How do I paint this?

Acrylic paints are not compatible with mineral spirits.

Model Master Acryl is "thin" enough out of the bottle to airbrush.

Tamiya needs to be thinned with an alcohol based thinner, like their own. Using straight Isopropyl works, but can cause "tip dry" as it dries very quickly and can clog the airbrush.

I spray Future straight, never thinned it before. I hear you can, and again use isopropyl alcohol.

I suggest getting cheap kits to practice on. Model Master Acryl or Tamiya Acrylics wash right off with Windex (the blue kind), and can be painting again and again.

Keep practising and don't get discouraged! 

I was using generic paint thinner "made form mineral spirits" i picke dup at walmart. I dried spraying enamel today and didnt fair so well. Even thinned i kept clogging my brush and getting reverseblow intot he jar

Also, I sprayed an entire car body with unthinned Model Master acrylic and it seem to spray perfect.  

....and do I need to thin Primer before spraying....havent seen anything on that 

Waste Land wrote:

I tried to thin acrylic paint today....and even if stirred or shaken the thinner stayed on top of of the paint.....can ya explainf or me?

Sounds like an incompatibility between your thinner and paint.  Were you using acrylic thinner as opposed to petroleum based mineral spirits or some other enamel thinner?  If you were using acrylic thinner, was it the same brand as your paint?  I've heard there are some brands of acrylics that are incompatible with one another. 

Waste Land wrote:

Also, are you guys just loading future right int he gun and spraying or is there any thinning involved?

I usually spray it it straight.  I have previously sprayed it after thinning with Tamiya thinner and it worked well.

Waste Land wrote:

...For painting a car....would one go with Gloss Paint, Gloss With Clear, or Flat with Clear?

Try both methods on some scrap plastic and see which works the best for you.  If your car's finish isn't right, there's really no way to hide it.

I tried to thin acrylic paint today....and even if stirred or shaken the thinner stayed on top of of the paint.....can ya explainf or me?

Yes, the dial indicator ont he back will be a great help for me to learn settings. Easy tear down and usage.

Also, are you guys just loading future right int he gun and spraying or is there any thinning involved?

 ...For painting a car....would one go with

Gloss Paint, Gloss With Clear, or Flat with Clear?

Jesse,

You got the 200-20, right?

That floorpan looks like it's got lots of molded in details and might be a bit of a pain to do a good mask on. 

I think I would shoot the aluminium first, mask it off and spray up close to the masked area. You can dial the 200-20 down to a pretty small line. Then I would would peel off the mask and hand paint any unpainted or oversprayed areas. Aluminium covers pretty good, even on dark colors like black, so don't sweat it if you have to touch up that color.

Would it be stupid to do a  quick mask around the mechanics, shoot with the aluminum colors, then do a good mask over the aluminum, and lay downt he black over the little over spray left?

Try to figure out which is easier to mask off.  If it's easier to mask the floor pan, spray the floor pan, allow that to dry then mask the pan.  Then spray the drive train assembly.

-Fred