Painting On Acrylic

[Richard08]

Doe anyone have experience of painting things acrylic? All the gen says to use acrylic paints and acrylic varnish, which is all ok. Only, how durable is the result? I get the feeling it wouldn't 'stick' all that well?

[Bigglesof266]

Only one coffee and forgot to save a draft only to get blitzed by the site timeout. May come back and write it again later. Grrr..

In summary, stick with Tamiya Color (sic) or GSI Creos Mr.Color (sic) solvent based acrylics and you'll be fine and well pleased with the result.

Water based hobby paint acrylics e.g. Vallejo, AK, MIG, Revell Aqua, Hataka et al are far more finicky in application to obtain an optimal result which will be hard wearing and resilient with repeated constant handling.

[centenary]

Vallejo acrylics are fine. Just remember to use the right type, Air, if you're applying with an airbrush as it is pre formulated for that use. If not applying with an airbrush the 'normal' Vallejo is fine. Just ensure proper drying time.

Tamiya acrylics are also fine.

You might have issues with acrylic applied on top of a previous enamel coat and experiece a lack of 'grab' if you dont prepare and clean the surface first ie paint lifting over time.

[Richard08]

Thanks guys, I've been a bit vague... To save the TEA kits (supplied with incorrect size aluminium for the tubes) I'm looking at acrylic tube which happens to be available in the correct o/d. I'm ok about acrylic paint in itself (I use some Railmatch colours), but not certain what the 'chip resistance' would be like when applied to an acrylic substrate - or indeed how effective glues would be to attach the tank ends (white metal) and chassis (brass).

FWIW - I can't use brass, as I cannot find a suitable roller anywhere (at any price!) and the only other alternative would be steel tube (1.5mm wall size) which while paint and glue becomes easier, would produce a wagon weighing about 1Kg!

[End2end]

@Richard08.
Don't know if it's any use but I always prime everything with grey (and sometimes black) primer to give a good base coat. Plastics and plaster mainly.
Then paint over with the acrylic paints.
Nothing fancy. The only "specialised" paint I use is Railmatch sleeper grime and a Humbrol skin tone and perhaps the Wilko's emulsion I use for GWR cream and brown.
The rest are just off the shelf artists acrylics.
Beware though. When mixing colours some don't mix as you'd expect them too. I bought a brown colour, when mixed with a little white it started turning more pink than brown.
Thanks
End2end

[Bufferstop]

That sounds about right, a little white goes a long way. To most people's surprise the starting point for"flesh" is brown then add white. For lighter brown I usually add red. Which is a large part of brown to begin with. You have to think CMYK, not RGB.

[End2end]

For lighter brown I usually add red. Which is a large part of brown to begin with.

Thanks for the tip Bufferstop.
I thought it might be a more dominant pigment coming through as it was some cheap paint.
End2end

[Phred]

End2end wrote:
Thanks for the tip Bufferstop.
I thought it might be a more dominant pigment coming through as it was some cheap paint.

That is a very good tip (cheers, Bufferstop). I'll have to store that away for future reference.
I actually had the same thought about a dominant pigment when my browns didn't come out right. FWIW, I never use anything but cheap paints.

[Bufferstop]

I think our old printroom operator used to use black, yellow and magenta if he didn't have a suitable premixed brown . Now isn't that a clever bit of code, the brown icon appeared when I typed the three primaries. Even more impressive that the display works in RGB.

[Peterm]

A spanner in the works here. I'd use enamel primer and colour. It always seems to stick better than acrylics and ends up wearing better. Just wipe the acrylic that you're painting with a rag that's dampened with turps, white spirit or air brush thinners, before painting.

Orf I go to duck under the table.