Spray Paint advice needed

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

Hi Guys/Gals

I’m try to using some Tamiya Spray paint in my hobbyroom but the first time I did it really bothered my wife. This is even though I was spray in a home built spray booth with a 465 cfm fan. So here are the questions…

I live in Colorado where it is right now below… 0.F if I spray outside and then bring the model inside to dry will this be ok? P.S. altitude is 6500 ft above sea level.

Should I maybe just stick to airbrushing since then I can control the paint flow and not as much paint will be dumped at once?

Thanks

Scott

2

Answer to first question: probably not.

Answer to second question: yes.

Rattle cans are notorious for their “balloon effect”—lots of paint/solvent/propellant coming out in a balloon shaped cloud.

Pure cfm muscle is not the answer—the design of the booth is critical. Hopefully Gip will see this and respond with the right questions, soon.

3

Spraying outside in Colorado during the winter will be a problem. You really want to work at room temperature for spray cans to work.

They certainly do smell bad!

4

Just a thought here: I like to use Tamiya’s Primer but I don’t like spray cans. I decant the Primer from the spray can into a jar. I then spray the primer in the jar using my airbrush. Less waste, less smell, better control. Maybe this would work for you. Let me know if you don’t know how to decant from a spray can.

Jesse

5

No clue how to decant spray cans. any advice how?

6

There are two ways to decant the spray can that I know of. Here’s the first:

THE QUICK AND MESSY

  • Put tape over the opening of an empty bottle to seal it shut
  • Poke a small hole in the tape so that a drinking straw can be inserted through it
  • Insert the drinking straw through the hole
  • Hold or glue the other end of the straw to the nozzle on the spray can
  • Spray away

I don’t use this method because I can see myself making a real mess of things.

THE SLOW BUT EASY

  • Get 3 inch piece of 1/8 inch brass tubing
  • Take the nozzle of the spray can and drill an 1/8 hole into the nozzle
  • Insert the brass tubing into the nozzle and superglue it in place
  • Tape over the opening on an empty bottle
  • Poke a hole in the tape to allow the brass tubing to be inserted
  • Insert the tubing and spray away

Couple of things to watch for:

  • Only spray a little at a time
  • Only fill the bottle half way
  • The paint in the jar will be full of propellent. There are two ways to get the propellent out. You can just let the jar sit with the lid slightly open. This will take about 24 hours to get the propellent out. The other way is to GENTLY stir the paint. Be careful as the first time you put the stirrer in the paint, a lot of bubbles will come up from the paint. Stir slowly. Put the lid on the jar, give the a jar a little shake and crack the lid open to release the pressure. When you don’t hear the hissing of propellent being released when you crack the lid open, then you’re good to go.

This process might sound long winded but after you do it once, it’s real easy. Like I said, I used Tamiya’s Primer and I do this process on every model I make. It only takes me about 10 minutes to decant the paint and remove the propellent.

There’s an article by Matthew Usher in “How to Paint and Weather Scale Models” that shows the process.

Let me know you if need more help.

Jesse