Chipping advice?

Since hair sprays are acrylic based your top color that goes over the hair spray has to be acrylic as well.  When you go to scrub the surface with water it will need to soak through the acylic paint and loosen the hair spray to get the chipping effect.  An enamel paint would not allow the water to get down to the hair spray.

I beg to differ. I've seen modelers chip enamel paint with hairspray on youtube, (although I don't use enamels myself). I was surprised myself, I wouldn't have believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes.

Pretty much all paints are going to be water permeable to some extent, especially considering when we modelers apply very thin coats of paint. Thus, water can permeate enamels as well as acrylics.

Hello!

I've experimented with chipping some time ago, and it was hairspray between two layers of humbrol enamel, so I say this can be done. Right, scrubbing the outer layer was kinda hard, so I used a small quantity of lacquer thinner to make the outer paint crack, and from then on it went without problems. Here are the parts I did (sorry, the photo isn't best):

This one might be better (look at the ammo cans):

Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

For smaller scale aircraft I find chipping by daubing on very small spots of aluminum paint works well, applying paint with small end toothpicks.

Thanks for all the advice so far guys, appreciate it!

I think I'd prefer doing an enamel primer and under coat, then hairspray. Finished off with an acrylic base/top coat.

The problem is, like I said before, I don't have an airbrush. Is there such a thing as spray can acrylics?

I believe that Citadel's range of spray cans is acrylic. They have sprays for some of their more popular colors, but they aren't cheap. 

I have a question on this very topic:  I have tried multiple times to use the "hairspray" technique.  Most recently on a P-61.  I put down alclad aluminum, then a heavy coat of AK chipping fluid (the same thing as hairspray.....supposedly), then a thin top coat of Tamiya X-18 thinned with Gunze levelling thinner. 

Soaking a stiff brush in water.  I could stab, brush, poke and scrape all day long and nada.  No chipping.   

Anyone see something I'm doing wrong?  The only thing I can think is that the levelling thinner may have too much tooth to the paint.

You can't use a lacquer thinner for the paint, only water. The lacqer is so hot it eats through the chipping fluid and bonds to the plastic. You're never going to be ale to chip itnow. I'm sorry to say.

Yes, enamels work. It's more difficult than acrylics to do, but will work. BTW, while the AK chipping fluid is suposed to be the same as hairspray, it isn't. I prefer the chipping fluid more since it's easer to control and more forgiving while I chip. Hairspray in my experence will let go of the paint, at least acrylic, far easer. If you're not careful you can over do it. I have not tried enamel on hairspray.

I do use both methods, it just depends on how far I want to go or how much I want to work at it. Best to practice on something you don't care about.

Just my 

modelcrazy

Hairspray in my experence will let go of the paint, at least acrylic, far easer. If you're not careful you can over do it. 

I second this one. I'm not sure if I just applied too much hairspray to my last model, but acrylics just peeled and bubbled up extremely quickly. It is hard to control hairspray chipping, and next time I will apply less to see if that does the trick.

I use a small torn piece of a 3M scrubbing pad. I hold in tweezers and dab it into silver paint. I then dab it onto a paper towel until almost dry. Then I dab it onto the model.