Model airplane paints
 

I couldn't find a thread on these paints. So, I'm looking for reco's on Testors v Tamiya v Vallejo. Also a brand of modeling air brush.

I'm digging out my old kits for things like P-51, F 4 etc. and will paint some in camo, others with invasion stripes and so on.

I'm not sure if I'll hand or air brush.

You will want to do regular brush for some stuff. Sister's father in law was into trains, had a miniature village he built. Some buildings were from kits, some he made using balsa wood and an exacto knife He used a loupe to paint stuff, the little people were plastic and he bought, custom painted those. Held his work in one of those clamps for making your own flies for fishing. He had brushes that were tiny, with only a couple strands of hair to them

Anecdotal only, tamiya and vallejo get the best reviews. AK also makes a good quality paint. There's a 5hit-ton of airbrush reviews on the university of YouTube, and some of them are (once again this is anecdotal) surprisingly good for just a few dollars.

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This is my favorite modeling channel. This guy builds ships and airplanes. Here he is doing the camo on a Tempest.

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Another brand to consider is Humbrol.

That was great thank you.

Great idea. I found one called a "third hand".

Harbor Freight has this one that is fairly inexpensive. I made something similar out of a soldering iron holder, a metal clip, and a small magnifying glass that I had. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...106e3f2948.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...9f36620a8a.jpg

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A couple of observations on this subject: 1. Model paints are WAY more expensive than they used to be. As a kid, I would ride my bike up to the corner drug store and right next to the tube-testing machine was a rack of Testors paints. The small bottles were typically $.12 or $.19 each. Fast forward to now and those same bottles are something like $3?!?!??

Also, they now make water-based model paints. I don't like those. I'll pay $3 for a bottle of Testors.

I use the small bottles of Testors enamel paints and I also have some Testors Model Master acrylic paints. The acrylic ones clean up easier with water but I perfer the enamel paints. The little bottles are something like $3.99 at Hobby Lobby!!!

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Instead of a vise or alligator clips, I'll sometimes hold tiny parts with bamboo skewers tipped with masking tape and then set them in a corrugated cardboard stand to dry. You can paint lots and lots of parts and never have to touch 'em, and the skewers are super cheap and reusable.

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When I was real heavy into my military models, my go too were Polly S and Humbrol.

Testors has really stepped up their paint game.

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I've never used anything but Testor's. Didn't even know about others. Yes, it is as expensive as my wife's FN polish.

I've got lovely high gloss finishes with my old Paasche airbrush and suitably thinned Humbrol paints.

I watch a YouTube channel called "Model Car Videos" and he uses an airbrush and MCW paints and his stuff comes out looking really good.

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That's a good idea. I use a lot of wooden clothes pins and these metal clips for holding parts for painting. I get packs of assorted sizes at the Dollar Tree. I try to find a place on the part that won't be exposed and clip there.

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When I was still building models...The first airbrush I bought was a Badger single action

When I wanted to have more flexibility and get artsy etc...but didn't want to spend a bunch of money on something I'd just use a few times..

A Paasche VL kit was recommended as a good all around kit.. Since Testors was the only paint available.. thats what I used

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The Paasche VL kit is around $60 now...

Given my shaky hands I'm now thinking the air brush is the way to go. So, can anyone give me their opinion on an airbrush compressor?

I won't be using my Porter Cable pancaker. :D

I'm a model railroader. I have been using Vallejo for about 5 years, very happy with it. I prefer Testors for spray paint, or Montana Gold, which is typically found at art stores, not hobby shops so much.

Which compressor do you use?