How much paint??

I'd say that by managing to paint that entire model with 1/4oz of thinned paint you done good. Probably just about right. You'll find some colors and paints will cover better than others. Long as you got good coverage without runs or sags and didn't fill in the details you're doing ok.

Tony

05Warrior

Thank you all for your replies. I did find it on the testors website...

http://www.testors.com/product/136644/4034/_/Amazing_Air_Camo_Paint_Set

It is listed as an enamel paint set on their website. But it does not say if it was pre-thinned at all or not. I will keep in mind in the future that I will need to thin paints before I use them. 

05Warrior, you can answer the question of "pre-thin" easily by looking at the MSDS sheet that Testors posted to meet OSHA requirement. The paints are enamel in the above linked set and they are pre-thinned. The MSDS sheet list up to 1% of Ethyl Benzene and up to 5% of Xylene in your paints. These ingradients are used to retard drying and are in the Testors thinners, see the thinner MSDS sheet. You do not find these retardant ingradients in regular Testors enamel paints. Your paints in the set are meant to be used with the airbrush and compressed air can that come with them. The can has high pressure. The Testors sets are surely extremely expensive per quantiity of paint.

Testors also have similar paint sets using acrylic paints and many other enamel paint sets too. Look carefully on what you are using. If the link that you posted earlier is correct. It is an enamel set with pre-thinned paints.

This is the acrylic set:

HSteve

This post may be off topic, but out of curiosity, I figured out that if you want to paint a house in FS36375(light ghost gray), the MM equivalent would end up costing 822.25 a gallon!!!!!!!!!!(3.29 per 1/2 oz bottle, X256)

Does anyone think that is not only ridiculous, but somewhat criminal?

How is it criminal? Other than criminally stupid of someone to buy house paint that way? I would never choose to buy house paint in 1/2 oz bottles, nor would I choose to use hobby paints for that anymore than I would try to use Benjamin Moore to paint a model.

HSteve

This post may be off topic, but out of curiosity, I figured out that if you want to paint a house in FS36375(light ghost gray), the MM equivalent would end up costing 822.25 a gallon!!!!!!!!!!(3.29 per 1/2 oz bottle, X256)

Does anyone think that is not only ridiculous, but somewhat criminal?

That is why we use Behr, Dutch Boy or another latex paint.

This post may be off topic, but out of curiosity, I figured out that if you want to paint a house in FS36375(light ghost gray), the MM equivalent would end up costing 822.25 a gallon!!!!!!!!!!(3.29 per 1/2 oz bottle, X256)

Does anyone think that is not only ridiculous, but somewhat criminal?

Bgrigg

Weird, 'cause if you go here and click on view larger image it says acrylic...

That is weird because the box says acrylic, but if you look at the bottles that are shown in the box, the bottles say enamel. I looked closer at the box that I have, and it does say enamel on the box that I have. That is weird. 

Weird, 'cause if you go here and click on view larger image it says acrylic...

Thank you all for your replies. I did find it on the testors website...

http://www.testors.com/product/136644/4034/_/Amazing_Air_Camo_Paint_Set

It is listed as an enamel paint set on their website. But it does not say if it was pre-thinned at all or not. I will keep in mind in the future that I will need to thin paints before I use them. 

Well Testors' website is as useless as always. I did find an online seller of the Amazing Air kits that had a picture large enough to zoom in and read Acrylic Paint, even though they are in the enamel bottles. I'm going to guess that they actually are the prethinned Acryl line as they don't include a thinner for it and this kit seems designed as a starter kit.

In that case, it doesn't surprise me that you used up all the paint. They didn't give you very much to begin with!

If you look at the kit, it shows the bottle of paint attached to the airbrush, so I think it has to have been pre-thinned. My guess is that the amount of paint you used in this instance seems about right for the model you built. Keep in mind that many paints you buy in the future off the shelf will most likely need to be thinned to spray. They will, however, most likely last through several models....

05Warrior

 

So I guess the general consensus is that paint should be thinned prior to painting? And in thinning the paint, that will make 1/4 oz bottle last longer. 

Yes paint is normally thinned at about a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of paint to thinner on average in my experience.

The reason why is to make it thin enough that the airbrush atomizes it well and causes it to spray smoothly onto the model. If it is already really thin from the bottle then you probably won't need to thin it at all, it all depends. Most people say to thin it to about the consistency of milk which is a pretty good reference.

MikeV

 

HawkeyeHobbies:

 

I'm amazed that your airbrush would even spray that paint without being thinned.  How much psi are you using? 120psi???

 

 

I agree with Gerald. I used to airbrush T-shirts with Createx at 60-70 psi but they were pre-thinned as well. That enamel must have been thin.

Looking at that picture you posted I am wondering if they were pre-thinned from the factory?

They could have been, I am not sure. That is why I posted pics, as I am trying to figure this all out. So I guess the general consensus is that paint should be thinned prior to painting? And in thinning the paint, that will make 1/4 oz bottle last longer. 

HawkeyeHobbies

I'm amazed that your airbrush would even spray that paint without being thinned.  How much psi are you using? 120psi???

I agree with Gerald. I used to airbrush T-shirts with Createx at 60-70 psi but they were pre-thinned as well. That enamel must have been thin.

Looking at that picture you posted I am wondering if they were pre-thinned from the factory?

I used a cheap airbrush kit that came with a can of compressed air. This is the kit that I bought....

I'm amazed that your airbrush would even spray that paint without being thinned.  How much psi are you using? 120psi???

05Warrior

No, I did not thin it with any thinner. Is that something that I should have done? 

That would depend on how thick the paint was. What paint was it? Was it enamel or acrylic?

This was the paint that I used. It is Testors brand, so it does not need to be thinned? 

Yes, no and maybe.

It all depends on the brand of paint. Some paints are "pre-thinned" out of the bottle. Testors MM Acryl line, for instance. But most are designed to have thinners added just before painting as thinners help the paint cure faster which means that if the thinner is added to early in the paint process the consumer will just get a glob of colored mush in the bottle.

No, I did not thin it with any thinner. Is that something that I should have done? 

That sounds a little heavy if you mean 1/4 oz of paint plus the thinner. If you meant 1/4 oz of thinned paint in the airbrush then that sounds about right but it's hard to say unless I did the actual painting myself to compare. By the way it won't be long and I can tell you.  As long as it is even coverage and it is not on too thick it will be fine.

Did you thin your paint?

Typically depending on size of a bottle and the surface of a model it can require a full or nearly a full bottle to get complete even coverage.

There are models that consume most of the base color(s) you purchase to complete it. However, on the norm (for me) I rarely use a full bottle.

I still can't fathom are the guys who purchase paints for a specific build then discard the remaining amount after the model is done. Even if they are doing a follow on project using the same colors.