A few days before Xmas I cracked a joke at the dinner table about re-equipping the RAF with Spitfires after Brexit. Lo & Behold, what appears under the Xmas tree a few days later but...
Late model, Griffon engine, bubble canopy
I have not made a plastic model kit in about 40 years..... but I have discovered that age brings patience, and that pays dividends making these things, and I'm really enjoying building this slowly and carefully.
BUT...back in my day, it was basically humbrol or airfix enamel paint, horrible smelly stuff that needed thinners. For this kit, I ordered all the right acrylic paints (Vallejo) and I have to say - they are dreadful! Are all acrylic paints this bad? - they don't go on evenly at all, there are visible brush marks everywhere, the coverage is terrible and on a large area they look ghastly! And it has no adhesion at all either. I've tried thinning with water and also with Vallejo acrylic thinners - no difference.
They are OK for small items and details like the cockpit interior and the pilot figure (which I'm quite proud of tbh )- except even after 24 hours drying the paint just rubbed off in my fingertips as I was trying to stick the poor fellow into the pilot seat, and I'm going to have to paint his flying helmet and pick out the googles once again. Anyway - what is the deal with acrylic paint - is it possible to brush it or is an airbrush an essential? I have been practicing on some blank white plastic sheets, and as I'm planning to go for the 1951 bare-metal finish on the plane (not the 1945 camouflage) I can already see that large areas of metallic acrylic paint will look absolutely dreadful if hand-brushed. After watching a youtube video I will probably try humbrol spray primer and then metalcote spray from a can.
But anyway.... where am I going wrong with acrylics?