The Energon Pub

So I bought some paints to do Knockout's rims. They turned out very well. So now I have the bug. One question. Do you guys have any tips for those tiny details. Do certain brushes/paints work better? is there a good technique? I've got a couple ideas swimming around in my head but I need to refine my skills. I'm practicing on some stuff that will never be displayed again. Thanks for any advice.

Still no reply? I will share some of my humble experience.

Don't know how tiny you are asking. I have three thin brushes: 1 spotter, 1 0/10, and 1 0/5 and 1 flat head #1. The 0/10 and 0/5 I cannot really tell the difference but I prefer using the 0/10 one. For paints, I use Tamiya acrylic but that really depends on everyone's preference.

When painting, the thickness of the paint varied depends on where you paint. For drawing thin gap line (so called Gundam line), it's easier if the paint is thinner. For headlight or some spot touches, you don't want to thin them down too much. If you are drawing a thin line on a flat surface, you can use marking tapes to help if you cannot hold the brush that steady. For my Prime Ratchet, the thin line was drawn by spotter and then I straighten the edges with tooth stick.

Hopefully these help and feel free to ask more.

paul053 wrote:For paints, I use Tamiya acrylic but that really depends on everyone's preference.

Greetings, Paul! Not my thread, but I noticed you mentioned using Tamiya paints. Surely you mean with an airbrush. I've tried hand-painting with Tamiya acrylics, and it was a nightmare! Tried different ratios of paint to thinner, used different thinning agents...it just doesn't want to go on smoothly.

In the end, I had to buy an airbrush and compressor set.

Check out what I did with Testor's Model Masters Acrylic. Hand brushed it. Pretty proud of my first repaint
http://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/my-very-first-repaint-prid-wasp-p1399612.php#p1399612
I've heard a lot of people recommend Tamiya. I was going to try it, but the hobby shop in my area only carried model master's.

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:Greetings, Paul! Not my thread, but I noticed you mentioned using Tamiya paints. Surely you mean with an airbrush. I've tried hand-painting with Tamiya acrylics, and it was a nightmare! Tried different ratios of paint to thinner, used different thinning agents...it just doesn't want to go on smoothly.

In the end, I had to buy an airbrush and compressor set.

Nope. Not airbrush. Always hand painting. Never had a chance to use air brush (my working environment don't really allow that and my wife won't allow me either) and their enamel can spray sucks.

I just use water to thin them down and the ratio really depends. Generally for 10 drops of paint, I started with 2 to 3 drops of water and then mix and feel. If paints are older and thicker, then add more drops of water.

I really understand what you mean. Few months ago I was forced to buy a white Testor acrylic since all the hobby shops were running short on Tamiya white. It did the job for me eventually but I was surprised the paint quality are that much different. So I think use the one that best suit you.

warwik311 wrote:Check out what I did with Testor's Model Masters Acrylic. Hand brushed it. Pretty proud of my first repaint
http://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/my-very-first-repaint-prid-wasp-p1399612.php#p1399612
I've heard a lot of people recommend Tamiya. I was going to try it, but the hobby shop in my area only carried model master's.

Nice job, Warwik311.

The white acrylic I mentioned above is also Testor's model master. It's a good quality paint.

paul053 wrote:Nope. Not airbrush. Always hand painting. Never had a chance to use air brush (my working environment don't really allow that and my wife won't allow me either) and their enamel can spray sucks.

I just use water to thin them down and the ratio really depends. Generally for 10 drops of paint, I started with 2 to 3 drops of water and then mix and feel. If paints are older and thicker, then add more drops of water.

I really understand what you mean. Few months ago I was forced to buy a white Testor acrylic since all the hobby shops were running short on Tamiya white. It did the job for me eventually but I was surprised the paint quality are that much different. So I think use the one that best suit you.

Thanks, man. I think I'll try using your recommended ratio and see if it's better. For smaller details, I'd rather use a brush and save myself the trouble of setting up the airbrush and do all that masking.