Drybrushing with Acrylics (Tamiya)

nicholjm · Post by **nicholjm** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 9:30 am

I love Tamiya acrylics, and I use them almost exclusively now. The dry fast, look good, and are easy to clean up. But whenever I try to use them for drybrushing, it seems that the paint dries so dang fast, that the tiny amount of paint I have on the brush dries before I can properly wipe it on the model. And I feel like my drybrushing technique is suffering as a result. Does anyone else have this problem, and how do you fix it?

Romulan Spy · Post by **Romulan Spy** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 10:50 am

Try thinning the paint. I save the little plastic lids from fast food soda cups, and these make excellent disposable palettes. Make a small puddle of paint, add a few drops of thinner (I use Windex or Tamiya's own thinner), and stir well. If you want it to go on even smoother, go to a craft/artist's supply store and pick up a bottle of Liquitex Slow-Dri Blending Fluid Medium. Add just a drop or two and the paint will go on butter smooth. The stuff ain't exactly cheap, but a bottle will last forever.

dinorider · Post by **dinorider** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 11:12 am

You're not the only one with drybrush problems using tamiya acrylics.

Even with thinner, it just doesn't work for dry brushing

Thinned down, the paint becomes too watery for good drybrushing. great for hand painting though.

somehow tamiya acrylics, when semi dry, go all globby and won't dry brush well.

I've given up using tamiya for drybrushing. I use a bunch of citadel paints for that now. Somehow all other brands of miniature figure paints seem to work just as well for drybrush work. I don;t know their exact chemical composition but it does the job.

The best thing about tamiya acrylics? They airbrush beautifully.

suwalski · Post by **suwalski** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:23 pm

On the bright, it is probably not a very big deal to drybrush with, say, enamels. The minute quantities that you will apply should not react with the acrylic paint.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:25 pm

Add some extender like Future.

Species5618 · Post by **Species5618** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:50 pm

Kylwell wrote:Add some extender like Future.

Really, that works huh? Got to give it a try.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:52 pm

You can also get acrylic extenders from art stores. Liquitex makes one.

admiralcag · Post by **admiralcag** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 2:16 pm

What ratio do you use?

Vern

ignatz · Post by **ignatz** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 3:00 pm

You've got to do it "trial and error". If you have a junk model kit that you can experiment on, just keep readjusting the mixture until it works best with your technique.

Species5618 · Post by **Species5618** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 3:59 pm

Kylwell wrote:You can also get acrylic extenders from art stores. Liquitex makes one.

I have used the Liquitex with their paint but I didn't know you could use it with Tamiya acrylics. Will have to give that a try too.

nicholjm · Post by **nicholjm** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 4:38 pm

Yeah, I saw that Liquitex stuff the other day, but it seemed so expensive. Looks like I'll be using one of Hobby Lobby's 40% internet coupons again!

Post by **TER-OR** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 11:50 pm

Slow-Dri and Flo-aid are requisite for painting miniatures. The mini paints, when extended, drybrush very well. The one small problem with paints like Tamiya is they're not as pigment-dense as miniature paints (Vallejo, Reaper, GW etc) so when you extend them too much they wont drybrush quite so well.

Use a bit of full strength drying extender and it should work better.

Lt. Z0mBe · Post by **Lt. Z0mBe** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 12:41 am

Kylwell wrote:Add some extender like Future.

Seconded. Works like a charm.

Kenny

Species5618 · Post by **Species5618** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:46 pm

Tried the Future with Tamiya. Worked great.

nicholjm · Post by **nicholjm** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:05 pm

Does the added Future make the paint glossy?

Species5618 · Post by **Species5618** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:12 pm

nicholjm wrote:Does the added Future make the paint glossy?

It did a little. Not really glossy. I used it with Tamiya flat yellow. And for what I'm doing the little shine was ok. You might want to try the Liquitex stuff. If your doing really small dry brushing like chips and nicks you might not notice the slight shine. But it does keep the Tamiya paint from drying too fast.