In a nutshell, it’s a frustrating experience. Vallejo recommends rolling the bottle in your hands. Mig Ammo sells steel ball bearings to insert into these bottles to improve getting the pigment into suspension. This method is fine for Model Air, but not so much for Model Color.
The Badger mixer for all other paints works well to fully mix and avoid air in the suspension. Unfortunately, the mixer is too broad to fit through the neck of the 17ml bottles.
One guy on YouTube shared his method of inserting the bottle into his electric drill which seems overkill.
What method have you found that ensures thoroughly mixed paints in the 17ml bottles?
So funny to read this. I was just working on a model and lo and behold I had one of those tiny Testors paints I was able to use that was marked 25 cents on the top. Decades and decades ago my guess. I only needed about two drops of this red but I was wondering if anyone ever made a paint shaker for those small jars. Kind of a minature version of what you see at paint store for 1 gallons.
Yes there is a shaker for small paint bottles out there. They are marketed for nail polish bottles. One of the guys at our local AMPS chapter brought his in. He bought it off of Amazon.
MicroMark has a shaker, but for a ridiculous price. I had one of their $10 battery operated stirrers, but it died after a few days. I saved the mixing rod, chucked it in my MotoTool, and it works great!
Stikpusher made the right call except mixer replaced shaker. It’s the Expresso Nail Polish Mixer and is available on Amazon and EBay. I’ll go to one of the local cosmetic supply stores to see if it’s available.
Just my 2 cents on Vallejo. Did the ball rolling and ball-bearing and they don’t work. There is still “gunk” at the bottom. I stir with my " homemade" stir stick (old AB needle bent in L shape) then shake, stir again, and shake again. Works for me.
I give them a good shake and then take off the eye dropper and paint straight out of the bottle. I find the droppers are always clogging and no matter how well i shake i get lots of clear liquid before the paint comes out.
I have the paint shaker by Robart. Yes, it’s expensive, but it gets lots of use.
I am able to fit my Badger paint stirrer into the Vallejo bottles. I had to grind a bit of it off with a dremel and my bench grinder. It only took about 5 minutes. I only needed to take about a mm off. Just be sure to file down the sharp corners–you don’t want the blade to chew up the inside of the bottles.
CV - For the most part, just rolling the bottle doesn’t fully agitate and blend the Vallejo, in my experience. (I used tiny stainless steel nuts, as opposed to ball bearings, the bearings being round would block the nozzle when squeezing out paint.)
The only really effective way for me to ensure complete mixing, was either a dental spatula or the Tamiya stir implement, both are steel. Removing the nozzle is easy, just tilt the nozzle to the side, then a fingernail will lift it off. I found a really thick glob of the solids on the stick, whenever I began the stirring process.
Once initially stirred, then a couple of minutes shaking the bottle completes the mixing. I found that to be the case with either Model Air or Model Color.
Thanks for the idea of the nail polish mixer. I checked it out on Amazon and ordered one. For $7 dollars I thought I give it a try. I didn’t order the shaker as the reviews on it were pretty bad.
I had one of those Robart shakers and it lasted about a month and burned out. What waste of money that was.
I hope this stirer works as it’s get pretty boring have to shake and shake those 17ml bottles.
Update. The Expresso Nail Polish Mixer arrived today. The option I chose came with 50 additional stirrers. Cost was $10.49 with another $1.50 for shipping. There is NO reason to choose this option. It requires two AA batteries not included in the package.
Stirrers can be attached one to the other to ensure sufficient length to reach the bottom. Three stirrers were attached together. Fit is snug and easy to attach.
Vallejo Model Color Black was the test bottle. The stirrer fits easily down the neck of the bottle. Mixer speed created a whirlpool effect which should be enough to get the color into suspension. No bubbles were present. Brush painting on a sheet of styrene was smooth and covered well. Clean up of the stirrers was easy.
First impressions. This mixer performed well on Vallejo’s black paint. There’s no obvious reason to expect otherwise with any of their other paints. I considered recommending a paddle type stirrer, but current ones make it easy to get around the edge of the bottle. I’m happy with the purchase and recommend it to those using Vallejo or similar paints in 17ml bottles who find the recommended mixing process less than effective and efficient.