I'm getting my first 'wingy kit' for a couple of years for Christmas (been painting figures). All my old tins of Humbrol have dried up as I've been using oil paints, and with their recent demise what paints do the rest of you use for aircraft?
Tamiya acrylics have no covering power when brushed and Trumpeters big Welly is a large area of plastic!!

Hi Dave

the Wellington is huge and I think you will have some problems covering the whole thing with brushpainting ... I know it is possible, but it is a hard job. (I know someone who is using the old Humbrol colours -- not the new stuff --- even on large aircraft, but he has much experience and he is an artist)

Maybe you should think about investing in a cheap, simple (=single action) airbrush which you could use with "air"-cans and if you like it you could upgrade later .... if not, the investment was not too much ...

cheers

Steffen

Steffen,

I've been modelling for over 40 years, and I know that I can handle a paintbrush a lot better than I can an airbrush (besides, I use the dining room table as a workbench!). Other large 1/48 stuff is testament to this

If I can still get Humbrol, then ok; but I suspect that unless I buy by post I'll end up with Revell enamel which is no substitute for the old stuff!

Hi Dave

I thought that you have a long experience, but I was not sure whether you have tackled such large models already ...

Avoid the Revell enamels. Maybe you could give the new Revell acrylics a try (if already available at your LHS) ... they are optimized for brush painting ... else I have no idea

good luck

Steffen

Xtracolor enamels are pretty good. They do the full range of WWII RAF BS colours but again, they are really aimed at airbrushing. However I have used them with a brush for small area's and they aren't too bad - just a little 'thin' You could try spraying the whole kit with a nice primer like halfords car primer first and that will certainly aid the final finish as the enamel will then have a better key to stick to. Another potential problem if you dont have a decent matt/satin varnish spray/paint is that Xtracolor dry quite glossy (By design) to allow better decal adhesion.

Finally, I'd have to check but I'm pretty sure I have some Humbrols in stock (I own a shop) in the three main colours you want - Dark Green/Dark Earth/Black.

Regards,

Lee

Xtracolour paints are designed for both airbrushing and brush painting. Most are high gloss so that it is not necessary to apply a gloss varnish before applying the decals. (If the surface is not gloss decals will tend to silver.) They are thin so that when brush painted they dry very smooth but this means that more than one coat is necessary. (Professional decorators always thin their paint and apply two coats because they know this gives a better finish.) I would also get some Rustin's (terebene) Paint Driers as these speed up the drying process and give a hard gloss.

Xtracolor are produced by Hannants but if you mail order them you have to buy a kit as well as they will not send liquids such as paint through the post on their own. However, it is not well known that you can buy them from Wonderland Models as well without needing to buy a kit. They also have a much faster service than Hannants. I ordered some paint on Monday afternoon and it arrived in Tuesday's post! Postage is £2.

http://www.wonderlandmodels.com/

White Ensign also make excellent paints.

http://www.whiteensignmodels.com/

Yep, I didn't want to plug my own shop but you can get Xtracolor/Xtracrylics from other sources. I sell them from my webshop at www.military-precision.com - I do not have the soviet colour in stock though (its on order).

Lee

Oops,

confused with another post!!!!

I DO have all the RAF WWII colours in stock!

Lee