Thread: whats the difference between acrilics&enamel?plus other questions

Some good questions there Mike! Enamels are fine to work with, most modellers used them eons before acrylics were developed so stick with them for now.

The main difference between enamels & acrylics are that enamels are solvent-based whereas most (and that's an important most) are water-based. This splits them into 2 camps, one for ease of use (acrylics) and the other for slightly better coverage & finish (enamels). This is why the majority of people use acrylics in their airbrushes.

The one exception is Tamiya acrylics. I've said it before but it's worth repeating. These are not water-based. Their chemical formulation is closer to alcohol & therefore solvents, so wih them it's best to use their own brand thinner & not water (although I'm aware some feel happy to thin them with the afore-mentioned H20.)

Thinning is essential, never use them straight out of the pot for general work. I thin by eye rather than a formula but as long as the paint flows off the brush onto whatever you're painting, then it's about right. When painting you shouldn't have to brush hard, it should be an easy, flowing stroke with properly-thinned paint.

Painting on the sprues is fine but bear in mind a few things. One, you'll have a spot to cover once you detatch the part from the sprue. Secondly, all parts have mold/seam lines that look tiny but show up something awful when you're weathering & drybrushing. Thirdly, many parts have ejection-pin marks that look unsightly. That's why I don't paint on the sprue & spend way too much time cleaning up the parts!

One thing that i haven't mentioned yet is Vallejo acrylics, mainly because I've not had much use of them yet but from all accounts, they are the closest thing to the quality of enamels with the ease of acrylics so I'll be giving them a go in the future. The smell of white spirit thinners can get too much sometimes!

The liquid glue is ok but don't use the brush it comes with-it's far to big so use a smaller paintbrush instead. Or try Tamiya thin cement, that's very good.

Hope this has helped.

Patrick

WOW!cheers fella.great reply and easy for me to understandas the terminology of scale models some times gets a bit alien for me lol.

Easy ones first

The thin watery thin glue I find to be the best. I use Humbrol but they are all much the same. Dead easy to use when you have to glue such as a fuselage together that is a bit of a tricky fit. Just gently hold the parts together and dab the join with thin glue and it will run into the joint. be very careful though as it can just as easily run over the surface and under your fingers giving perfectly etched on fingerprint detail. If this does happen, don't panic. Just leave it to dry out and then gently sand it off. If you don't let it dry before sanding it will make it worse as the softened plastic will pull.

Acrylic v Enamel. This is so much a matter of choice but:-


Acrylic. Water solvent so brushes easy to clean. Dries quickly so enables quicker builds. Arguably safer to airbrush as no heavy solvents needed to thin the paint or clean the airbrush. However, proper Acrylic thinners recommended for airbrushing them. For brush painting, Acrylics dry so fast that they can be a problem as the paint can drag and enhance brush marks. Best thinned for brush panting or even an Acrylic retardant (available from art shops) to slow the drying process. Tamiya paints are notoriously awkward for brush painting but airbrush like a dream.

Enamels. Unlike acrylic paint, enamels dry slower and will generally give a better finish when brushed. The thicker covering power and slower drying acts as a self leveller so with practice, good brushes and a bit of thinning, possibly your best bet for hand brushing. Enamels need solvents to clean your brushes, special enamel thinners like Humbrol do or Turps/white spirit. They tend to be a bit more 'smelly' and the fumes are arguably more dangerous than acrylics when airbrushing. Enamels are made to a very high standard and the Humbrol range is very comprehensive and includes some of the old "Authentic" range where the pigment was matched to real colours. As Enamels dry slower, you need to take more care when placing the model somewhere to dry, it needs to be well ventilated but dust free.

Thinning of both enamels and acrylics is a bit personal. For brush painting I would probably go 70% paint to 30% thinners, for airbrushing, I generally start at 50/50 but always alter as the paint or circumstances require. Tamiya white for instance tends to be better airbrushed un-thinned.

People will probably recommend other things but for what it is worth, that is the way I work.

Cheers Patrick, if I knew you were typing that I wouldn't have bothered

well guys i think i have hit a stale mate!i carnt seem to find any modern 1/35 brittish figures.i have x2 british tanks,and a few sets of american figures but at this rate my large dio is going to be bare.after searching the net i stil can not find british modern figures.iam starting to think i made the wrong choice,maybe i should have started to collect ww2 kits because i have found a massive selection of them

cheers noble but iam wanting a set of them realy.i had a look on ther site but they are way too expensive