting by hand, not only trains but ships and planes, the waterbased paints such as PollyS tend to get too thick to quick in your brush and allow too thick a layer of paint on your model. This not only tends to hide details but allows brush strokes to show really bad when you want to touch up something thats not quite dry. For cleanup, I use a pickle jar half full of your basic cheap paint thinner. I dump all my excess thinner from the paints themselves right in the jar and have had no bad effects. To me there is no difference in cleaning up brushes with either water or thinner. Hope this helps.
I have to add one more fact about Accu Paint. It dries in about 5-10 minutes maximum, so your off for another coat or color very quikly.
I have to say I prefer acrylics for health reasons. Most of my engines and rolling stock are painted with Polly Scale. Now before I sound like I'm biased, I do use Badger Modelflex, and when I lived back east I too enjoyed great results from SMP's AccuPaint. As far as charecteristics of Enamels vs. Acrylics, both have pros and cons. Acrylics are water based and clean up rather easily, and airbrush nicely, however when airbrushing do not use too much air preasure as they will clog real easy. Like Mitch said start with a good airbrush. I actually have had great success with the Aztek A470, and the Badger models. Try to get a dual action, internal mix as they give more control of both paint and air flow. For Polly Scale I mix 1 part thinner to 3 parts paint, and use a medium flow nozzle or needle at about 16-18 PSI. Anything over 19 PSI can clog up the nozzle. Since Badger is pre mixed I shoot it at about 20 PSI. Enamels are a little more forgiving as they tend to settle down rather easily for a begginer and are more forgiving in an airbrush. PSI can range from 15-25 PSI. The one thing I try to tell to all my customers. Every color even within a brand name can and will have diffrent charecteristics. Polly Scale B&M Blue takes more thinner than Polly Scale ATSF Silver, and will also use a different PSI setting. I start with the recommended instructions on thinning and spraying, then experiment on some scrape until I'm happy with the flow, then proceed with my model. I've been doing the custom paint thing for about 10 years and have found most paints can be painted rather easily as long as the airbrush and paint mixture are set up right. Feel free to contact me off trainboard as I work in the paint/airbrush industry and can give some advice on what I have found works well.
