Was wondering what mixture of paint and dio sol different people use with the Floquil paints for airbrushing. Also what pressure they set the air at.
Thanks
With my Aztec metal airbrush I thin about 10% and use 20-25lbs. air. DO NOT put thinned paint back in the jar.
An article on painting with airbrushes that appeared in the November 1998 edition of Model Railroader recommends 75% paint and 25% thinner. The recommended pressure is 12 to 25 psi. I have not tried Floquil but using the recommendations for water-based paints in the article, I have had excellent results with my Paasche brush.
Joe
I just eyeball the thinner. About 20% or so. I set my air compressor to 40psi. Works great. I have problems with the water based paints. They tend to shoot “globs” of paint and are hard to control.(Badger & Polyscale). I like Floquil better. I paint in the garage with lots of fresh air and wear a simple mask just in case. And ALWAYS wear plastic gloves.
I use laquer thinner…much cheaper. It works with either the new formula or old formula & it doesn’t affect plastic. I usually just eyeball it also— 10 to 20%. I run the pressure at about 20#. Jerry
Just curious. Where are you getting dio sol from? I thought they quit selling that stuff.
They did … that’s why we’re resorting to lacquer thinner !!! Lot cheaper too. [;)]
Mark.
Diosol was a mixture of Xylene (Xylol) and Tuolene (Toluol). Xylene was the primary solvent with toluol as secondary. These are still available separately.
Its interesting to note that Scalecoat thinner is a mixture of the same items but here toluol was the primary solvent.
Either one, Xylol or Toluol, will thin either Floquil or Scalecoat as well as their “brand name” thinners. Lacquer thinner works well too. When I was custom painting, I would go thru several gallons of each, (depending on price at the time), about every 6 months or so.
The trick to using acrylics is to screen or strain the paint and thin it to the proper viscosity. If you’re using both types of paint through the same airbrush make sure all solvents in the brush are gone and dried out before switching back to acrylics or you can certainly gum up the works. I use separate air brushes to avoid this potential problem.
A while ago I bought a great big can , still have it. I have not sprayed in over a year , got a new brush and a real compressor , so it seems like starting over
As Joe points out, the November 1998 Model Railroader is an excellent resource for the airbrusher. On page 81, there is an invaluable chart with recommended thinning and pressure for every major model railroad paint manufacturer including Accu-Paint, Floquil, Scalecoat (both 1 and 2), Modelflex, Pactra, and Polly. I knew it when I saw it that this was one magazine for the long term storage bin. I’ve made copies of the paint chart and include them with my airbrush box so it’s easy to see and get at when I’m painting.
Anyone into painting with an airbrush needs this magazine issue. There’s a great photo of a Seaboard FT on the cover. Here’s a link to one for sale:
November 1998 Model Railroader
Going back to that issue I realize how much thicker Model Railroad used to be. This one has 194 pages, the most recent issue I have now (Dec 2007) is only 146! I miss the scale drawing section a lot too. The old 1998 issue has great tri-level autorack scale drawings.
I use lacquer thinner with both Floquil and Scalecoat, usually about 25% thinner. For weathering, you can thin Floquil much thinner, up to 90% thinner, which makes it a lot easier to avoid over-weathering. For air pressure, usually around 20 lbs., although different jobs can require different pressures. Lowering the pressure when spraying into corners or openings with closed backs will give you better coverage. And lacquer thinner is a great (and cheap) cement for styrene. I buy it by the gallon. Lacquer thinner will also thin Testors paints, including Model Masters, and Dulcoat and Glosscoat, along with Pactra and Humbrol enamels, and SMP Accupaint.
Wayne
Yesterday I was at my LHS looking for Floquil Diosol, all he had was a can of Floquil thinner. He also showed me a small can of “Universal Thinner” with a red label which said it was “Use to thin Testors & Model Master & Floquil brand Enamels for air brushing”. He said this was all he could get now. I went home and checked the Testors web site, and found this Universal thinner “Replaces Testor item No. 1799 & Floquil F140001, F15001 and F160001.”
http://www.testors.com/catalog_item.asp?itemNbr=2818
So it appears this 1/2 pint (8 oz.) can is the replacement for all the sizes of Diosol and the ModelMaster thinner. [:(] List price $8.99. Has anyone used this thinner?
I thin Floquil paint about 25% and add 10% Crystal coat to it before airbrushing. After the paint is dry an overspray of Crystal Coat is airbrushed over the entire model. The Crystal Coat is thinned about 20%. In either case the pressure is 25 pounds. With Scalecoat 2 paint the clear gloss overspray isn’t needed as the paint dries to a gloss ready for decal.
I use only the brand name thinner for thinning either Floquil or Scalecoat 2. Clean up is just paint store lacquer thinner though.
I tried the Acrylics in my airbrush and never again. The stuff dried as it flowed and I had to keep cleaning the airbrush several times while painting.
Mokenarr…I don’t have anything to add about paint but Wow! I like the coal mine in your photo! I am guessing its scatch built?..Nice job how about more photos and details?..Cox 47
I found the same to work quite well. I never liked the added build up of a complete gloss layer, only to give it one more seal coat with the flat finish after decaling.
I have also found that for adding a slight sheen for a model that I don’t want totaly weathered and old paint looking, that I will mix some gloss coat into the flat finish. It doesn’t take much gloss, as you found with the body paint. To get a satin to semi gloss look adding 10% to 30% seems to work.