I am awaiting an airbrush in the mail that I have ordered. Do I need to purchase paint specific for airbrushes or could I use the acrylics that I already have. I know I heard others say that You could use any paint but what works best with an airbrush especially for weathering?
I just water down the acrylic and latex paints that I have so they’ll work with my airbrush. I use a Testor’s single action Aztec. Be aware that acrylic paint can only be cut so many times before all it does is make a gloppy mess.
Contrary to Jeff’s comment, I would recommend sticking with model paint or paint meant for airbrushing, especially when starting out. Not all paints are created equal. Model paint, especially paints like Floquil, Polly-S, ModelFlex etc, have a more finely ground pigment base than typical craft paints, which are meant to be applied with a brush. The pigment will also affect the quality of the finish you’ll get. Finely ground pigments will spray better, look smoother and not obscure details. This is even more important when it comes to weathering with an airbrush. You want a finely ground pigment base so that you can apply thin, light coats.
To put it another way, you wouldn’t want to take some regular household paint and try to thin it some it could be airbrushed on a model. By the time you thin it enough so it can be sprayed, it will be so thinned you won’t get good coverage.
Stick with model paint and you’ll get better results. To other important point is to practice, practice, practice.
JK seems to have misunderstood Jeffrey’s comments. There are such things as acrylic based model paints, with his experience, I’m sure he’s talking about them, not regular artist acrylics.
But the detail to stick with model paints because of their finer ground pigments is a good one, but most of them still need to be thinned for air brushing. If you let us know the specific brands/types of paint, we can give you more detailed thinning instructions.
I have Galleria and delta ceramicoat acrylics.
Yes I believe JK did misunderstand and jumped to the conclusion that I was referring to artists acrylics. Not so. I use acrylics made for model use as well as some expensive latex paints that I have specially mixed for use in scenery applications. I wouldn’t even think of using artist acrylics in an airbrush, not even one as cheap ($20) as mine. I use those in the pump sprayer.
These would come under the heading “artist’s acrylics” and I’d advise setting them aside for scenery work. As stated above, these have a thicker pigment, and may obscure details on rolling stock and buildings. If you’ll be airbrushing your scenery colors, these can probably be thinned down, but I’m not familiar with these.