switching to acrylics

[Guest]

hey guys,

i have used enamels all of my modeling life. i am now beginning to make the change to acrylics. what i was wondering is when you use them through your airbrush what do you use to clean it? and also do you need to apply future before you apply a wash of artist oils? if you have any other tips that i didnt mention please share them.

thanks everyone

will

[stona]

I mainly use enamels but do use acrylics from time to time. I would suggest thinning with the same brand thinners but experiment. Some thin well with water,some with isopropyl alcohol and I'm sure other people have used other things!

For cleaning I have used all of the following with success. A dilute ammonia solution. Methylated spirit (pongs a bit and kinda defeats the object of using acrylics) and most recently Muc-Off which is a product for cleaning mountain bikes. I got a big bottle from Halfords for a few quid.

A lot of acrylics dry very fast and you may find the tip of your airbrush becoming clogged. I keep a meths (or other solvent) soaked cotton bud handy to give it the odd wipe.You can get retarders for acrylics from artists supply shops which alleviates that problem. I have added Klear/Future to Xtracrylix and that also seemed to help.

I would always do a couple of Klear coats (at least) before decaling and another one before any panel/weathering washes

Hope that helps a bit.

Steve.

[Guest]

thanks steve,

great advice!

will

I mainly use enamels but do use acrylics from time to time. I would suggest thinning with the same brand thinners but experiment. Some thin well with water,some with isopropyl alcohol and I'm sure other people have used other things!For cleaning I have used all of the following with success. A dilute ammonia solution. Methylated spirit (pongs a bit and kinda defeats the object of using acrylics) and most recently Muc-Off which is a product for cleaning mountain bikes. I got a big bottle from Halfords for a few quid.

A lot of acrylics dry very fast and you may find the tip of your airbrush becoming clogged. I keep a meths (or other solvent) soaked cotton bud handy to give it the odd wipe.You can get retarders for acrylics from artists supply shops which alleviates that problem. I have added Klear/Future to Xtracrylix and that also seemed to help.

I would always do a couple of Klear coats (at least) before decaling and another one before any panel/weathering washes

Hope that helps a bit.

Steve.