Hey Fellow Modelers,
A very basic airbrush question…I’m gonna be airbrushing my 1/48 B-17 (neutral gray bottom/olive drab top) so how much paint should I thin up for the job? I’m using Polly Scale Acrylics.
Thanks in advance!
John
I usually thin just enough to fill my color cup without spilling it when I tip it to paint. You’ll use less paint this way, as you don’t want to pour the leftover back into the bottle of paint.
Hope this helps.
Thanks Pix…I’ve never airbrushed before and had no idea.
Somebody – was it Paul Boyer? – always said to thin to the consistency of milk. After hearing this for a couple of years I went into the kitchen one night and poured milk back and forth into a glass. I finally got it. I’m still more stingey with the thinner than I should be, sometimes forgoing it all together out of laziness. But all in all, the usual rules applying to thinning flat and gloss paints should be observed. They are the usual rules because they work. Heck, I thin my acrylics with plain rubbing alcohol and it works quite as well as expensive acrylic thinners. That, my friend, is just a racket. Oh, don’t get me started…
Like Pix, I usually thin the paint in the AB cup rather than prethinning a whole batch at a time. I use an eyedropper to decant paint into the cup & then another eyedropper to add the thinner. The one eyedropper is dedicated for thinner only to avoid contamination. Mix the thinner in the paint, test your spray & paint away. If you need more paint for large area coverage, which you very likely will on a 1/48 B-17, just repeat the process.
Regards, Rick
Rick,
How do you mix the thinner and paint while in the airbrush’s color cup?
Just curious.
Mike
I do that too. I pour the paint in my omni’s big cup til has filled the bottom chamber where the needle is then I add water to it with a dropper just for water, til I have the mixture I want then use a wooden flat toothpick, the small skinny kind. I swish it around carefully, the skinny flat wooden toothpick allowing me to get down by the needle with no worries of damage. Works great everytime.
yeah…what they all said…
how much paint to mix up ???..
how many coats of each colour to be applied…a ratio of 3:1…thinner to paint or the consistancy of milk…seems to be the rule of thumb…
why not (in whatever mixing device you select) mix a tad extra than will comfortablly fill your spray cup or bottle (just in case) …
when you exhaust the amount in the spray cup, youve got a little extra…give a quick stir and re-load…as it’s thinned you’ll not be wasting much if you don’t need it…(just in case)…
for me it’s hell to run out in the middle of a long anticipated paint application and have to mix more…
or…the options to your query are endless…
John, I do things a little differently in that I mix up batches of paint ready for spraying, and just dispense what I need into the paint cup on my AB.
I also keep the jar with the pre-mixed paint at hand with a mini syringe ready to go, just in case I start to run low.
I’ve found that my premixed paints stay fresh for months, I just store them in a secure box away from heat and light. All they need is a stir prior to deccanting into my AB, and that’s it.
I have always figured that if paint manufacturers can supply pre-mixed paints for ABs, then there is no reason not to adopt a similar approach myself. Some of these mixes are now over a year old, and still spray perfectly.
Best of luck with the 17.
Karl
Of course apart from getting the “mix” right the pressure and volume of paint to air can be significant. It is not useful to state the pressure you should use because I have yet to find an accurate gauge! They all read diiferently. The needle size also is an influence. If you have not airbrushed before then I suggest you practice and practice - if you have a dual action brush then that is also a technique which neds to be mastered. You might like to look at the Brett Green articles (and videos) on the Hyperscale site. He seems very proficient indeed. I find airbrushing is not difficult but it is very easy to get discouraged if you try to run before you can walk. Do practice - mess around with presures and mixes and (if you have a dual action brush) the volume of paint to air. It will come I assure you.
I should have asked this question too when I was new to airbrushing. I wasted so much paint by not knowing how much paint was needed for a job. Now I do just like pix and a few others do, I just mix a little in the colour cup. And for bigger jobs I’ll mix up afair bit in one of the jars.
Gee thanks everyone for all of the great advice! I really appreciate it,and I know it will help me in my foray into airbrushing!
John