I hope to airbrush my US Army GP20 this afternoon using, for the first time, Tamiya paint. From what I can read, others say to thin it with 70% isopropyl alcohol. (The 90% will make the gloss paint flat.) Make it the consistency of skim milk. Clean up with the alcohol. Does any one agree or disagree? Really, any tips to doing this? What about using windshield washer fluid? (I use a Pasche H siphon feed, No. 3 tip.) Thanks for the help.
Flash, sorry for the PM I sent you. Your in Texas, don't know how dry it is there but the one problem with Alcohol is it dries quick, quicker than water. Both the Tamiya and Model Master acrylic thinners have reducer in them making it a bit more managable. I prefer to paint acrylics with a reducer, however I have successfully sprayed Tamiya Acrylics straight from the bottle at 16 - 18 PSI. The #3 needle is perfect for acrylics. You may not have too much trouble using alcohol with such a small object to paint.
Amazing stuff. It sure is shiny!! I sprayed it out of the bottle at 20 psi and had very good success. I managed to get my fingerprint on the final product. I used a cotton swab and plain water to remove it, no problem. The paint does dry very quickly. I will finish the engine using Testors Acryl gloss clear to seal the masking and badger Model Flex black for the sill, fuel tank, and trucks.
I agree. I really like their paint. I use both their thinner and have also had good luck with windshield washer fluid. I don't cut it to much. Have a good one, Wolf
Flash,I know I've been a loud Tamiya fan,but here is a F1 Tamiya kit I did when I was 12yro,was one of my first airbrush jobs.That is now a 31yro paint job with Tamiya X-7 paint lol...... The kit has been beaten up abit with all the moves lately,hence why it's on the rr work bench. Also,as others have mentioned,this paint works best with Tamiya thinners,just wish Tamiya would do a run of RR related paints,now,that would be something!
Thanks, Wolf. I decided not to use any thinner. The finish was so nice that I plan to buy some more Tamiya basic colors. Jason: That really looks good. I am amazed that it was brush painted. My shell was airbrushed and it looks a little "orange peel" as I would say in the car business. I am sure it was my airbrush technique. I think I was too far away. I should brush closer so it goes on with a "wet" look. When I am airbrushing flat colors it doesn't show the flaw so much. I masked the battery boxes with tamiya masking tape. It seems to have left some mastic on the area. I didn't wait very long after airbrushing to mask the area. Maybe it wasn't completely dry? In any case, I am going to seal the decals with a clear gloss coat. This engine will be shiny except for the trucks and fuel tank. I am not sure that is proper for this scale. IIRC, the smaller the scale the less gloss paint finishes will show. In any case, I am going to try it. Here is a link to the picture of the prototype. Always good to hear from down under, Jason. :thumbs_up:
Flash, check out my Painting a CB&Q GP30 in N thread, there are all my pointers there. Acrylics, regardless of brand are what I call WYSISWYG, what you see is what you get. Spray that closer next time, although your shell still turned out nice. Tamiya masking is the BEST hands down, I will not use anything else. Spray away from the mask, don't make the second color too thick so as to create a pool or bridge on the mask, then pull the mask towards the color you just sprayed when the paint is still wet. I do this step before I even clean the airbrush. Also for a newer N scale locomotive, I like to use a semi gloss covercoat. Try to get the Pollyscale semi gloss, but do it know cause Testors seems to be getting rid of a lot of Pollyscale.
It sure is looking good there Flash. :thumbs_up: I guess I should of waited before bought my paint. I haven’t sprayed mine yet, but I bought a bunch of stuff. I bought Testers Plastic-Prep, testers enamel thinner and Testers #1103C enamel paint that was all recommended by the LHS. Then someone recommended Floquil Paints, so I bought a bottle of #F110450 SOO Line Red. Now I don’t know what to use or exactly how all this stuff is to be used. I have been Procrastinating because I’ve never spray painted before, but now that I see yours I’m getting motivated again. biggrin:
Flash,always good to see you still very active in your layout room! But as you mentioned the orange peel,a good clear coat will take care of that,again as you mentioned it will prolly help to bring the airbrush abit closer to the job. Its hard to describe & only going off my experiences,I tend to use a big bright halogen light so I can "see" where the paint is hitting the surface of the shell.So you can adjust your speed or adjust the paint flow (double action) as you spray.But yeah,practise makes perfect I suppose,but I think the key is to have good lighting so you can "see" where the paint is going........ With the bleeding under the tape,again,I tend to use a tooth pick just before I spray & just seal/burnish eveything again,corners,edges,lumps bumps etc. Keep us up to date with how it goes,it looks like a very interesting loco.
