Paint Ratios

Nope, no markings.

Cadet Chuck

Yes, those are perfect, Don.

You can also get them free at any Wendy's burger joint, where they have stacks of them next to the ketchup pump.

 

 

Are they graduated with fine markings like the dosage cups (used for liquid pharmacy stuff)?

Yes, those are perfect, Don.

You can also get them free at any Wendy's burger joint, where they have stacks of them next to the ketchup pump.

I recently found online "plastic dosage cups."  They were pretty inexpensive in quantity- I bought fifty.  I bought them for mixing resin and catalyst for casting, but they are going to be great for mixing paint too.

stikpusher

Substitute the word drops for parts. 3 drops of paint, two drops of thinner. 50/50 is percentages, 50 percent this and 50 percent that, totaling 100%. 

 

You can substitute any unit of liquid measurement for "drop": teaspoon, milliliter, quart, etc. But for mixing model paint, "drop" is most appropriate.

Ditto what stick said, count it by drops. So say 10 drops is 100 percent so then you can count drops easily by just removing the zeros. If you want a 30/70 mix it's 3 drops to 7 drops of what ever you are mixing. 50/50 would be 5 drops of each item you are mixing. It doesn't get any easier than that.

I use party straws that I cut in half as paint pipettes to transfer paint to my mixing cup.  For the thinner, I have a glass syringe.  I have found that for every dip of the straw to transfer paint, I need 1cc of thinner from the syringe to get a nice airbrushable mix of paint.

Substitute the word drops for parts. 3 drops of paint, two drops of thinner. 50/50 is percentages, 50 percent this and 50 percent that, totaling 100%. 

To make it easier, get an eyedropper.   For your 3 parts paint, 2 parts thinner example, do this.  Put 3 drops of paint in a container.  Now put 2 drops of thinner.  You now have that mix formula.  To make more, just put in paint in 3 drop increments, and thinner in 2 drop increments.

For your 50-50 mix, that is equal parts paint and thinner.....one drop of paint and one drop of thinner.

Our paints are kind of forgiving on thinning.  In time you can eyeball it....for the 50-50, just put in the same amount of each by just looking.  Usually won't make a critical difference.

I use a pipette for paint and a second one for thinner. Pipettes you can do ratios well with, either by full portions of pipette tube or by drops as others have mentioned. If you mark the pipettes in thirds ( three equal parts) you can do 3-2 very easy. A full pipette is all three marks, then fill the thinner pipette only two marks worth of thinner. This will build your volume up quickly if you are filling a mixing bottle vs drops into your paint cup at the airbrush.

Others covered 50/50, as they said it's equal portions of paint to thinner.

I usually use an old paint brush to get paint out of the tin/jar when i am mixing colours or putting it in my airbrush. So if i want a 50/50 mix, i will, for example, get out 2 lots with the brush of one colour, and then 2 with another. Its a bit more tricky with thinner if it comes in one of those dropper bottles. But quite often its best to add a bit and its its not thin enough, just add a little more until its how you want it.