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If you can buy Tamiya paint, you can probably buy Tamiya Fine White Primer. It is expensive, but it is perfect for scale models in that it primes and doesn't obscure fine details, unless you were to put on a really heavy coat. Any kind of hardware store primer will be cheap, but it will be a pain to use. If you plan on using acrylics, a primer on the exterior of the model and any resin or metal parts is a good idea. However, a primer in areas like the cockpit isn't usually needed.

When you say Tamiya 1/2 oz bottle do you mean the 23ml bottle?

Tamiya acrylics do not brush well at all. They dry too quickly (which can be solved by thinning a bit and using retarder) and the solvents in them tend to reactivate the coat below, even if it is cured. They airbrush beautifully, though.

Most people tend to prefer enamels for brush painting because of the long drying time, but that is changing quickly and the acrylic paint market is ever expanding.

There are a lot of acrylic paints on the market and each one behaves differently and has a different learning curve associated with it. Acrylics also have a harder learning curve than enamels. Akan, Italeri, Model Master, Gunze Aqueous, Tamiya, Vallejo, Lifecolor just to name a few brands. Each one varies in color selection, viscosity, dry time, adhesion, pigments, solvents (Tamiya and Gunze Aqueous are alcohol based acrylics), etc. Your best bet is to buy one or two of a couple brands and try them out. You also want to give the paint time to dry and cure before the next coat or color, otherwise you risk activating the paint coat below and the colors could blend or it will just pull parts of the coat up. Avoiding brush strokes is something even I haven't learned to do.

You can buy cheap brushes at Hobby Lobby, but they will fall apart quickly and they don't have a good brush stroke. Someone here can probably recommend some good brushes to use. I purchased some synthetic Grumbacher Academy Multimedia brushes at Hobby Lobby, but they weren't cheap so I bought them the week they had brushes on sale, which isn't very often. They work fairly well.

Another bad thing about hobby shops is that they will sometimes say whatever they have to in order to sell a kit. A little research can go a long way.

<blockquote data-quote="Dusky" data-source="post: 116770" data-attributes="member: 10930">If you can buy Tamiya paint, you can probably buy Tamiya Fine White Primer.&nbsp; It is expensive, but it is perfect for scale models in that it primes and doesn&#039;t obscure fine details, unless you were to put on a really heavy coat.&nbsp; Any kind of hardware store primer will be cheap, but it will be a pain to use.&nbsp; If you plan on using acrylics, a primer on the exterior of the model and any resin or metal parts is a good idea.&nbsp; However, a primer in areas like the cockpit isn&#039;t usually needed.When you say Tamiya 1/2 oz bottle do you mean the 23ml bottle?Tamiya acrylics do not brush well at all.&nbsp; They dry too quickly (which can be solved by thinning a bit and using retarder) and the solvents in them tend to reactivate the coat below, even if it is cured.&nbsp; They airbrush beautifully, though.Most people tend to prefer enamels for brush painting because of the long drying time, but that is changing quickly and the acrylic paint market is ever expanding.There are a lot of acrylic paints on the market and each one behaves differently and has a different learning curve associated with it.&nbsp; Acrylics also have a harder learning curve than enamels.&nbsp; Akan, Italeri, Model Master, Gunze Aqueous, Tamiya, Vallejo, Lifecolor just to name a few brands.&nbsp; Each one varies in color selection, viscosity, dry time, adhesion, pigments, solvents (Tamiya and Gunze Aqueous are alcohol based acrylics), etc.&nbsp; Your best bet is to buy one or two of a couple brands and try them out.&nbsp; You also want to give the paint time to dry and cure before the next coat or color, otherwise you risk activating the paint coat below and the colors could blend or it will just pull parts of the coat up.&nbsp; Avoiding brush strokes is something even I haven&#039;t learned to do.You can buy cheap brushes at Hobby Lobby, but they will fall apart quickly and they don&#039;t have a good brush stroke.&nbsp; Someone here can probably recommend some good brushes to use.&nbsp; I purchased some synthetic Grumbacher Academy Multimedia brushes at Hobby Lobby, but they weren&#039;t cheap so I bought them the week they had brushes on sale, which isn&#039;t very often.&nbsp; They work fairly well.Another bad thing about hobby shops is that they will sometimes say whatever they have to in order to sell a kit.&nbsp; A little research can go a long way.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dusky, post: 116770, member: 10930"] If you can buy Tamiya paint, you can probably buy Tamiya Fine White Primer. It is expensive, but it is perfect for scale models in that it primes and doesn't obscure fine details, unless you were to put on a really heavy coat. Any kind of hardware store primer will be cheap, but it will be a pain to use. If you plan on using acrylics, a primer on the exterior of the model and any resin or metal parts is a good idea. However, a primer in areas like the cockpit isn't usually needed. When you say Tamiya 1/2 oz bottle do you mean the 23ml bottle? Tamiya acrylics do not brush well at all. They dry too quickly (which can be solved by thinning a bit and using retarder) and the solvents in them tend to reactivate the coat below, even if it is cured. They airbrush beautifully, though. Most people tend to prefer enamels for brush painting because of the long drying time, but that is changing quickly and the acrylic paint market is ever expanding. There are a lot of acrylic paints on the market and each one behaves differently and has a different learning curve associated with it. Acrylics also have a harder learning curve than enamels. Akan, Italeri, Model Master, Gunze Aqueous, Tamiya, Vallejo, Lifecolor just to name a few brands. Each one varies in color selection, viscosity, dry time, adhesion, pigments, solvents (Tamiya and Gunze Aqueous are alcohol based acrylics), etc. Your best bet is to buy one or two of a couple brands and try them out. You also want to give the paint time to dry and cure before the next coat or color, otherwise you risk activating the paint coat below and the colors could blend or it will just pull parts of the coat up. Avoiding brush strokes is something even I haven't learned to do. You can buy cheap brushes at Hobby Lobby, but they will fall apart quickly and they don't have a good brush stroke. Someone here can probably recommend some good brushes to use. I purchased some synthetic Grumbacher Academy Multimedia brushes at Hobby Lobby, but they weren't cheap so I bought them the week they had brushes on sale, which isn't very often. They work fairly well. Another bad thing about hobby shops is that they will sometimes say whatever they have to in order to sell a kit. A little research can go a long way. [/QUOTE]

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