help! the models are bowser un decorated kit . Iam using model flex cn red the paint won,t stay on the model just runs right off. I am not watering the paint the model was well washed and rinsed . Is the psi to high 40 and the paint was stirred. rambo1… i always have this problem!
I don’t have much experiance with model flex, my question is are model flex paints water or solvent based?
Did you scrub the model with an old toothbrush?
Only things I am thinking is you might be applying the paint too heavy. Is any paint sticking at all?
There could be a chance that the model has a film of oil over the whole thing. Try washing it in warm water with a few drops of dish soap and let air dry or wipe with Testors enamel thinner. Make sure that you do not touch it where the paint may go with your fingers.
sadly this is all I can offer. Best of luck
Make absolutely sure you mix the heck out of modelflex paint. I have had trouble with that stuff on certain colors (especially silver!) I just use thinned Polly Scale on the stuff that matters now. Did you use any kind of primer?
I’ve had Model Master (acrylic by Testor’s) paints run off like that on occasion. Thinning it a little usually helped but sometimes it was wildly unpredictable. I eventually stopped using them altogether and went to latex paint. They work good for me but I’ve been using them for many years, since my G Scale days in the early and mid 90’s. I keep a small bottle of ‘Rust’ Model Master acrylic paint in my work area as a reminder to avoid using it. I hope you have better luck with the Model Flex paint. Try thinning it a little and see what happens. What do you have to lose?
I’ve never used modelflex paint but I did read somewhere on this forum that another user strongly recommended that this brand of paint be thoroughly stirred, not shaken. No James Bond pun intended here.[:)] Sorry I can’t be of more help but good luck with your project.
Wayne
rambo1 - After washing the model and letting it dry well try using a light coat of dull coat. The models plastic may be too slick for the paint to stick . Hope this works.
Otto
Did you prime the shell first? Water based paints, especially red, yellow need to go over gray anyway due to the tranparent nature of the color. I’ve had this problem w/ Modelflex as the old Acupaint. Mixing properly and making sure that the paint didn’t turn.
Probably the main reason I will still paint w/ solvents- Floequil and Scalecoat. Just had too many issues like this w/ Acrylics. Trouble w/ proper thinning and what thinner, higher pressures and/ or playing w/ various needle sizes, different airbrushes, transparencies of the paint requiring a 2nd coat, too heavy a finish that seems almost to start to obscure minor details, just gave up and returned to my old tried and true methods. Many seem to like them and do quite decent work though, have no idea where I’m going wrong. My solvent paint jobs blow away anything I do in acrylics- go figure?
I threw my Testors stuff in the garbage because I had the same problem.
I have never had a problem with POLLYScale even when I first started to use my airbrush. At first I was unaware that washing the model was recommended. Even without washing the stuff went on fine.
I am sure that there must be a way to make Testors paint work but why bother if another product out performs it from the start.
Dave
There’s nothing wrong with the Modelflex. I’ve been using all the various brands (as a custom painter) of acrylic paints including Modelflex. They do vary in how they are to be used however.
A little tutorial based on my experience (yours may be different):
40 psi is way too high, your pressure should be in the range of 18-25 psi. You really need to thoroughly stir the paint a good 2 or 3 minutes, then shake it well for another minute and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes to settle the air bubbles (from the shaking) out of the paint. Just before you paint give the paint another 15-30 second stir.
Any acrylic paint should have the consistency of 2% milk for airbrushing and should be thinned accordingly. Thin with water, prefferably with distilled water, available at your supermarket. Do not thin the paint in the original bottle. I use the plastic condiment cups from McDonalds. If you have a Softco near you they sell the 1 ounce cups for something like 500 for $3. You’ll find many uses for these little cups, like storing small parts…Shot glasses work too, just remember to wash them out as soon as you’re done.
Trick for newbees: Pour a quarter glass of 2% milk (Whole milk will do in a pinch) and swirl it around and observe how the milk slides down the side of the glass, this is how the paint should behave. Thin the paint until it does.
If your airbrush came with different tips, the one you want to be using is #3/medium.
Once the paint is thinned, I like to strain it using a piece of old nylon stockings or panty hose, (I get them from my mother or girlfriend). I stretch the screen material over another little cup and pour the paint in it, (this can get a little messy until you get the hang of it). The paint is now ready for air brushing. Now pour it into the container you are going to paint from. I like to use the paint cup that came with my airbrush, if yours didn’t, then use a clean bottle, extra bottle should be available from where you purchase
If Pollyscale works for you there must be a way to make the Testors paint work. As far as I can tell Floquil, Pactra, Model Master, Pollyscale are all made by Testor’s.
Only thing I can add in my experience working with the European Water based paints in plastic scale modeling, like Accuflex, is that a light primer like Tamiya’s in the can is almost essential. The water based acrylic will just bead off of bare plastic without it. If you do get it to stay on it will come off with you fingernail, its very soft.
Also a retarder like Liquitex Slow Dry. Two or three drops of this in your paint cup does wonders for the atomization of the paint.
Also MR sister publication Finescale Modeler’s forums has an excellent painting forum with amazing information.
SB
I’ve been spraying ModelFlex for at least a dozen years and have experienced what you describe as the paint running off.
I have found the lower pressures (around 20 psi) work best and I do just a quick coat of paint first. Then I go back and spray the normal coat. Works great for me! The key is to not apply a WET coat first.
As far as stirring or shaking the paint, all I do is shake, shake and shake and then spray right away. The little bubbles that form on top have no effect on the spray because the pick up tube is in the bottom of the jar. Why wait when you don’t have too?
I especially like this paint because there is no thinning required and the jar fits right on my airbrush. Could not be any easier.
While I do spray my fair share of other brands, I do most of my weathering with the ModelFlex.
thanks to everyone. i think i should have primed the model first and I’ll go from there. I’ll let you all how I makeout .thanks again rambo1…
Jeffrey is absolutely right, and in fact, Testors recently consolidated a lot of colors that were virtual duplicates.
I have a sharp upper respiratory reaction to solvent-based paints, and have been using acrylics for years. For the last couple of years, I’ve been using exclusively ModelMaster Acryls and Pollyscale. No issues with either.
Never experienced what the OP is describing, either. I mean, I’ve applied paint too heavily and had SOME of it run off, and I’ve had inadequately mixed paint not cover well, but that was obvious (at least to me). Definitely scrub WELL and prime first. Let us know how it works.
Jeffrey is absolutely right, and in fact, Testors recently consolidated a lot of colors that were virtual duplicates.
I have a sharp upper respiratory reaction to solvent-based paints, and have been using acrylics for years. For the last couple of years, I’ve been using exclusively ModelMaster Acryls and Pollyscale. No issues with either.
Never experienced what the OP is describing, either. I mean, I’ve applied paint too heavily and had SOME of it run off, and I’ve had inadequately mixed paint not cover well, but that was obvious (at least to me). Definitely scrub WELL and prime first. Let us know how it works.
You’re not alone on the breathing issue. I have to do any painting with enamels, spray or otherwise outside as it aggravates my bronchial asthma. Yes, even at my age I have asthma. I found acrylics to be very expensive for the small amounts you get and that doesn’t agree with my very small income. Therefore I use household latex flat and satin samples, mostly mis-tints which I get for 50¢ to $1 per half-pint (7 ounces). Thinned and filtered (I filter the thinned paint through paper towel to get any chunks out) it works all right in my old Aztec airbrush and doesn’t cause me any breathing issues. Frequently I have to spray on a light application and let it dry before spraying a second coat.
I think I am getting a fairly good picture of what I was doing wrong with the Modelflex paint (i.e. EVERYTHING![D)]) so obviously I was too quick to give up on the stuff.
Never the less, the difference between the ease of painting with Pollyscale vs Modelflex will likely keep me amongst the Pollyscale fans.
Thanks to the experts for giving me a better idea of how to paint properly. I have a ton of projects waiting for paint.
Dave
Interesting. I’ve never really considered household latex (for anything other than landscape painting, that is) because it just starts out so darned thick. How do you thin yours, if I may ask?
BTW, I’ll grant that latex is way cheaper, but enamel and acrylic hobby paints are almost identically priced around here.
I use plain old water. The tap water here is pretty clean but it still has stuff in it that can effect the paint. Therefore I keep a jug of bottled water on hand for thinning the paints. I have to thin it enough that it can be filtered then applied in a very thin mist from my airbrush. In this cases several very thin coats are essential as a thicker coat will just run. On the up side the coat dries very quickly and if I make a mistake it washes off. Alcohol can be used as a thinner as well but the fumes! Well, better have the windows open. I had to modify my airbrush to handle the heavier latex. I removed the thin pickup tube and put in a tube with a wider base. I made it from a piece of a pipette. It’s narrow at the top then flares out into a wide tube. I generally run 28 psi from the compressor.
On the price of the enamel and acrylic paints, $3 to $4 per half ounce for acrylic. I just bought one and a half to two pints of the latex. Testor’s enamel $2 per quarter ounce + the thinner. $2 per quarter ounce, $5 for a thirty-two ounce bottle. Again I just bought two pints of the latex and it will last me a long time whereas the small amount of the other will be gone in several uses if it doesn’t dry in the bottle first. I’ve lost a lot of money in dried model paint over the years. I have very little money to spend on hobby supplies, frequently $6 or less in a two month period and pennies count. I get the most I can for the least. I get my paint brushes at Wal-Mart. Thirty for a dollar and change.