Painting and Airbrushing

Since my return to modeling this summer, I’ve been experimenting with paints. A lot.

I used Testors Model Master enamels almost exclusively when I was growing up, but between the internet and, you know, being grown up, I have a lot more resources at my disposal to track down brands that aren’t available at the hobby superstores of the world.

These past few months, I’ve been looking for a paint that does all of the following well:

1. Airbrushing – A paint that can’t airbrush well is a non-starter for me. Save on small parts, my brush painting skills are seriously lacking, so the ability to shoot the stuff through an airbrush is critical.
2. Brushing – Touch-ups happen. Sometimes you just need to paint a small area, like a wheel or headrest.
3. Drybrushing – Critical for weathering.
4. Color Accuracy – Not as critically important, but paints that come within spitting distance of the real world colors are nice. Going hand in hand with this is color selection.
5. Reduction – For post-shading or blending, it’s important that the paint be able to thin down very well.

So far, none of the paints I’ve tried really nail it for me. Since paint and paint selection seems a constant subject across modeling forums and sites, I figured I’d use this post to throw in my two cents. (more…)