Working in either a warehouse or a store, the first thing you need to remember is that you should always rotate product instead of jamming it in front of old.
If it is a busy shop, it’s still possible that this could have been missed and has now worked it’s way forward. More likely, it may have been some old warehouse stock that was finally being cleared out soemwhere up the supply line. It’s hard to judge about either product unless you open the bottle. Take it back. They owe you a refund.
The long shot is simply bad product. It happens sometimes. Take it back and exchange it.
Having used and cleaned airbrushes, never put something so questionable in your brush. That’s your judgment call as the operator, you’re the conductor of that train. Lesson learned, as I found out the first time I put chunky paint in my brush…
I noticed you’re in Boston. I’m up in Methuen, could you tell me whereabouts this shop is for future reference? If you don’t want to post its name or location here, send me a PM.
I’ve got some old paint that’s been doing that to me too. I see I’m going to have to invest in a screen for my airbrush. It’s a bummer when you get all set up to paint and can’t.[banghead]
I stir my paint. Then dredge the bottle bottom for smooth glass. If it comes up clumps or dried old stuff… it goes into the trash. The model can wait another day.
If a color is consistently bad pre-painting I might switch to another brand or type of paint.
That is the way I see it, those models be too expensive to just toss paint on.
Invest also in some scrap material, that way you can pre-test the paint before making the final shot onto the model.
I will assume you used the correct thinners, I have some very old paint that I still use, I have innadvertently used the incorrect thinners once in a new bottle of paint, assuming it was a solvent base, that made a big cloggy mess, but I couldn’t really blame the product, just thought I would ask?
It does sound suspiciously like you got ahold of some old stock; $3.67 or $367.00, it doesn’t matter. There is a Uniform Commercial Code rule dealing with Implied Warranty and your paint was obviously defective; if the proprietor of this fair establishment won’t make things right then turn him into your former local hobby shop!!!
Ummmmm…no one asked WHAT kind of paint, WHAT kind of thinner was used, or WHAT kind of airbrush was used…all three things must be known before concluding it was the paint.
I’ve used Floquil paint that was 30+ yrs. old with no problems, same for Testors enamel.
If you used the wrong thinner and it wouldn’t mix right, that will cause clumping and spitting…using too much thinner and too high air pressure in the airbrush will do the same thing.
Tell us what brand of paint, thinner and airbrush you used and we can diagnose the problem, simply blaming the hobby shop and the paint is the wrong way to go.
Case in point: I once made the mistake of trying to use 91% isopropyl alcohol to dillute some Polly Scale acrylic Reefer Gray; big mistake - it turned the paint into jelly![xx(]
Ever visit Modeler’s Junction while you were in Methuen? It closed in August. I miss the place so much. So many childhood memories, and Wayne the proprietor rocked!
A hobby shop had some paint on sale for a buck, I asked how old, he said “very old” and when his paint stock runs out, thats it, not many railroad modelers into painting as in the past, at least at this store. So Im thinking perhaps an airplain or RC hobby shop may have a better turn over concerning getting fresh paint.
You might want to check out Maine Trains in Chelmsford. www.mainetrains.com from your desktop. Check the store hours - he’s not open most evenings or Sundays - but I usually find what I want there, and he’ll order anything from Walthers and give you the sale price on flier items.
Double action (trigger controls both air & paint)
Internal mix air brush with tactile ergonomic grips and greater adjustability
Features: Patented Aztek nozzle system for quick effects changes and minimal clean-up
Works as a single or double action airbrush
Durable, lightweight body
Pinpoint accuracy control
Lifetime guarantee on airbrush body
6 foot air hose
Use For: General and precise small detail work
the paint was Polly scale railroad colors
and I thined it with aztek air bruch cleaner nettoyant d’aerographe
I did try to use the 91%. but the clumps were in the bottle before thinning it
the engine black and graphite paint was from micro mart and worked like a charm
thats when I pointed at the paint
what do you use with ps isobutanol paint ?? water
thanks for all that jumped in with all your knowledge
I don’t have any Pollyscale rr colors, but the Pollyscale and PollyS paint I do have recommends distilled water as a thinner. I also use 90% isopropyl alcohol occasionally.
I use Paasche airbrushes so I don’t have personal experience with an aztex, but I’ve heard from a few folks that those brushes are notoriously bad about clogging, and that leads to paint spitting and clumps. I’ve had some old PollyS paint that seperated from sitting on the shelf and not being moved for probably years, and it wouldn’t mix when I tried stirring it. If the paint has clumps,globs or a skin on the top when you open it, it’s most likely FUBAR and I’d chuck it.
Clumps of crap in the bottom of the paint, chuck it…especially acrylics…once they go bad you can’t fix it.
I don’t have an aztec brush so I can’t say if thats one of the reasons that it clumped and spit, but I have had that problem and it was almost always thinner\paint incompatibility.
I see no reason you couldn’t take the crappy paint back to the LHS and exchange it, if the owner is a stand up guy he will do it.
