airbrush paints

[ellis995]

Hi guys

Which airbrush paints to use. Also could you use enamel paints, and acrylics.

 

[Airframes]

Keith, you can use enamels or acrylics, but you can't mix both. If you use enamels, then want to use a different colour in acrylics, you'll need to thoroughly clean the 'brush first, then blow air through it to dry it, followed by a half jar of water or acrylics thinner. Vice versa for acrylics to enamels, starting with the thinner, then the weater, air and enamel thinners.
You can use your current enamels, thinned roughly 50/50, or 60% thinner to 40% paint, and White Spirit is ok as the thinners. When the correct mix is achieved, as a rough guide, the paint should run down the jar as milk would. Thicker than this is probably too thick for ease of spraying or good coverage without spitting or problems.
If you decide to move to using acrylics, then I've found Vallejo to be great for ease of use, and less clogging and clean up. (more on this later.) These are avilable as 'Model Air' and 'Model Colour'. The 'Model Air' is ready for use in an airbrush, but the 'Model Colour' is the same paint, for brush use, which can be thinned with water, or alchohol, for air brush use. I think this is better value, as you can use it both ways, and in effect, for an airbrush, you get twice as much paint!
All acrylic paints dry much quicker than enamels, but this also means they have a tendancy to dry in the air brush nozzle if not used fairly quickly, and the nozzle will clog with paint quicker too. This means that the 'brush must be cleaned immediately after use, and the nozzle may need to be removed for cleaning during longer spraying sessions.
Both paint types have their advantages and disadvantages, and experience with use will show this, and help decide on a preference.
Overall, I prefer enamels, as they have more latitude, but I also use acrylics for some jobs.
I hope this helps.

 

[ellis995]

Thanks Terry

the help will be great, as it is a bloody big MINEFIELD out there for airbrush beginners.As i need all the help i can get

Thanks again Terry

 

[Airframes]

No probs mate. If you need any more help or tips, just e-mail me and I'll see what I can do. Once you've got the hang of what's what, it all starts to make sense, but I know exactly what you mean! BTW, you'll find that you'll use a LOT of your air cannister for cleaning and preparation - I used them for donkey's years until recently, when I got a compressor. It must have paid for itself five times over in the last 6 months!

 

[ellis995]

Thanks Terry

 

[kgambit]

All acrylic paints dry much quicker than enamels, but this also means they have a tendancy to dry in the air brush nozzle if not used fairly quickly, and the nozzle will clog with paint quicker too. This means that the 'brush must be cleaned immediately after use, and the nozzle may need to be removed for cleaning during longer spraying sessions.

Unlike Terry, I use acrylics almost exclusively (Less mess imho, and the paint / thinners are not as toxic smelling as enamel).

A bit off topic but despite my best efforts to keep it clean, i eventually had a fairly nasty buildup of paint that was actually impeding the double action trigger! I had to disassemble the 'brush, clean it from stem to stern, and then reassemble it. Thanks to a suggestion from Iwata tech support, I bought a set of these:

Did a FANTASTIC job of cleaning the nozzle, the needle cap and the teflon ring inside the barrel which had built up a surprisingly large amount of paint.

 

[Airframes]

Great info there K. Handy bits of kit, and better than using the tip of a small jewellers screwdriver!!!