Question on acrylic paints

[CrusherJ]

Hey, I'm new to modeling and working on my first, a 1/72 corsair, and have run into a concern/problem. I bought tamiya acrylic paint to use on the small pieces instead of spray painting them and it's very watery. It works fine for flat surfaces, but for things like the landing gear, propeller and other small, rounded parts it's hard to get it to stay because it's so watery and dripping off. Is it supposed to be this way or is there something I'm doing (or not) that's causing it? I'm storing them in my garage which gets pretty cold now, does that make a difference? Thanks!

[Vifam7]

Hey, I'm new to modeling and working on my first, a 1/72 corsair, and have run into a concern/problem. I bought tamiya acrylic paint to use on the small pieces instead of spray painting them and it's very watery. It works fine for flat surfaces, but for things like the landing gear, propeller and other small, rounded parts it's hard to get it to stay because it's so watery and dripping off. Is it supposed to be this way or is there something I'm doing (or not) that's causing it? I'm storing them in my garage which gets pretty cold now, does that make a difference? Thanks!

No, that's how Tamiya paint is. In order for the paint color to stick, there are 2 things you can do.

1. Prime the plastic by painting on primer paint first

and/or

2. Paint multiple layers. Paint-dry-paint-dry-paint-dry... and on and on and on

For lighter colors like white and yellow, you may need to put on as many as 5 or more layers.

Edited November 3, 2009 by Vifam7

[Noyhauser]

Hey, I'm new to modeling and working on my first, a 1/72 corsair, and have run into a concern/problem. I bought tamiya acrylic paint to use on the small pieces instead of spray painting them and it's very watery. It works fine for flat surfaces, but for things like the landing gear, propeller and other small, rounded parts it's hard to get it to stay because it's so watery and dripping off. Is it supposed to be this way or is there something I'm doing (or not) that's causing it? I'm storing them in my garage which gets pretty cold now, does that make a difference? Thanks!

Couple of questions: Are you thinning it at all? Tamiya paints tend not to need too much thinner. Also make sure that shake and stir the paint well from the paint pot before you use it. It tends to separate and the paint accumulates at the bottom.

By the way, are you building the Tamiya corsair? Its an absolutely gorgeous kit (I'm building one right now too)

[CrusherJ]

I see, thanks guys, I'll try those suggestions. I'm building the Hobby Base corsair since it was $13 cheaper than the Tamiya one. I'm going to try that one next though, may get the 1/48 version since it's virually the same price as the 1/72 one at LHS.

[Noyhauser]

I see, thanks guys, I'll try those suggestions. I'm building the Hobby Base corsair since it was $13 cheaper than the Tamiya one. I'm going to try that one next though, may get the 1/48 version since it's virually the same price as the 1/72 one at LHS.

Both are spectacular kits, easily the best in their respective scales.

[David Hingtgen]

I've never had paint THAT thin that it'd actually flow around to the underside of a round part, unless it was totally unstirred. Are you STIRRING the paint? Shaking does nothing for acrylics--you can shake all day, and it'll still be 90% unmixed, even if the color looks right.

I'd suspect the cold garage at least partly---cold makes many things separate to the point that it takes MUCH more effort for them to mix again---they don't really mix, they just suspend themselves in much smaller particles, so they LOOK mixed, but aren't really.