In lack of an airbrush i have to paint my HS-123 with a brush. But i prefer painting with acrylic paint. I practised on the inside of the fuselage but the result was even after 4 thin layers not the way i wanted. I use the acrylics of Gunze and want to paint my Henschel in RLM 71 and 65.

Is it wise to use acrylics for this and/or should i use another brand? Or should i use enamel/email. Something i have a littlebit experience with.

Help wil be much appreciated.

Gunze can airbrush better than almost all other acrylic enamels, and better than a lot of oil based ones.

So, the first question is: what are you using for thinner?

Gunze makes an excellent thinner that is also good to use with the Tamiya paints.

A poor substitute is isopropyl alcohol, but it still works well enough. A tiny bit of liquid soap with it helps.

plain water just won't do the trick.

I have no airbrush so i have to do it by hand. I tried using Gunze with Tamiya thinner. For small items it's fine, but i'm afraid for the large ones.
I also use the Tamiya primer spraycan.

I've used Gunze and Tamiya for doing coverage. I usually thin them with isopropyl alcohol, and that seems to work ok. I usually use droppers to mix it 60/40 or 70/30 Paint to Thinners into an old spoon, and that works pretty well. Some times you need a few coats to get it down. White paint is the worst, I usually end up doing 6 or 7 coats until there is good coverage.

I've also tried Vallejo paints a couple of times, and they paint pretty well. I didn't bother thinning that stuff. Just put a few drops in a spoon, and made sure the brush was fairly wet with water. You can thin vallejo paints with water easily enough. The guys at the hobby shop said to use distilled water if you were spraying it, but I just used tap water to keep the brush wet.

The only hassle I found with the valejo paints is that it is thick. I some times get a faint ridge on the masking lines, although you don't really notice once the clear coats are down, and a you've done a wash.

oops, yes, gunze and tamiya paints are HORRIBLE to hand brush paint with. they spray great, brush terrible.

should have read closer.

Or maybe it's my English

I have decided that i'll try to paint the Henschel by brush with Vallejo in multiple layers and see how it wil work out.
If it's not satisfactional i'll try the Tamiya spraycans.
For the RLM colors i was thinking about:
AS 5 -> RLM 65 and AS 24-> RLM 71. Unless anyone suggests something els?!

seems like tamiya spray cans would be the way to go however they are expensive for about the cost of three or four cans of tamiya you could purchase a single action airbrush ? however the compressor is not inexpensive.

Hi Johan,

Brushing large surfaces with acrylic is a pain in the @%!$%. They dry too quick. The only success I have had when brushing large areas is with enamels like Humbrol.

Hi Len,

Yes i know. I've always used Humbrol and Revell, but i want to go on the healthy way...

You can thin Valljeo paint with testors model master acrylic thinner for brush painting . One or two drops is all you need , if it's still to thick just add a few more drops . The paint will flow better then if you used water .

Can i use Tamiya thinner also?

In a word, NO.

Tamiya acrylic thinner, Isopropyl alcohol or denatured alcohol (ethanol) will turn Vallejo paints into a sticky ball of goo.

Tx Phil,

After trying normal tapwater i use demineralized water now. Makes really a difference.

I did quite well with the Model Masters acrylic from Testors and Tamiya thinner. It will take a few coats but looks better and doesn't clump on the brush as bad as Tamiyas paint.

However, you might as well spray it if it's white.