# Need some painting advice



## Lovemy71Camaro (Aug 22, 2005)

Good evening everyone,
I'm getting back into building scale models. I haven't built one since my teens and I'm not in my mid 40's. I'm used to the old Testors brush on enamel and spray can paints. This time around I'm looking to get into brush on and airbrushing acrylics (I'm using Tamiya). Can someone give me a good ratio of paint to thinner for the airbrush and a ratio for brushing for fine details and the like? Thanks in advance.


----------



## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Have you searched this forum or the modeling forum aleady using airbrush? If you dont get any follow up in a few days - otherwise - I can move this over to the modeling forum and see if more people come across it in that section...

I have seen some good threads over in the diecast customs forum as well.

Welcome back to the boards! :cheers2:


----------



## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

There is no fixed formula for airbrushing Tamiya acrylics. A lot will vary depending on your brush, size of needle and nozzle (.35 vs .50 etc. ), air pressure, and even the color pf paint.

In general, for airbrushing, I like to thin Tamiya acrylics roughly 3 parts paint to 1 part or 2 parts thinner. You can thin up to equal parts paint to thinner. Out of the jar it's really too thick to spray. Metallic colors like silver and aluminum require a lot of thinning. White - not so much. You can use Tamiya thinner, but that is basically just isopropyl alcohol with a fragrance and wetting agent. Straight 90% isopropyl alcohol works just fine. Or you can use lacquer thinner. I keep a big can of Ace or Clean Strip lacquer thinner handy and it works great. Tamiya acrylics, while they are acrylic, are not water based and you can cut them with lacquer thinner. 

Tamiya paints do not really brush paint well at all. If you must brush paint them, you might try some of the hard to get Tamiya retarder. It is a flow agent and retarder that slows drying and will allow you to lay down a smoother coat.

I won't say you can't brush paint Tamiya acrylics. I have, and with some good results. BUT they are not really good for it compared to so many other paints. I use Vallejo Model Color paints for my brushwork. They have a vast range of colors and many equivalents to Tamiya colors.


----------



## AlexBoyKing (Apr 6, 2017)

I would say try out 1:20 (Paint | thinner). Usually the best way for me to start off a project.


----------

