OK, I see, and I bet your going to use the formula that uses the vodka? [(-D]
Mike.
Awww, come on Mike… Ya know, little for the airbrush, little for me! I share! LOL
I haven’t, I should look it up. Some have used auto window washer fluid, or added a few drops of alcohol to distilled water. I should say that I am by no means an expert on this.
[:D]
Well, you have used craft paints more than once and you’re more than 200 miles from Idaho, so that makes you an expert, right? [:D]
Well, LION is thinking at least five gallons, but that car needs a lot of work. Id want to scrape it and prime it frist, Lets budget at least for 15 gqllons.
And what about the inside?
ROARING
Thoroughly mix the craft paint, strain it, then thin it, majorly. (My craft paint mixes are generally started at about 10% paint to 90% thinner, then I adjust as needed, based on coverage.)
I spray at 25-30 PSI as well, so it will need to be thinner to be sprayed at a lower PSI.
I use a mix of Acrylic Airbrush Medium (Golden brand from the crafts store, I stock up with their handy coupons.) and Distilled water with a few drops of Liquitex Flow Aid (again crafts store) added in. (About 80% is airbrush medium.)
And then mix again! (Stir style powered paint mixers are very well suited for this.)
These paints will dry very quickly, so a big bottle of airbrush cleaner goes to the paint booth with me. (I use a distilled water/isopropyl alcohol/dish soap mix for cleaner. Then I rinse with more distilled water.)
This will also dry to a dead-flat finish, so a coulpe coats of gloss will be needed before decaling. (I use acrylic gloss coats as well. Currently ones by Model Master, and Modelflex, again from the crafts store when possible.)
Yes, the pigment isn’t as fine, so use lighter than normal coats to avoid obscuring details, but they are way cheaper than model paint, and are better (In my opinion) when doing any kind of weathering work, being they dry so flat.
And a good primer is highly recommended.
Excellent, thanks for the detailed information. It’s always helpful to mention product names and you were thorough in your commentary. There’s a number of good primers out there, which do you prefer? Thanks again!
Currently I am using primer from Acrylicos Vallejo, as it is a acrylic based polyurethane primer, so the same cleanup as regular acrylic paints. And, it comes airbrush ready.
I will point out, that, when I mix using craft paints, I am still aiming for a skim milk consistancy, and have found that very little paint to a lot of thinner medium goes a long way. 80-90% thinner ends up just about where I need it.
I use Scalecoat 2 99% of the time.
.
For a single freight car I mix 4ml paint with 3ml thinner.
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-Kevin
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As mentioned, the key is to practice on throw away cars first. My first attempt at serious weathering (decades ago) was an Athearn BB CN light grey covered hopper. It (to me) had no place on my 1950s ATSF layout so it was a good test subject.
Well, my efforts proved my decision to use a throw away car to be excellent! While the results with this car were not acceptable, I did manage to learn proper techniques which worked well on the second try.
Not to buck conventional wisdom here, but I’ve found the Tamiya spray cans to be really good for painting models.
I also use Vallejo’s primer. It’s been OK in most cases, but I’ve had problems using it on some metals and even some paints. Auto primer is really hard to beat.
Simon
Love the discussion, thanks guys! Some follow-ups:
Does primer color influence the final color results? I’m interested in painting BN green, Conrail Blue, Oxide red, and reefer yellow. I’d also like to try painting the outside roof silver (or whatever the appropriate color is). My undecorated details west models are black which suggests to me that all the above paints should be applied following an appropriate color primer.
Ricky, can you store your thinned craft paints? It would handy to mix extra and have some to use later versus trying to mix near exact batch sizes for each day’s planned projects.
Kevin, I have considered using Scalecoat II in spray cans. They have the colors I want and obviously have a less involved clean-up than an airbrush. But, they have the disadvantage of less control with the spray and no ability to fine tune the color to give variation in rail car colors. Do you use a primer with Scalecoat II.
Mobilman44, in my research, I’ve read similar positive experiences with using Tamiya spray paint from several modelers. I have considered them but have a hard time finding paint that is reasonably close to the colors I want. Which colors did you use and were they relatively close to prototype colors?
Simon, which color auto primer do you use and do you vary it based on final coat color?
Thanks guys!
Yes, in theory, you should select colors accordingly. Light gray is appropriate for lighter colors, and blues and greens. There are darker grays available - I use that for my steam locos. Red primer would be used for… red or brown boxcars. But I too would appreciate input from the real experts. Hopefully some will join the conversation.
Simon
I do have a few stored, in glass jars I found on Amazon that are made for mixing paint for airbrushing.
If it’s more than a day or two, I will first put plastic wrap on the jar, then screw on the lid.
If it’s something I don’t think I’m going to get back to for a while, I will also scotch tape the gap between the lid and jar, just to further seal it up.
I will also use these two tricks on unmixed paint, Modelflex and the primer. Whether it helps or not I can’t prove, but I do like the piece of mind that comes with knowing I did everything possible to make it last longer.
I prefer the light grey primer that Floquil offered, but I’m almost out of it. It didn’t have a negative impact on any colour applied over it, and was especially useful when the item to be painted used materials of different colours or different properties - once covered, brass, aluminum, steel wire, or various coloured plastics or previously painted items were all the same light grey.
I’ve also used Tamiya’s Grey Primer in a spray can, and while it’s better than most spray cans, still goes on a little heavier than I’d prefer, and is difficult to control when applying it to objects with complex shapes.
I recently purchased some Alclad II lacquer-based primer, but haven’t yet used it. It’s also light grey but, unfortunately, airbrush-ready, which rules out it’s usefulness for brush painting.
I find the trend to airbrush-ready paints a rip-off, as most use readily available solvents which could be bought at much more reasonable prices from non-hobby sources. We’re paying more money for less paint, and who the heck thins all paints for all jobs to the same consistency?
Wayne