Paint puzzlers

QUOTE: My questions are, can I paint acrylic over enamel, and (I've asked this before, I should write it down ) what are the proper ratios of paint to thinner for acrylic and enamel.

Yes, you can paint acrylic over enamel. As long as the acrylics are given plenty of time to cure you can even paint enamel or laquer over acrylic.

As to thinning, that is going to depend on a lot of factors. "About the viscosity of skim milk", "about 2:1" or "about 3:1" are good starting points. The bottom line is that as long as you are getting the coverage that you want and are able to get the paint to spray at the pressure you want to use, then the paint is thinned properly for you. I usually thin about 3:1 and spray at 10-15 psi.

QUOTE: ALso, Iknow that using distilled water over tap water makes the acrylics dry faster, but (I don't know how may of you have heard of R.O. [reverse osmosis] water) how about R.O. water?

I have never heard that using distilled water over tap water makes the paint dry faster, but that only means that I haven't heard of it I do know what RO water is, I have a couple of fish tanks, but have never used it as a thinner.

My preferred thinner for acrylics is 91% isopropyl alcohol, but that makes acrylics dry ridiculously fast (and it also makes Tamiya acrylics dry flat). I offset that with a couple of drops of acrylics retarder. I prefer alcohol because I feel that it helps remove any grease on the parts that I may have missed when I clean them. Just personal preference though.

that might be what Tamiya thinner really is for $8 a cup... retarded alcohol

Check the panther in my sig, the camo is mixed acrylic and enamel....no problem....

Steve

Alright cool, thanks for the help guys, but, now I"m thinking if I should skip the coat of rust for a primer (unless this will have an effect on the dark yellow basecoat) because to show paint chips I could put the rust ontop of the yellow instead.

Yellow is a horrible color to paint. It usually doesn't cover very well, and anything underneath it will give it a color cast. Light colors make it look lighter, dark colors make it look darker. I personally prefer to spray yellow over white since that way I usually get what I expected to get. If it were me I'd paint up some scrap styrene each way that you described and see which one you like the best.

Thanks, now al I need is some scrap styrene

Anyone know what I can use for some, old containers or anything?

I usually have some sheets around that I picked up at the LHS. Seems like they were around $3 for several sheets. I paint them and strip them and paint them and strip them. You can also pick up any cheap model they have and use it for stuff like that.

Household items, perhaps a plastic milk jug or something along those lines. It probably isn't styrene but it should give you an idea of how things will look.