Painting an Airfix Kit, what am I doing wrong?

Painting an Airfix Kit, what am I doing wrong?

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spitfire-ian

Original Poster:

3,829 posts

227 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Thought I'd have a go at making some Airfix kits for the first time since my early teens but is it me or is the paint now thinner?

I'm using Humbrol enamels and several tins have been just like coloured water when applied. I've shaken and stirred the tins well but still it seemed very thin when applying.

The picture below shows the result after two coats. I would have thought it would be a more even coat and a more even colour than that. Is it just the way I'm going about things, do I just need a load more coats and has anyone got any good tips? Can't justify an airbrush right now though.


Eric Mc

121,763 posts

264 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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I don't think Humbrol enamels are anything like as good as they were years ago.

Having said that, I gave up on enamels about six years ago and now almost exclusively use acrylics - and spray using an airbrush in most cases.

Did you apply any sort of an undercoat?

Even if brush painting, a primer coat such as Halfords Grey Plastic Primer is worth laying down first.

spitfire-ian

Original Poster:

3,829 posts

227 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
I didn't use an undercoat.

Is the way to approach it to spray the whole kit with primer first?

Apologies for the simple questions but I'd like to get the best out of the kits as although I remember my efforts 20 odd years ago were amazing and very well painted I somehow think that in reality they weren't smile

RichB

51,429 posts

283 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Ian, modellers spend hours to get that appearance of patination to the interior of old aircraft.

spitfire-ian

Original Poster:

3,829 posts

227 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
quotequote all
RichB said:
Ian, modellers spend hours to get that appearance of patination to the interior of old aircraft.
I did think that I might just leave it smile

Eric Mc

121,763 posts

264 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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I would give all the main parts a good blast of Halfords. It doesn't matter so much on small items like undercarriage legs, pitot tubes, aerials etc but I would certainly prime the outer surface of the wings and fuselage exterior. I would also prime the cockpit interior - tub, if there is one - and seats.

And, if the area you are painting is completely invisible when the model is closed up - decide whether it needs painting at all.

Brigand

2,544 posts

168 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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I agree with you Ian, I've thought exactly the same since restarting builds in the past two years - the majority of my Humbrol paints have been very thin, with the exception of one which appears to be far too thick and will need watering down a tad with meths I think. As a matter of course now I will give the parts a dusting of primer before starting them to try and prevent this, as like you I can't really justify an airbrush yet so rely on my now slightly shaky hand to do the painting!

When I began working on kits recently I bought a fair few Tamiya acryllic paints to see what they were like, but I have to say I didn't really get on with them all that well - they didn't seem to flow nicely for me, coming out either too thick or thin IIRC.

Eric Mc

121,763 posts

264 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Airbrushing has never been more affordable. You can get a very, very good brush and compressor set up for less than £150. 30 years ago you would have paid over £200.

dr_gn

16,140 posts

183 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Humbrol enamels are notoriously variable in quality. I've stopped using them.

For the vast majority of my painting, I airbrush Tamiya or Vallejo acrylics, but on rare occasions, I sometimes brush paint smaller items.

In terms of brush painting acrylics, you have to be careful of the type; some are alcohol/IPA soluble like Tamiya, and if you try to overcoat them (or sometimes even during the first coat), you will lift the paint you just applied. Certain colours are worse than others. This is because no matter how long you leave them, the pigment will always be re-dissolved by the alcohol in subsequent coats.

The better option is to use a water based acrylic like Vallejo Model Colour. It's thick stuff, and might even need thinning a bit, but once you've sorted it, it should work well. Once dry, it won't be re-dissolved by subsequent coats. I've started using this stuff too:



Which delays the drying time enough to get a decent finish for brushing, and when used in the airbrush it vastly reduces the amount of drying and clogging on the needle tip.

If you use something like Tamiya fine surface primer as a base, it'll cover any oils on the surface and reduce surface tension, and give something for the paint to bite to, so that might help too.

The best thing to do, as always, is to experiment on some scrap plastic.

FWIW I think the paint on your C-47 looks pretty good so far for the interior, but when you come to the exterior surfaces, the coverage issues will probably become more of an issue.

perdu

4,884 posts

198 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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I do agree with the guys

If the Humbrol enamels I need arent available in my collection of thirtyfive+ year old tins I dont use them

New ones are awfully poor

I tend towards Vallejo when I can get them (My LMS doesnt stock them although they have the war game fantasy types in lately - Something hammer is it?)

Every timne I go to a model show I come home with a few more staples (yellow and white from Sutton Modellers last weekend)

I use Daler Rowney flow enhancer, it does make acrylic paint less unfriendly

I wish Humbrol still used the thirty/forty year old formulas

Them was the days!

Wacky Racer

38,099 posts

246 months

Wednesday 17th September 2014
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Are you sure you stirred the paint sufficiently?

We used to be one of the largest retailers of Humbrol modelling paints in the North West in the 60's/70's....never had any complaints, although I found the little cans always wanted stirring loads with a matchstick or similar, otherwise it was like coloured water.

Maybe the "recipe" has changed these days?

Eric Mc

121,763 posts

264 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
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It very much has. Some of the changes were forced on the paint manufacturers due to tighter legislation. However, Humbrol moved their paint production to China quite a few years ago and the standard plummeted.

Since then, they have brought at least some of the paint production back to the UK but I had long since given up on enamels anyway by then.

Like Perdu, I still have old tins of Humbrol enamel (some over 40 years old) and on the rare occasion I need to use an enamel, I find that these 40 year old paints still work. I even have some old tins of Airfix, Gloy and Compucolor paint (and a couple of bottles of Pactra - remember them?).

Perdu mentioned acrylic paints aimed at fantasy wargamers. Some of these are quite good. I have a small stock of Citadel paints which I find brush quite well - but I still only brush paint small items.

I NEVER use the acrylic paints supplied with "starter" kits. I find them far too thick.

spitfire-ian

Original Poster:

3,829 posts

227 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
quotequote all
Wacky Racer said:
Are you sure you stirred the paint sufficiently?
Definitely. Shook it for a good minute and stirred it until there weren't any 'lumpy' bits.

Wacky Racer

38,099 posts

246 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
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spitfire-ian said:
Wacky Racer said:
Are you sure you stirred the paint sufficiently?
Definitely. Shook it for a good minute and stirred it until there weren't any 'lumpy' bits.
Fair enough...just wondered...smile

Rev Limit

236 posts

153 months

Monday 6th October 2014
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Guarantee all the pigment is sitting on the bottom of the tin. Get a bit of sprue or a twig and stir the tin, there will be a sludgey bit at the bottom, make sure its all mixed up.

Yertis

18,015 posts

265 months

Tuesday 7th October 2014
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Sort of on topic, can one of you recommend a good compressor? I've got one already but it's a diaphrgm type which served its original purpose well but it is noisy (beyond wife tolerance levels) and gives a slightly pulsed spray. I'll be using an Aerograph Super '63 airbrush, initially.

tangerine_sedge

4,699 posts

217 months

Tuesday 7th October 2014
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I'm a Humbrol enamel user and find most tins OK, but every now and then I get a 'bad' one.

Some of the paints seem to prefer to stay separate regardeless of how much you shake and stir! I usually stir the sludge into the paint, then take the paint from the stirrer (so it contains lots of the pigment). If I take from the stirred pot, then it can still be very 'thin' with little pigment.

I normally find that the main culprit is 'satin' paints, indeed if you take paint from the 'sludge' it often remains matt, and if you take paint from the 'tin', then it can be thin and glossy.

I've recently also used some of the acrylic paint supplied with a gift set (just to try it really), and this was very thick to use. If I use the gift paint again, I'll use it watered and put on several coats, rather than 2 thick ones.

Eric Mc

121,763 posts

264 months

Tuesday 7th October 2014
quotequote all
Chuck the paints from the gift sets. They are a waste of time in most cases.

Experiment with "proper" acrylics, such as Xtracrylic, Tamiya, Gunze Sanyo or Valejo.

Ayahuasca

27,427 posts

278 months

Thursday 9th October 2014
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My memories of Humbrol paint tins...I lived abroad as a kid so on annual summer holidays back in the UK I would spend my pocket money on model kits and the Humbrol paints. I was always disappointed to discover, when I got back home, that the tins, no matter how hard I hammered the lids on, had popped open and emptied themselves in my hand luggage.

Mutley

3,178 posts

258 months

Thursday 9th October 2014
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Eric Mc said:
Chuck the paints from the gift sets. They are a waste of time in most cases.
Totally agree, but I have found things like the yellow handy for propellor tips and mae wests, saves buying a tub of colour for a small use