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Schuyler

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I'm currently living in a condo and I don't have a garage or any other convenient place to spray paint. Can anyone recommend a good brush paint? Any other tips on indoor-only finishing will be appreciated too.
 
I prefer Tamiya Acrylic - it levels out better than enamel and dries to a really nice gloss. Plus, it cleans up with water. Just make sure the previous coat is dry before applying another coat - especially another color. Also, don't move second and beyond coats around much - if the first coat(s) aren't completely cured, later coats will dissolve them.
 
Thanks for the replies. I looked them up online. I wish they came in larger sizes than the little 23ml bottles.
 
As an Old, Hand Lettering Sign Painter I can tell you there are any number of Good Brand name "paints" that can be used on our models that come in 1/2pt to Gallon sizes.
Your not very likely to find them at our local hobby shop though. You'll need to visit, paint, Craft and most important Sign supply shops, either brick and mortor or on-line. Dick Blick on-line might be a convenient place to start.

Hand painting like most skills takes some practice. There are a bunch of techniques that can aid in making our hand painted results almost indistinguishable from Sprayed applications, but rather then type another thread may I invite you to visit narhams.org website library under Tech-Tips If memory serves Tech-tip-005 covers Brushes and hand painting details which also contains some very important paint application techniques that will help hand painting entire models:)
One of your main concerns will be getting whatever type paint you decide to use to the proper consistancy to flow correctly without running. this is a "feel" thing and has to be practiced but is easly picked up as you go. I'd suggest practicing on scrap tubes and balsa stock to understand what I mean by proper flow. This can be done with very inexpensive tempra or watercolors as well once the tube has been primer sealed. I wouldn't suggest these for the finished models as they don't adhear to well to flexing tubes;) but they can and have been used on Mod-rocs in the past.

If your new to painting i'd suggest trying acrylics was they thin with water and/or mediums that don't produce much of an odor.
If your not to worried about the smell, I strongly suggest 1-shot lettering enamels, Bulletin, or Acrylic coatings for superior durability and color selection. Ronan is another "Bulletin Enamel" manufacturerer worth looking at.
Hope this helps a little.
 
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I should also add that I have successfully used the regular craft acrylic paints such as Apple Barrel on my rockets. The are a bit heavy and dry flat requiring at least a couple coats of clear gloss, but they do work. Plus, if you watch for sales at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, JoAnne's or any other craft/hobby store, you can get them for a buck apiece or less. And there's a LOT of paint in those squeeze bottles (which make mixing and squeezing out onto a pallet a lot easier and cleaner!).
 
I live in an apartment and have a similar situation as you do. I get around that by using an airbrush and acrylic paint.
 
Carl Tulanko lives in an apartment. He holds the model out the window and spray paints.

He also wet sands in the shower too but I guess when you're a bachelor you can get away with that.;)
 
One thing I don't see mentioned in this thread is the difference brushes can make.

If you want a good finish, invest a few bucks extra in good brushes -- it's like painting the walls inside your house. A cheap brush leads to extra effort, and a lower-quality finished result than a good brush does.

A good brush will help good paint flow better and your end result will be worth it.

-Kevin
 
One thing I don't see mentioned in this thread is the difference brushes can make.

If you want a good finish, invest a few bucks extra in good brushes -- it's like painting the walls inside your house. A cheap brush leads to extra effort, and a lower-quality finished result than a good brush does.

A good brush will help good paint flow better and your end result will be worth it.

-Kevin

Kevin:
If folk read tech-tip-005? it covers brush selection, handling, cleaning storage and gives lots of application details;)
 
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update: I have painted 2 rockets now with 1-Shot enamel using a sable hair brush. The 1-Shot provides a very nice glossy finish. From a distance it looks great. When you get in close you can see that it was painted with a brush but I think that it's probably due to my inexperience. Hopefully with a little practice I'll get better.
 

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