Rattle can primer first

What has worked for me is to first spray a primer coat on the styrene from a rattle can.  I usually use gray or white.  After it has dried, I brush on cheap craft acrylic paint and it works well.  Sometimes I need two coats of acrylic to fully cover the primer.  If the acrylic is too thick when you apply it, it won't level out and you get a visible texture.

hope this helps,

Dennis

Depends on the color

Brush strokes

I've noticed that brush quality has an influence on the amount of visible brush strokes as well. My brush collection sucks, but of the ones I have the finer haired brushes leave less brush strokes visible than with brushes with more coarse brush hairs. Brush hair material also makes a difference in the result.

You might even need to add some flow enhancer to allow the paint to flow longer so its able to even out the brush strokes before it dries.

Here's another option ... FLOETROL

FLOETROL is a water-based paint additive to improve flow and leveling of acrylic paints.

Quart FLOETROL, ~$14 through Amazon:
https://amzn.to/3bd6lE3

Leveling is the behavior that causes brush marks to disappear as the paint dries. Cheap craft paints don't have the greatest leveling medium -- that's why they're so cheap. To improve their performance, you need to enhance the cheap acrylic base with other products to improve the paint's performance.

cheapskates excuses

I always have to wonder why people are so cheap to spend the extra couple of dollars, and buy the cheap stuff, only to complain that it causes other issues and problems. Why not spend the extra few dollars and get the real stuff to begin with. Good paint doesn't cost that much more than the junk. Seems they do it with most things, and then whine afterwards because it doesn't perform like the real stuff!!

Randy

Thanks, everyone!  Joe, how

Thanks, everyone!  Joe, how much Floetrol would be used with a few ounces of craft paint?  Randall, it's not a matter of being cheap, it's a matter of if it works, why spend the extra money?  There also are a lot more colors in craft paints than there are in model paints.

Floetrol mix ratio

I'd start out going 8 parts paint to 1 part Floetrol and see how that does. If it's still not quite there, then try 6 parts paint to 1 part Floetrol. At the extreme end, you can also try 4:1, but don't go any further than that. You want to be careful that you don't thin the pigment so much that you get streaks.

Model paints have more pigment, so they can probably stand the 4:1 ratio. Craft paints, not so much, which is why I recommend starting with 8:1.

Really appreciate the info

Thanks again, Joe.  Floetrol is sold at Home Depot so I'll pick some up on my next trip.

Me Too

Yes, thanks Joe. I could use that.

As mentioned, available at Home Depot, $6.97 per quart.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Flood-Floetrol-1-qt-Clear-Latex-Paint-Additive-FLD6-04/100198078

Floetrol

Just a tip. If you're brave enough to paint you own backdrop Floetrol is a help in getting the clouds to melt into the blue skies. Keep some extra blue around to add in with the white, season with Floetrol and start slappin' that stuff on.....the quicker and looser you are the better the clouds and blended sky will be. having two brushes going at the same time with different values of blue/white also helps with blend.....the Floetrol just gives you some extra time to work the colors into each other. No more identical white puffballs floating around.

Brush streaks?

For some reason most paints are harder to apply with a bristle brush than they are with an air brush so if at all possible I just start with the air brush for the base coat then finsih up any small details with the bristle brush. ....DaveB

flow enhancers

RMC had a very good article a few years ago about airbrush painting models with craft acrylics. I can't find the issue right now, maybe someone will recall which one has it. The author used a flow enhancer from Liquitex along with a couple other ingredients and got excellent results. As mentioned above, he did it primarily because of the much wider range of colors available in craft paints.

I mostly brush paint, other than using spray cans for priming. I've had good luck with enhancers in small bottles (same as the craft acrylics come in). I got a bottle of Jo Sonja's Flow Medium for 25¢ on clearance some time ago at Walmart. It works well but leaves a gloss finish. I also got a bottle of Home Decor exterior varnish (acrylic) by DELTA, also glossy and Home Decor matte varnish (acrylic) by DELTA. For small projects I put a couple drops of paint on a polyethylene lid and put a drop or two of whichever enhancer I choose near it and mix as needed as I go. Having the same size bottles, they can be stored right with the rest of my acrylic paints, so are  readily available when doing a quick project. The bottles are still over half full.

I also have had good luck adding a little "FUTURE" - "PLEDGE FLOOR FINISH", or whatever its latest name is now, to imrove the brushability of thicker acrylics when painting larger things like a boxcar. 

Fantastic work, Rick!

Fantastic work, Rick!

Just my 20¢ worth!

I know - here's Morgan with his opinion again! Spraying for me has always been a headache. When I sprayed my track with a can from HD, the first time I got it all over my fingers. Then I put on a plastic glove. I also had to go outside. How the dickens can you spray inside the house? Cheap spray cans are best used outdoors. And that was still a mess. So, for brushing models indoors, I do try to use the best paints. Even oil based. Extra work - yes! But worth it for an amateur like me that can make a mess out of nothing. I tend to dislike water based anything that can be done with oil or Floquil or such. But for model work on the layout or models. Simple brush is usually pretty easy. Sometimes if the paint is too thin, with too much thinner/be it water? or else, can leave streaks. I like to be sure there's enough good paint on the brush so it don't leave streaks. Back in the 50's, I used Accupaint with a brush and got great results painting Zamak and lead boilers on Penn Line, etc. So, it might be that DSteckler should not have used glass cleaner. Just dip the brush in the paint. Use thinner/cleaner only to clean the brush. ?? As for cheap craft paint - if you can't use it on styrene, use something else. IMHO you don't have to buy the most expensive, just be sure it's quality. And I'm sorry if you disagree, but high price is not always high quality. If you buy X for $5 when you can buy X for $1.80, why would you? I compare Lowes and HD online first, then go to the store. Buying local has the advantage of advice from the store-? Usually!

Rattlecan vs. airbrush

Morgan, the "cheap spray cans" that aggravated you so aren't really intended for scale hobby use. They tend to lay down too heavy a coat in too great of volume with pigments not fine enough for the intended purpose. An airbrush would be a worthwhile investment. Even a cheap one will give much better control than a rattlecan. If you had tried painting your track with an airbrush, you would have been a happier camper. Additionally, quality water-based acrylics such as Vallejo, Tamiya, or Model Master are worth the extra $$ spent, as they can be airbrushed or brush painted with excellent results. A primer such as Mr Surfacer or Vallejo's own primer is practically a must for best results. If you feel you must use a rattlecan, then the scale hobby versions such as Tamiya will still do much better than the hardware store cans. We all like to save money where we can, but I have found that cheap paint isn't one that pays off.