What the HECK is wrong with my Testors paint?

Is this Testors Model Master Enamel? Acrylic? The square bottle stuff? If enamel, I highly recommend their universal enamel airbrush thinner- great stuff. What is your ratio of thinner to paint, your approximate psi, and airbrush type? Usually I have no problems with their enamels, but their acrylics can be finicky.

Testors do have special metallic paints for airbrushing as opposed to using enamel metallic colors. I'm suspecting the metallic flakes in enamel paints are giving you trouble. Perhaps someone will chime in for advice.

I honestly can't believe I forgot to provide that info! sorry!      

-Enamel  old-style square bottle

- Badger 105

-15-20 PSI  (my normal for non detailing)

-50/50, 40/60, 30/70  (%thinner presented by second number)

Blacksheep214-  I have tried their metalizers, but I did not like their look once sealed.  I am kind of thinking exactly what you are

I'm probably just going to cut my loses and buy some Alclad

I've not used Testor's enamel paints in a long while.  If I remember, aren't there a lot of "metallic" particles floating in the paint?  I recall the aluminum and steel being rather lumpy.  If it's still the same, that could be a problem.

It could also be the mineral spirits; it's possible it's turning to gum.  Have you tried to brush the paint after you mix it as a test?  Have you tried Testor's airbrush thinner?

Just a rough guess tells me it is a clogging issue, from the sound of it. Do you shake or stir your paint? I have found that shaking is not too good for mixing paint. But a good thorough stirring does the job every time. Same with mixing with thinner prior to airbrushing. Is it an older or newer bottle of paint. Older bottles tend to get thicker with age. But conversely I have been having problems with newer bottles not lasting very long in the jar. I do not know if their formulation has changed due to some law, or if it is simple quality control problem. Have you cleaned your airbrush afterwards and found it clogged with pigment build up?

Oh yes, there is a lot of metallic in the paint. I have not tried to brush the mixed paint. I also have not tried their airbrush thinner. I would buy some, but I think i'm just going to go with a different brand

I shake and stir the paint. I do both every time.  Normally I have a few BB's at the bottom of the jar too -- but not this time.   It's a brand new bottle, but I have no idea how long it was at the store.  It did look a tad separated when I bought it, but it mixed back together well.   I did not notice any pigment buildup.  When i ran the mineral spirits through it into the cleaning pot, it cleared it out perfectly.

By the way, how do I quote/reply  certain people in the thread?  This forum is a lot different then others I am on

At a guess, I'd suspect that it's a problem with the metallic particles settling and clogging the airbrush. I often have a similar problem with Tamiya metallic acrylics.

You get a little burst of paint when you pull back on the trigger and it stops. Allow the trigger to close and you get a little "splat" of metallic particles. Pull back and you get an irregular burst and it stops again.

Over-thinning often exacerbates this problem as it allows the particles to settle even quicker. If you have a bottom-feed airbrush, you can swish the paint around in the jar between passes to keep the metallic pigments suspended, but it's difficult to do so with a top-feed.

I'm with the others - i suspect clogging.

Just a thought, are you using a fine tip on your a/b?  I use a Badger 100LG with medium tip. It will a/b metallics pretty well, but, unlike with most other paints, it will clog up and i have to blast out the clump and continue.

A fine tip might be inhibiting flow a bit.

I airbrush Testors flat aluminum enamel frequently, never had a problem.  No, it is not a bad paint.  It is one of the few really flat aluminums available.  I do thin any aluminum (or any metallic) paint a bit thinner than non-metallic paints, but not by that much.

I tend to stay away from the Testors in the square jars. I dont know just reminds me of back in the day when models and supplies were not that great. I always use Model Master enamel and acrylics. It is very good paint. Metallic acrylics AB a little better than Metallic enamels, but you still have the problem of the metal flakes. It wont really matter if you switch brands, you will still have the same problem because of the flakes. What you need to do is switch to a larger tip on your AB. That will help reduce clogging issues. Also try to keep the flakes suspended while painting. If they settle, your going to get clogs. Alclad is great to use for metallic finishes, but it still has flakes, so you will most likely run into the same problem.

Ditto on Testors square paint bottles. I still have a few colors but very rarely I use them.

I've found the Testors paint in the square bottles to be excellent product.  It sprays well and is great to brush too.  Heh heh, I still have a few bottles that are 25 years old or more, and it's still viable paint.  Sometimes, just the right color is available in those little bottles.  Ymmv...

Gary

I also use a lot of the square bottle stuff. I thin it to same dilution as the MM stuff, can't tell the difference as far as airbrushing goes.