whats wrong with this paint?

Sasarchiver

Member since
June 2005
From: Dundee, Scotland.

whats wrong with this paint?

Posted by Sasarchiver on Wednesday, October 12, 2005 9:04 PM

hi guys, i went to air-brush my apache longbow there (been sitting there for amonth or 2) and i went to use hannants Xtracolor US Army Helo Drab. When i mixed the enamel to stir, i thought it was pretty thin. So i took no more notice. So when i added my ration of thinner and shoke it in my test tube to mix it, usually paint stays on the side but it didnt lol it was like water, it just run down the inside of the test tube. Now ive been trying to think whats up here, either the enamel that i thought it was is acrylic? but i dont think so, is smells of enamel. Did i get my mixture wrong; no cos i tried again. Or is the paint crap quality? never came across that yet. even the enamel that i took out with a pipette was clean after i used it lol
anyideas would be great. sasarchiver

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MusicCity

Member since
January 2004
From: USA

Posted by MusicCity on Thursday, October 13, 2005 5:45 AM

Some (all?) Xtracolor paints are oil-based enamels. I still use mineral spirits to thin them but they don't always behave like other paints. Also be aware that they sometime take DAYS to dry to the touch.

The same rule applies though: If it doesn't need thinning, don't thin it! The only reason to thin paint is to get it to spray at a given pressure. If it sprays right from the bottle (or can!) there is no need to thin it.

Scott Craig -- Nashville, TN -- My Website -- My Models Page

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Sasarchiver

Member since
June 2005
From: Dundee, Scotland.

Posted by Sasarchiver on Thursday, October 13, 2005 6:02 AM

i tried straight from the can but that didnt work either. I dont like this paint at all. Even says on the can to add thinner before spraying. Dont know what to do next....

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Borg R3-MC0

Member since
September 2004
From: Utereg

Posted by Borg R3-MC0 on Thursday, October 13, 2005 8:28 AM

Xtracolor are indeed enamel paints, they have a line of acrylics called xtracrylic.
They are supposed to be of good quality.

Have you mixed the paint properly, are you sure that there are no lumps of pigment on the bottom?
Secondly, what did you use as thinner?

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Sasarchiver

Member since
June 2005
From: Dundee, Scotland.

Posted by Sasarchiver on Thursday, October 13, 2005 12:53 PM

hi remocrab, thanks for ur reply mate...
Well i use revell color mix thinner. Saying that though mate, when i poured paint from the measure to a test tube (which is what i use to mix the paint&thinner in) and shook it, it still ran down the side of the test tube. wheras with any other paint ive used, it is stuck to the side after shaking and is quite difficult to clean. This stuff doesnt even need cleaned lol
I got 3 of these tins, so im going to try another tin that appears to be a dif batch.

yeah i heard there good quality paints, but i just cant figure this one out remocrab. Any help would be greatfully appreciated ;)

sasarchiver

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Borg R3-MC0

Member since
September 2004
From: Utereg

Posted by Borg R3-MC0 on Thursday, October 13, 2005 2:55 PM

With enamels, the paint can form in to lumps on the bottom. What happens is that the pigments are on the bottom of the tin and the carrier fluid (the oil) floats on top of the pigments. It sounds like this is the case with your paint, and you only used the carrier fluid to paint with, not the pigments.
Shaking the paint won't get them to mix, you need to stir with a cocktailstick or a piece of sprue. This migth lessen your problems.

A small note on the side: my name is Remco Grob, it propably sounds strange to you but Remco is a common first name in the Netherlands. (Grob, however, is a very uncommon last name in the Netherlands)

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Sasarchiver

Member since
June 2005
From: Dundee, Scotland.

Posted by Sasarchiver on Thursday, October 13, 2005 4:25 PM

lol read it completely wrong, sorry about ;)
I did mix thourghly mate, i always do. So thats not the problem. Im going to try it again as i have 3 different tins of it, ill post back with my results....thanks buddie sasarchiver

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Sasarchiver

Member since
June 2005
From: Dundee, Scotland.

Posted by Sasarchiver on Sunday, October 16, 2005 6:31 PM

ok, i did a 60/40 mix (60 paint/40 thinner), got abit further, it sprayed on this time, but very thinnly and bits missed out. pretty spotty too and very bloody sticky. I stirred the thing for 5mins too, to make sure. Am i using too much thinner, or to little for this paint....(which i dont like at all, but is off high standard finish)

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raspy

Member since
July 2005

Posted by raspy on Sunday, October 16, 2005 6:41 PM

sasarchiver unfortunately you are doin nothin wrong with this paint its just total garbage to put finer point to it . it goes on crap either by brush or airbrush and takes a lifetime to dry. i binned mine i got from hannants i got cause all it will cause you is misery

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Sasarchiver

Member since
June 2005
From: Dundee, Scotland.

Posted by Sasarchiver on Sunday, October 16, 2005 6:47 PM

ahh so its not me then lol bad thing is ive already half sprayed the thing so how do i know get this off. I will be sending my paints back to hannants with a note if this is the case. I was going to order some x20 tins, just aswell now. Ill see what other ppl say. But your right, its a dam nightmare...sasarchiver

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Sasarchiver

Member since
June 2005
From: Dundee, Scotland.

Posted by Sasarchiver on Monday, October 17, 2005 4:29 PM

well ive had, WAR lol i just re-primed the model and am just going to use revell paints (nato-olive drab+flat black (2/1)). Been waiting for 3months for the right paint, and its something u gotta master before applying or u could be test flying your model, as i nearly did.....;)

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Sasarchiver

Member since
June 2005
From: Dundee, Scotland.

Posted by Sasarchiver on Monday, October 17, 2005 6:41 PM

Ok, i finally sprayed the dam thing lol I was going to go for the Olive drab and flat black mix (that musictiy or albymoore told me months ago, cant find the Org post) but decided to go with revell no68 (RAF green) and revell 8 flat black (2.5/1). Must say i really like the shade of dark green, looks more how i invisioned it too, not like the xtracolors US army helo drab.
yea looks great, when finished ill finally post a pic.

sasarchiver

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MusicCity

Member since
January 2004
From: USA

Posted by MusicCity on Monday, October 17, 2005 8:56 PM

Glad you finally found something that will work. I just hate working with paint that won't behave. Been there myself, and it just takes all the fun out when you have to beg the paint to spray properly. I tried some once, don't even remember the brand now, that just refused to work. I tried thinning it everywhere from 1:1 to 5:1, tried every pressure from 10 to 40 psi and never found a combination that would do anything but spit paint blobs.

Must have been Alby that mentioned the OD/Black mix, I would never have thought of it.

Scott Craig -- Nashville, TN -- My Website -- My Models Page

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Sasarchiver

Member since
June 2005
From: Dundee, Scotland.

Posted by Sasarchiver on Tuesday, October 18, 2005 12:40 PM

Hi musicity, yea wasnt sure if it was u or albymoore, as both of u helped me greatly when i first joined the forums, so didnt remeber who ;)
Yeah takes the fun away from it when paints misbehave lol Got a loan of my mates cam today, took a few quick snap shots, but cant select a shutter speed on the dam thing so photos look a bit out of focus....Took a pic of the apache half finished (paint looks lighter in the pic), with the Spray booth i made.....

thanks for all ur help in the past musicity, i owe it all to u and albymoore mainly, and everyone else who posted...thank u all....sasarchiver

PS i will be posting a pic of the f-14, first model i done and finished, in a post later

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