ah ic...
enamel is actually the way to go.. because you'll need to clean them up after the excess paints come out.. So enamel is easier to clear rather than acrylic

ic.. thanks for clearing my doubt i guess i must head out and buy enamel paint + enamel thinner broke again

1 more question.. since i'm not painting my kit. i don't need to spray a layer of Mr. Super Clear Gloss before i perform panel line wash right? hope the answer is NO NEED and will save me another RM3x

This post has been edited by stanleysum: May 9 2010, 03:44 PM

Can we use it straight out from the bottle or do we need to add a little bit of enamel thinner?? Plus some modeler i watch they use lighter fluid eg. zippo to thin the liquid. And to remove the excess paint, they use lighter fluid too. Is this correct?

^ If you are planning to use it for wash technique, then you will need to thin it. Enamel can be thin with lighter fluid, enamel hobby thinner, or art use oil paint thinner.

Best choice is still hobby thinner cos it's purer in terms of chemical content. Thus the chemical reaction with the paint is better. Lighter fluid might be bad if you use those cheap quality ones, just go for Zippo brand, shud be fine.

Should be ok since the original plastic is already a bit glossy... You'll also have a easier cleaning job because you don't have a base paint which is safe when you try to clean the excess paints..

Like inquisytor said, you'll need to add enamel thinner...
yes, you can use zippo fluid.. When adding it to the enamel paint, make the paint watery but NOT too watery until the paint fades...

Yes, very true... Do NOTE zippo fluid though is cheap but must be very careful when using it to clean the excess paints..
If rub/clean the excess paint too much or too hard, your base paint MIGHT fade off...
This is from self-experience..

may i know where can i buy this boosters?
tq for the help.

http://www.mgs2u.com/shop/browse.php?cgrfnbr=202&s=1010

other than mgs2u,is there any shop?
just finding alternatives.

If you are trying "washing technique" with bare plastic, any paint will work but enamel is better.
Better as it flows more readily and dries slower.
Thinning has to be very very thin, if not enough thin, the paint will not flow in the panel line and cleaning will be messy.

Just a re-cap:

Any enamel: zippo or distilled turpentine (usually art shop can find)
Mr. Hobby: Mr. Hobby Acqueous thinner (light blue label) (not that recommended but you can try 1st since you already have)
Mr. Color: Mr. Thinner or Levelling thinner (blue label, solvent based)
Tamiya acylic: Tamiya Acrylic Thinner
Gaia: Gaia thinner or Mr. Thinner/Levelling Thinner (blue label)
Above are the regular paint you find in bottle, the rest no need sweat over since they are can spray, use from can straight.


No need.
But if you use a STRONGER PAINT on WEAKER paint, the weaker paint will melt and smearing will occur.

Strongest:
1) Any tamiya or Mr.Hobby canspray (usually lacquer), Mr. Super Clear canspray
2) Mr. Color/Gaia
3) Any enamel
4) Mr.Top Coat
5) Tamiya acrylic
6) Mr. Hobby color

If you use a STRONGER paint on top the weaker paint, the weaker paint will melt and smear.
That is if you use within the same color I used to highlight the paint type, will be ok.
IF you use e.g. Mr. Super Clear on Mr. Color = OK
Mr. Super Clear on Tamiya = not OK
Mr. Top Coat on Mr. Hobby = OK

For enamel, since it's in between, if the topcoat is not tooo thick, it should tolerate a bit, for panel line is acceptable.
Try first.


You thin until it becomes liquid enough to flow like the thinner, experiment yourself, if you overthin the color is too light after wash.
If under-thin, the "flow-in-the-panel" will be retarded ad clean up is a bit more messy.

AF hobby

Online:
HLJ
Direct from Japan

I find that using airbrush + coating gives a much better result than the uncontrollable spray cans.

Managed to cover the frosting by the cans by applying 20 scoop Flat + 8 scoop Clear + 3 scoop thinner. Result is still pretty flat.

If you use Clear don't think need to add thinner as it's pretty watery compared to Flat.

hi all...need your expertise....do you paint the parts first before assemble or paint after assemble?

finally painted my SD Strike Gundam shield. My first attempt of hand painting thou. one thing i learn during the process of painting... painting does not stay on the plastic well (i think this is where primer shine. is it recommended to prime before hand paint?) and it is very hard to cover the original plastic color (painting white color over the red plastic). brush stroke is also an issue. i'm using Mr. color semi gloss paint paint + leveling thinner. Took me 2hours++ to complete the small shield.. lol..

I started doing panel lining yesterday, with Tamiya's Acrylic paint. I mixed a little white into the black so that it doesn't seemed too dark and mixed in plenty of Tamiya thinner. Somehow, the white doesn't seem to dissolve properly in the black. Then my brush start to "clog" up, somehow with the pieces of the acrylic paint.

Any advice on this? Or should I just stick to using watercolour instead?

You can paint without the primer but your paint will not stick so well and it'll peel off easily... It's a common issue that white is hard to cover over existing colors as Airbrush also have this problem so that's why you need more practice.. Brush strokes are common for hand painting especially large areas, in order to void them, you'll need plenty of practice... no one say hand painting was easy..

hmm... isn't acrylic suppose to be mixed with water since it's water based paint... every time if you mix a color, always always "stir/mix" them well before painting... your brush start to "clog" up might be because it's starting to get dry... when painting, try not to paint with a fan/aircond on because it will dry the paint faster...

how about sanding the parts so that the paint will stick better?

As for panel lining, found out by accident that you can actually use the thinner that you wash your brushes with and paint the lining if you do not want it to be that dark. And wipe the excess off .

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Added on May 11, 2010, 10:39 amany advice?

This post has been edited by mywii: May 11 2010, 10:39 AM

very true... hand painiting not easy at all.. need to practice more.. on SD Gundam require a lot of painting to look nice or else it will look so plain unlike MG and PG i guess building MG is much more easier than HG and SD, at least less painting and what i only need is touching up, panel lining then top coat

very true also... my first experience during painting the SD Strike Gundam shiled... it tends to dry up faster than i paint on the shield.... need to keep adding thinner into the color or else start clogging.. (i was sitting under the ceiling fan thou, i guess that is the reason to dry up fast)

try adding a little retarder to it. that's what i normally do, works wonders. as for brush strokes, i notice that the type of brush you use also plays a factor. some brushes have bristles which are too hard/stiff, that leaves pretty bad brush strokes. also, make sure you paint is nice and thin (but not too thin, else it won't color well) and that'll reduce brush strokes. that and paint a few layers!

practice practice practice! took me 2 years to build basics, and i'm still learning

Do you really need an advise on that?
Do as you wish :

Alright, later I'll add water instead of thinner. I thought with thinner, it would help to dissolves the paint better. Somehow, the thinner wasn't exactly like industrial thinner. It doesn't dry up immediately or give the cold sensation when I touch it with my finger.

Anyway, without fan, I'll be mixing the paint with my sweat instead. lol. Will try to do some in office later. I've did some wash with q-tip as well, it seems like quite a tedious job. Probably my paint was too thick, still?

And yah, my panel lining looks damn dirty.

Harddisk, oh yeah forget to tell you, amongst other paint i listed earlier, Tamiya is the one most suck when it has to be brush painted, irregardless whether you thin with their thinner or not.
If it clogs up your brush, change a new brush and try Mr. Thinner (dark blue label from Gunze). The small bottle should be affordable, but never paint on top of other acrylics, since this thinner is a bit stronger, but shud be ok for plastics.