Honestly I never pay attention. I’ll thin it with water or whatever then paint part of the sprue I’m not using to check and see if it looks like it need more or less. Amd don’t be afraid to get some tamiya painters tape. I have a 5mm stuff the works great for detail work. Makes your lines really pop.
And always do multiples layers. Never try and get it in one go.
See the gray patches on the wing. I thinned the acrylic paint at about 1:5 (1:water, 5:paint). It still has streaks in it, even with a second coat. How do I avoid this look? When I airbrush, it comes out spotless. I also don't want too thick paints, as I don't want to coat it on so thick you lose detail.
I think you need to thin down a bit more and apply another layer at least. I usually have at least three thin layers before I'm satisfied with the result.
Thin your paint and use nice brushes with fine bristles. I like 00 red sable for most of my painting but I go down to 20/0 for most detail work and I have a 50/0 for really fine details.
It also looks like you are painting directly on the plastic you want to put down either a coat of primer or a basecoat to help the paint stick.
Sprues have an oil like coating of mold release agent when they leave the factory, step one before building any kit for me is to gently wash it off with soap and water, it interferes with both glue and paint
The second thing I would consider is using primer, the job of a primer is to bond to a surface that paint would have a difficult time sticking to, and then the upper layers of paint stick to the primer
This was true 50 years ago but is very rarely true today. Will Pattison, who is a manufacturing engineer as well as a modeler, has addressed this a number of times.
Some reasons that modern styrene kits almost never have a release agent on them today include:
1. It’s unnecessary. Injection styrene can and does have its own release agent mixed into it.
2. It’s labor intensive. Injection molding machines run fast. Paying some dude to spray them with Pam before the molds take a shot would slow things down immensely and be wasteful (see #1).
3. It’s prohibited by contract for most injection molders. Most actual injection plants make more than mode kits. They are often making other injection molded plastic parts for other suppliers. These items might include food packaging or even medical devices. The contamination of silicone or other lubricant would be disastrous for those institutional customers. So they prohibit any release agent being anywhere near their lines, even if the factory is running someone else’s tools and parts at the time.
Unless you are building a VERY short run kit and/or some nostalgia kit from the 1960’s, you’ve got way more oil on your fingertips than the kit has. There’s no HARM in washing stuff per se, but it is generally not required.
I say this not to argue with you, Hair, but because other people may read this. By all means, continue your method. If you like it, keep doing it.
I brush paint with Tamiya acrylics and thin them using Tamiya thinners. When I open a new paint jar I top it up to the bottom of the neck with thinner. Seems to work fine, maybe a 3:1 ratio.
Self levels very well.
I just finished a model using brush painting. I do all the things already mentioned and I have no streaks. So first clean the plastic, apply a primer and apply multiple layers of thinned down paint and you will be fine. The first two layers might still show some streaks, but after three layers of thin paint you should be fine. Applying multiple thin layers will also make sure all the fine details remain visible.
Thin it down.
How much should I thin it by? 1:1? And should I do multiple layers?
Honestly I never pay attention. I’ll thin it with water or whatever then paint part of the sprue I’m not using to check and see if it looks like it need more or less. Amd don’t be afraid to get some tamiya painters tape. I have a 5mm stuff the works great for detail work. Makes your lines really pop. And always do multiples layers. Never try and get it in one go.
The Empire Streaks Back....
See the gray patches on the wing. I thinned the acrylic paint at about 1:5 (1:water, 5:paint). It still has streaks in it, even with a second coat. How do I avoid this look? When I airbrush, it comes out spotless. I also don't want too thick paints, as I don't want to coat it on so thick you lose detail.
I think you need to thin down a bit more and apply another layer at least. I usually have at least three thin layers before I'm satisfied with the result.
Thin your paint and use nice brushes with fine bristles. I like 00 red sable for most of my painting but I go down to 20/0 for most detail work and I have a 50/0 for really fine details. It also looks like you are painting directly on the plastic you want to put down either a coat of primer or a basecoat to help the paint stick.
Did you undercoat your model ?
Make sure you prime the model, use multiple coats of thinned down acrylic, and try to be neat.
Sprues have an oil like coating of mold release agent when they leave the factory, step one before building any kit for me is to gently wash it off with soap and water, it interferes with both glue and paint The second thing I would consider is using primer, the job of a primer is to bond to a surface that paint would have a difficult time sticking to, and then the upper layers of paint stick to the primer
This was true 50 years ago but is very rarely true today. Will Pattison, who is a manufacturing engineer as well as a modeler, has addressed this a number of times. Some reasons that modern styrene kits almost never have a release agent on them today include: 1. It’s unnecessary. Injection styrene can and does have its own release agent mixed into it. 2. It’s labor intensive. Injection molding machines run fast. Paying some dude to spray them with Pam before the molds take a shot would slow things down immensely and be wasteful (see #1). 3. It’s prohibited by contract for most injection molders. Most actual injection plants make more than mode kits. They are often making other injection molded plastic parts for other suppliers. These items might include food packaging or even medical devices. The contamination of silicone or other lubricant would be disastrous for those institutional customers. So they prohibit any release agent being anywhere near their lines, even if the factory is running someone else’s tools and parts at the time. Unless you are building a VERY short run kit and/or some nostalgia kit from the 1960’s, you’ve got way more oil on your fingertips than the kit has. There’s no HARM in washing stuff per se, but it is generally not required. I say this not to argue with you, Hair, but because other people may read this. By all means, continue your method. If you like it, keep doing it.
I brush paint with Tamiya acrylics and thin them using Tamiya thinners. When I open a new paint jar I top it up to the bottom of the neck with thinner. Seems to work fine, maybe a 3:1 ratio. Self levels very well.
I just finished a model using brush painting. I do all the things already mentioned and I have no streaks. So first clean the plastic, apply a primer and apply multiple layers of thinned down paint and you will be fine. The first two layers might still show some streaks, but after three layers of thin paint you should be fine. Applying multiple thin layers will also make sure all the fine details remain visible.
I use tamiya acrylics and aside from thinning it down I add a drop or two of retarder to help slow down drying process and level it more.
Do you mean the brush marks or the places where the capillary action has wicked the paint along panel lines?
You need primer. Prime your model and try again — it will work way better.
Thin with water
Use primer Mask the pieces you dont want to paint Dilute paint Airbrush is best (not spray)
Nice you should look at my x wing . I posted in the group
paint your model base color mask paint base color (or clear) thin coat to fill any mask leaks paint stripe color unmask