Technical, Techniques, Hints, and Tips > Painting, Finishing and Care.

Spraying Acrylic Paint

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dougal99:
Hi All,

Has anyone any experience in spraying Acrylic paint (humbrol/revell)? I managed to get a good finish on a small funnel in yellow, but have had endless problems with the superstructure (grey) both plastic. I can't seem to get the thinning right and when I do spray the paint seems to collect in small drops rather than cover the surface evenly. I have cleaned the surfaces to be sprayed so it shouldn't be grease causing the drops.

I was told once to thin the paint using thinned car windscreen wash, as this reduced the surface tension in the water, but it didn't seem to make much, if any, difference.

Any advice gratefully received or it's back to enamel.

Cheers

Doug

DavieTait:
You should undercoat whatever your spraying when spraying Acrylic paint. A tin of Halfords matt black undercoat does work very well especially on plastic.You should never water down acrylic paint as it doesn't spray properly. I'll Email my mate Tony as he's a pro-model painter that uses an airbrush all the time for his tips on thinning Acrylic paint. You can get a good Grey cover over a matt black undercoat using two thin layers ( i've done tanks the same way ). I'll get back to you as soon as I can get hold of Tony and let you know what to do. The model below took him an hour with an airbrush so he knows what he's doing !!.

dougal99:
Davie,

Thanks for your input, I await your further advice.

Blimey, and I thought we had trouble with vermin!!!  ;D ;D ;D

Cheers

Doug

DavieTait:
And the model above is 12" long by 8" high and it still only took him just over an hour and it isn't finished yet !!

I've Email'd him so as soon as I have the reply i'll let you know.

Davie

DavieTait:
Ok Doug here's what you need to know. My Mate Tony only uses Tamyia Acrylic and uses 10% Tamyia Thinners. Some modellers use the Vallejo paint range ( they have a formula which is supposed to be for airbrushing ) but Tony doesn't rate it at all. All other Acrylic's tend to have poor coverage , run's , blotching and almost always end up blocking the airbrush with dried up paint in the nozzle.

For covering large area's i'd suggest using a matt car spray over an undercoated base of black for most darker colours or white for the lighter colours. Halfords 500ml Tins are pretty good. If you do make a horlics of things and you need to remove Acrylic paint ( if the painted bits are plastic card or metal that is and can be removed and placed into a tub , ice-cream tubs are ideal  ;) ) then soak them for 24-48 hours in cheap brake fluid , remove and gently scrub under warm water using a tooth brush but remember to wear gloves and have the room well ventelated too as the fumes wouldn't be great for your health. For purely metal parts that the paint hasn't taken to properly use the above or use Mr Muscle oven cleaner spray which works especially well on Enamel paint's on any surface.

If you want to re-use the brake fluid buy a cheap metal sieve and line it with 4 sheets of kitchen paper. Use this to filter the brake fluid into another container for reuse. It will be discoloured but will work up to 4 times before it should be discarded properly at the local council dump. Just make sure that no water gets into the brake fluid and it will be ok.

Hope this helps.

Davie

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