Specks in Model Master Acryl

probably those badger airbrushes your using!! i've never liked mm acryl mike. the only idea i have is to go back to what you're used to. you only have that one bottle right? if i remember correctly, you bought the light ghost grey just to try out? if so, i'd just go back to what you're used to. sorry brother, thats not much help. later.

Chris,

Actually, I have 9 bottles of Acryl now.
I was trying to switch over to it as I don't have room for a spray booth and prefer the less toxic nature of Acryl. If I can't cure this problem then I will just go back to MM enamels.

Mike

I normally use Tamiya acrylics, however I have used some MM Acryl as well and haven't had that kind of problem with them. I did try thinning some Tamiya with 50% water / 50% alky and, while the drying time was extended somewhat, I had several places that appeared to "Shrink". It was completely covered when I quit painting and the next day, after everything had completely cured, there were numerous spots where the primer was showing through. I went back to using just alcohol for thinner and haven't had that problem again.

I wonder if the specs are flakes of dried paint. That's probably what you were alluding to and my slow mind just caught on (it's early and I haven't finished my coffee yet). You might try thinning it with just alcohol and a couple of drops of retarder and see if that works better for you.

mike, i did notice when i used some mm acryl that even when stirring the stuff, i would see small bits of what looked like trash. i had to strain the little bit of mm acryl that i did use. im a little impatient and when something dont work as advertised, i usually begin a search for a replacement product that has less hassle. later.

Mike: I really like the MM Acrylic line. The only problem I have had is that they tend to dry quickly in my airbrush. I solved the problem with adding a couple drops of MM Acry thinner. I also suggest that you run a little thinner through the airbrush prior to adding paint as this lubricates the airbrush. Don't know if this this will solve your problem but you might give it a try.

Mike McShea

ive never tried mm acryl thinner so that may very well solve the trouble. if you try it, post some results because i have about a half a dozen bottle over there collecting dust along with some polyscale colors. later.

QUOTE: Originally posted by saltydog mike, i did notice when i used some mm acryl that even when stirring the stuff, i would see small bits of what looked like trash. i had to strain the little bit of mm acryl that i did use.

I have never noticed anything in the paint as I stirred it, but I am guilty of not straining it before putting it in the airbrush.

Goldenretriver,

I haven't had much of a problem with the paint drying in the gun too quickly, but this problem of seeing these specks of paint in the finish may very well be dried acrylic pigments. I think trying some Acryl thinner may be a good idea.

One thing that I have noticed about the Acryl paint is that when it begins to set up it is much harder to clean from the color cup of the airbrush along with the cup I mix the paint in. I am sure this is due to the additives that MM puts in the paint to help it's adhesion properties. If I clean the color cup of the airbrush with my mixture of water/Windex/Simple Green, I notice the paint coming off the color cup in chunks instead of breaking down into fine pigments such as lacquer does to enamels.
These paints are new to me so there is much to learn I suppose.

Mike

You are correct about the cleanup. What I do is take a cotton swab, dip it in some lacquer thinner, and wipe out the color cup. You can also dip a pipe cleaner in the thinner and run this through the feed tube. Once you get organized with using MM Acrylics I think you will really like them. They give you a nice finish and they bond well to plastic.

Mike

Mike,

Yes, I have done that also with lacquer as the Gunship Gray Acryl for some reason was really hard to remove with anything else except Castrol Super Clean. The thing is though that if I am going to have to use lacquer for clean up then I might as well stick with enamels.

Mike

After looking at the paint on this model again I may be mistaken and it might be the coat of Future that has the specks in it, and not the Acryl. I can't reallly tell.
I put some Acryl on my Skyraider last night and didn't notice any problems with the paint at all. I did however thin the Acryl with straight filtered water with no iso alcohol this time.

Mike

Mike, I would go with Tamiya for acrylics and thin with the strongest percentage IPA you can find. It works beautifully and I hated acryilics before I went to them. Do not use MM thinner with the Tamiya though, they don't play well together. MM adds something that the Tamiya paint doesn't like. I use the IPA or just water to clean my a/b and haven't had any real issues getting it to come clean either. Just my worth.

Eric

Thanks Eric.

The problem I have with Tamiya paints is that they have no FS numbers and all colors must be mixed to get the color you want.

Mike

QUOTE: The problem I have with Tamiya paints is that they have no FS numbers and all colors must be mixed to get the color you want

True, in most respects. Tamiya doesn't post FS numbers on them however some of them are referenced to FS numbers. Check this link:
http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_fs.htm

The real problem is that Tamiya just plain doesn't HAVE a lot of colors. I do love the way they spray though!

Thanks Scott.

I have heard a lot of people praising these paints but as you said the colors are limited. Actually I think my problem may not be the Acryl as I sprayed some more last night on my Skyraider and there was not a problem at all even with the isopropyl alcohol/water mixture as thinner.
Maybe it's just the Gunship Gray for some reason? That paint has been much harder to clean up then some of the other lighter colors.

Mike

It's funny how we tend to praise or condemn a particular line of paints and never stop to think that some individual colors are just plain ornery. Flat black is the bane of my acrylic existance. It seems to be mostly Tamiya, but painting ANYTHING over the top of it will cause it to dissolve. I've let it dry for a week and it will still do it.

Taking that line of thought one step further, I wonder if individual paint lots have much variance? That would explain some of the weird problems I've read about where one person has great results and someone else using the exact same method has lousy results.

Scott,

That's hard to say if there is a variance but I wouldn't think so with the automated machinery today that produces these products. But then again I could be wrong. It is odd though how some people do have better results from the same exact mixtures. I just wonder if humidity, and temperature play a bigger role than we think? Interesting.

Mike

QUOTE: Originally posted by MikeV Scott, That's hard to say if there is a variance but I wouldn't think so with the automated machinery today that produces these products. But then again I could be wrong. It is odd though how some people do have better results from the same exact mixtures. I just wonder if humidity, and temperature play a bigger role than we think? Interesting. Mike

I don't know what percentage of error is allowed in flow controls, never had to deal with them. I suspect you are probably right though, the tolerance should be pretty tight.

You could also be right about temperature and humidity, especially with water-based acrylics!