What make of paint to use

[Andy Walker]

I am thinking ahead a bit, as still a long way to go until the Tiger is finished. However, I was wondering what make of paint do people generally use to topcoat their kits. I have used rattle cans to put on etch primer and red undercoat so far. I have a small airbrush which I'm hoping to use for the final colour scheme.

[Tim Page]

Ive painted all mine so far using Tamiya paints through an Iwata Neo TRN2 airbrush.
These are gravity fed single action airbrush with a 0.5mm nozzle and a pistol grip for comfort.
It allows you to really lay down the paint well and are ideal for 1/6 models.

Ensure you operate in a well ventilated space as the fumes from the Tamiya paint are extremely nasty.

Cheers
Tim

[Andy Walker]

Ive painted all mine so far using Tamiya paints through an Iwata Neo TRN2 airbrush.
These are gravity fed single action airbrush with a 0.5mm nozzle and a pistol grip for comfort.
It allows you to really lay down the paint well and are ideal for 1/6 models.

Ensure you operate in a well ventilated space as the fumes from the Tamiya paint are extremely nasty.

Cheers
Tim

Thanks Tim. I'm going to be painting in a small workshop about 3m x 2.5m so may struggle with fumes. Are Vallejo paints any good? I believe they are water based, so fumes should be a lot less. So many different types though.

[Tim Page]

Vallejo paints are great paints and have a far bigger range.
Yes, they are water based so fumes less of an issue.
However, i tend to find that the pigments in the Vallejo paints can cause issues with clogging and also the paint tends to dry at the tip which also causes a blocage.
I normally add a little Isopropyl alchohol (IPA) to Vallejo paints to help reduce this.

I do think that the Tamiya paints are a bit more wear resistant as well.

Probably not a great deal in it though.

Cheers
Tim

[Andy Walker]

How many layers of paint do you normally use Tim? Would it be worth finishing with a layer of varnish to give extra wear protection?

[leesellars]

Hello
You can use Tamiya X20a with vallejo Model Air. 20% thinners.
Tamiya XF range use about 60% thinners.
I use AK matte Varnish.
On my Tanks there is normally around 36 coats of paints washes filters and pigments.

Lee

[Tim Page]

Hi Andy, for the German armour i use the normal Halfords Etch primer then a coat of their red oxide primer as that was used on most German vehicles.
I think i did 2 coats of Dunkelgelb on the panther which from memory was a 50/50 mix of Tamiya XF50 and XF60 which I then thinned with some Tamiya thinners. This was mixed up a batch from 6 Jars at a time into a small jam jar.

I found it of benefit to seal the paint with a matt or satin acrylic varnish as i was going to weather using Mig weathering products and a lot of those are enamel based which could react with the acrylic paint.

My Panzer 3 was painted in the same manner with 2 coats of a faded Panzer grey paint and then applied a coat of matt acrylic varnish to seal.

Cheers
Tim

[Stephen White]

Andy, you might like to have look at my Knowledge Base Topic on painting here:

viewtopic.php?f=34&t=5802

In that topic, there are two further links to the two Topics I've written on Weathering.

Hope they're of use.

Stephen