Can any paint be airbrushed

To answer your questions:

1. Not all paints are suitable for airbrushing. Acrylic flats tend to clog up even the crudest and cheapest of airburshes. I would first seek to contact the manufacturer to see what they recommend and take it from there. But do take what they say with a "grain of salt", as I don't imagine anyone will admit to being a crummy product for aribrushing.
2. As for the thinner, you can go by what the manufacturer recommends, or buy some typical thinner for acrylics at a local hobby store, or experiement using rubbing alcohol/water mixes.
3. Transparent paints are labeled "Transparent" by the manufacturers, just like the fluorescent or metallic ones. Testors has a line of transparent colors that I use for colored light lenses.

OK?

Tom 

If I'm correct those are in bottles with flip caps that you usually squeeze out.  Very thick consistency, I'd say almost too thick to airbrush... also the pigments in those paints are usually very thick and even if thinning them down by 70 or 80% it may still clog the A/B.  As far as flat acrylics, I've sprayed Tamiya and Model Master Acrylics through everything from a single action external mix Badger, to an Aztek 4704 to the Badger 175 I currently use and have NEVER had a clog from them.  I usually add a drop of retarder to keep the tip from drying out completely with acrylics, but other than that.. nothing special than thinning with high grade Iso alcohol...

For transparent colors (and I tend to stick to Tamiya) they have clear red/amber/green/blue for lenses and turn signals, etc... under the "X" series (as opposed to the "XF" series) of paints.

Hope this helps.

 

You are right Matt. The paints are in the flip top bottles and are really thick when you squeeze them out. Im not even going to take a chance of ruining my airbrush with those paints. I also have had no problems airbrushing with Tamiya flat black. Right now I'm trying to get the basic fundamentals of the airbrush down so I'm sticking w/ black colors and painting on news print paper to get "control" of the airbrush. I have a bunch of Tamiya, Model Master, and Testor paints and none of them say "transparent" on them. Does that mean that they are all "opaque"? When you say "X" series, and "XF" series paint, what does that mean exactly? Does every brand of paint have an "X" and an "XF" series? I was reading in the Oct. issue of FSM and under the Q&A in the back of the mag, they were talking about how Bermuda Triangle Avengers were painted (FS15042). The "FS" being Federal Standard and the five # code represents color and sheen.1 being for gloss, 5 being for all the blue colors, and the other three identify the particular blue color. Is there a code like that, that I am missing for all of the paints? If so, is there a site to help me understand this color arrangement? Thanx alot for your help Matt.

Chris.

Thanx for your help Tom, These paints are really thick and Im not going to risk airbrushing them. Also in the other reply if you have any info on this I would appreciate it. None of the paints I have are labled Transparent. Does that make them all opaque? I also heard somewhere an economical thinner for acrylics was windex. Have you heard of this? What paint do you like the most for airbrushing model kits? I'm trying to get all the info I can about this since I am still new in the modeling world and airbrushing. Thanx alot Tom.

Chris.

scales052 wrote:

You are right Matt. The paints are in the flip top bottles and are really thick when you squeeze them out. Im not even going to take a chance of ruining my airbrush with those paints. I also have had no problems airbrushing with Tamiya flat black. Right now I'm trying to get the basic fundamentals of the airbrush down so I'm sticking w/ black colors and painting on news print paper to get "control" of the airbrush. I have a bunch of Tamiya, Model Master, and Testor paints and none of them say "transparent" on them. Does that mean that they are all "opaque"? When you say "X" series, and "XF" series paint, what does that mean exactly? Does every brand of paint have an "X" and an "XF" series? I was reading in the Oct. issue of FSM and under the Q&A in the back of the mag, they were talking about how Bermuda Triangle Avengers were painted (FS15042). The "FS" being Federal Standard and the five # code represents color and sheen.1 being for gloss, 5 being for all the blue colors, and the other three identify the particular blue color. Is there a code like that, that I am missing for all of the paints? If so, is there a site to help me understand this color arrangement? Thanx alot for your help Matt. Chris.

Chris,

Tamiya denotes the finish (flat/gloss) by using either the "X" or "XF" on their paints.. "X" being a gloss finish and "XF" being a flat finish. Testors uses the appropriate FS or RLM number and in the display case under the bottle it usually says (SG) for some of the RLM colors.  If you're like me and don't remember, I use the little circle stickers found in the office supply aisle of either Target/Wal-Mart/etc. and mark them with the FS number and color on top or the RLM color so when I open up the drawer I can look at the top of the lid and find the right paint instead of digging through the little drawers...

Here's a link for the colors that I use still today.. it also allows you to ratio mix certain brands to get the right color...

http://ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/colorcharts.asp for Part I

http://ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/colorcharts_2.asp for Part II

It's a REALLY good reference.  Hope this helps out some.

 

Thanx Matt. I looked at the links and it is alot of info. This will certainly help. There is no way I am going to remember all of these different colors, those circle stickers are really going to help. Thanx for the idea. It is a really good reference and it will help. Thanx again Matt. :}

Chris.

scales052 wrote:

Thanx for your help Tom, These paints are really thick and Im not going to risk airbrushing them. Also in the other reply if you have any info on this I would appreciate it. None of the paints I have are labled Transparent. Does that make them all opaque? I also heard somewhere an economical thinner for acrylics was windex. Have you heard of this? What paint do you like the most for airbrushing model kits? I'm trying to get all the info I can about this since I am still new in the modeling world and airbrushing. Thanx alot Tom. Chris.

To further answer your questions:

1. Yes, that means your paints are not transparent, but opague.
2. Yes, some modelers use Windex, but it does have a blue pigment in it that can alter the paint color slightly, so if you go from a thinned batch for the main coat to a non-thinned coat for touch-up, it is possible there will be a difference in shades that will not go away when it is dry. Also, Windex has some detergent (soap) in it, so I do not feel comfortible putting a cheap soap solution into the typically expensive hobby paints, especially when it's basic active ingredient is plain rubbing alcohol.
3. For airbrushing kits, I prefer to use Testers enamels, since the thinning and airbrush cleaning is straightforward, and I can get paint thinner/cleaner by the gallon at Wal-Mart. And since they sell acrylics in matching colors, I then use the matching acrylics for touch-up or other detailed bristle-brush painting.

OK?

Tom

It hasn't been said here so here goes. Tamiya paints are not matched to any real colors. They are approximations. If you're looking for real color accuracy, stick with Model Master, either acrylics or enamels or any of the other lines that list an FS, ANA, RLM or other such number as part of the description. 

Using an airbrush, you can lay almost any color lightly enough to be trasnparent. It takes some practice, but it can be done. However, if you're doing canopies, light lenses, etc. go with a transparent labeled paint.

ajlafleche wrote:

It hasn't been said here so here goes. Tamiya paints are not matched to any real colors. They are approximations. If you're looking for real color accuracy, stick with Model Master, either acrylics or enamels or any of the other lines that list an FS, ANA, RLM or other such number as part of the description.  Using an airbrush, you can lay almost any color lightly enough to be trasnparent. It takes some practice, but it can be done. However, if you're doing canopies, light lenses, etc. go with a transparent labeled paint.

Also, dipping the clear parts in tinted Future works very well, especially for lenses and canopies...

Thanx for the "heads up" on the windex. The paint is relativly expensive for the amount in the bottles. So it makes since not to mess with it with inferior products. You stated that you purchase thinner by the gallon for testors enamal at Wal-Mart, what brand is it? That would cut down some of my expenses. Thanx again for all the help. One more thing, what exactly is a retarder that you put in some of the paints for airbrushing? I have heard of it but am not quite sure what it is. Thanx Tom.

Chris

Thanx ajlafleche. So I can basically spray mist coats to achieve a transparent affect? Also, I have heard about the "Future". Is that a car wax? What other applications is it used for? Thanx again.

Chris

Future is  a floor wax and has many ses to it. check out swanny's website for the "Complete Future"
you'll find his site quite informative in many areas.
hth,
Eddie
Here's the link:
http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html

scales052 wrote:

You stated that you purchase thinner by the gallon for testors enamal at Wal-Mart, what brand is it? Chris

Any hardware store brand product labelled "Paint Thinner" will work with enamel paints. I buy mine at an Ace Hardware store every 3-4 years for a dollar or two a gallon.

My answer may differ from what others have posted here, but it at least offers an alternative.

I've shot Ceramcoat and all the other "cheapie" craft paints you can find for under a buck at craft stores and walmart, and have had very good results.

That said, I generally use my external feed Paasche H, which is likely more tolerant of things than a very precise internal mix model (I have one of those too, but I don't use it much).  I thin with alcohol, wiper fluid or windex - all seem to work well.   Yes, you do have to thin them a *lot* the consistency of whole milk is the usual starting point.  Even when thinned that much, I still get decent results (good enough to tape over and not get lifting - which is a pretty hard test!)

I've even shot house paint - yes the stuff you buy in gallon cans at Sherwin Williams.  It works quite well, but again, this is generally when covering large areas with a big tip in an external mix AB.

Overall with this AB, I've shots all sorts of things and generally there isn't much it won't shoot with a decent result. 

If your AB is external mix, there's nothing to lose as cleaning is very easy.  Internal mix, then maybe the caution suggested by others is warranted.  Even so, I'd still give it a shot and see how it goes.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  I seriously doubt "ruining" an AB is a real concern - about the worst that would happen is a tedious cleaning job.