Problems airbrushing decanted spray paint

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

I really can’t figure out what is going wrong…constant bad luck maybe? Maybe I am just not ment to do this type of thing anymore?

Anyway the story goes like this. I am trying this Dupli-Color white primer after hearing some really good things about it leaving a Mr. Surfacer type finish. So I spray a few pieces but don’t like the spray can, I want more control so I decide to decant the stuff and spray it through my air brush. Well that just brings more problems.

My brush sprays it but there is no color build up. I try to slowly build up color with thin layers only to to get runs with little to no color. Okay the pigament is seperating from the carrier I think, its not mixed well. So I start over, clean the brush completely and try again, making sure I have stired the paint really well.

But this time the brush won’t even spray the paint. Nothing comes out, like the brush is clogged. It can’t be the airbrush has been throughly cleaned. And the paint is so so thin that I have to use a syringe to transfer the paint and I was even afraid the paint was too thin and was going to just run out of the airbrush when go put the paint into the brush. But I added a little thinner, still nothing, had more, still nothing, crank up the air pressure and I get a little dot then nothing. I ended up having to just flush the whole brush. More wasted paint and my frustration level is maxed out.

Any suggestions on what is going wrong. Is this paint not suppose to be decanted? I bet its something I am doing but I can’t figure out what it is. Any help would be appricated.

Thanks,

2

Maybe it’s your airbrush. Have tried spraying a different paint through your airbrush? Maybe you have a clog.

Jesse

3

Sounds like your not getting enough of the pigments during the decanting process. Are you decanting the full can or just a portion of it? Decant the entire can into a storage container, then remix it before using in your airbrush. Make sure your can is warm before decanting…aerosol cans cool rapidly and cause the paint to congel inside it, thus keeping the heavier pigments trapped and unreleased. Oh and don’t forget to SHAKE IT! [swg]

4

I am just decanting a little bit at a time. I don’t have any bottles big enough to decant the whole can. I shake the can up pretty well before decanting but maybe that wasn’t enough. I should have heated the can…didn’t think would need to. Not having enough pigment would explain why the paint is so thin. Might just have to toss what I have decanted and try again.

It can’t be the airbrush as I can spray other things through it without any problem.

5

Well I threw out the decanted paint and tried again. This time I heated the can up before shaking it up and it did the trick. I was able to decanted the paint and then put the paint in my brush and I was able to airbrush the primer. The paint is still very very thin and takes many coats to build up the color, made harder since what I am spraying on is creamed colored. But I don’t mind, it just means its going to take alot more paint than I thought to cover the piece. Oh well.