Airbrushing white paint

[6029 King Stephen]

I am having problems painting a non-railway model which requires a white finish.  The model in question is an old Matchbox kit of the Tyrell P34 six-wheel F1 car.  The upper body is mould in blue plastic and this needs the upper cockpit part painted white whilst the lower part needs to be painted French blue.  I have either Humbrol or Revell acrylic white and Railmatch GWR Coach white in enamel available.  I am using my new Iwata SBS airbrush with pressure set to 15psi. 

 

I have been using the Humbrol no.34 acrylic paint mixed to the consistency of milk.  When I first sprayed it, the paint seemed to not be sticking the plastic so I washed it off under a running tap and then washed all the plastic parts in warm water with CIF and a toothbrush to scrub the parts.  I left them for the remainder of the day to dry.  When I sprayed the parts again, I found that is was very difficult to get a consistent, smooth finish without it flooding the model in some parts and "speckling" in others.  I left it to dry until the next day.  The next day, I tried to apply another thin coat but again the mix seemed to be too watery and it began flooding the model.  I washed the new coat off under a running tap and have put it aside in frustration.  I am probably more frustrated with myself for not buying Humbrol enamel no.34 or Tamiya acrylic white during a recent visit to the UK.

 

Any tips on how to airbrush white onto a model would be welcome.  Is there any other colour that I could use as a priming coat for a white topcoat?  As mentioned, I have the full range of Humbrol and Revell acrylics at my disposal and a few colours in the Tamiya and Railmatch ranges.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

[lapford34102]

I feel your pain when it comes to Humbrol acrylics, never had any success spraying them even onto primed surfaces.

 

Strip  the old paint off - foam oven cleaner works quite well - then I'd invest in  a rattle can white primer then try the Revell

 

Stu

[ROSSPOP]

Hi

 

I cannot for the life of me understand why modellers use spray acrylics, they dry too quickly  , cause airbrushes to block and are prone to chip damage over time.

 

Advise:-

 

change to enamels.

 

if you hav`nt already, buy some xylene and acetone from Ebay ( both used in the expensive liquid reamer)  make a 50/50 mix and use to clean your airbrush during and after each use.

 

 

regards

 

John

[John Tomlinson]

Spraying white onto a colour like blue, or indeed most colours, will always give problems of coverage. Its best to give an undercoat of lightish gray first, and then the white will have a much better chance of covering properly.

 

Like Rosspop I've stuck with enamels over the years, technophobic I know, but these seem to work for me. There have been issues of quality with Humbrol in recent years, discussed at length on the Forum, but I would heartily recommend both Railmatch and Precision. Last week I tried Revell for the first time, and had excellent results with their 65 green on a 1/35 Centurion tank!

 

John.

[6029 King Stephen]

I am currently living and working in Cameroon where there are no model shops and no supplier of Humbrol or any other range of enamel paints.  I cannot get paint sent to me from the UK and so I am stuck with the acrylics that I have.  Personally, I prefer using enamels and had most colours in the Humbrol and Revell ranges prior to coming here but the packers list of prohibited items included paint so I stored all my enamel and Tamiya paints at my parents.  When the packing day came I mentioned that I had had model paints and was told that these would have been OK to pack and that the paint they were referring to was large tins of household paint.  I subsequently went and bought the whole Humbrol acrylics range but after arriving in Cameroon and finding that several of the paints were dried hard in their bottles when opened for the first time, I bought the entire Revell acrylics range on my first leave journey to the UK.  During my most recent trip to UK, I bought some colours from the Humbrol enamel range and a few more from the Tamiya acrylics range but did not think to buy white no.34.

 

I will try the suggestion of using a light grey colour as a primer.  I will then try using the Railmatch GWR roof white paint that I am sure is an enamel and see how that goes.  Then I will have to mask of the white area after the paint has been left to harden for a few days and then spray on the Humbrol enamel no.14, French blue.  I have found Revell acrylics to be far superior to Humbrol acrylics when I have hand brushed them on models.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

[6029 King Stephen]

Last night I sprayed Revell acrylic no.47 Mouse Grey onto the upper body and it adhered much better.  I will leave it for 24 hours and will then try spraying Revell acrylic gloss white this evening.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

[Crantock]

My local art shop sells pots of acrylic retarder that you mix with the paint.  About £10 for 250 cc.  Not quite enough experience to form a view on it but have done some successful acrylic airbrushing.

[Adrian Wintle]

My go-to primer for plastics is Tamiya in spray cans, either the grey or the white. The white is a bit finer, but needs more coats to get coverage over a dark colour. 

 

Adrian

[brossard]

I recently received some Humbrol acrylic paint and happened to notice that the label said "Made in China".  That's disappointing since I've heard the Chinese stuff wasn't so great.  I did use it for a brush finish on a brake van and that doesn't seem too bad.

 

I was concerned about Stu's comment regarding lack of success airbrushing Humbrol acrylics.  I have some coaches to build and planned to airbrush them.  Over here sources of UK paint colours are limited. Anyone know of a source of enamel Cream and Carmine in Canada?  I actually have some enamel BR maroon.

 

I have airbrushed enamels successfully but my preference has always been acrylic.  Maybe in light of John's comments I should reconsider.

 

As for spraying white, I've always used a rattle can (Testors) white which covers well.

 

John

[Campaman]

 I thin acrylics with Johnsons Klear for spraying, seems to stay wetter during spraying than water.

[Guy Rixon]

I recently sprayed Tamiya acrylics for the first time, using their own thinners which is a mix of propanol and butanol. This seems to work at least as well as spraying enamels, and with less clogging than when spraying Vallejo "model air" acrylics. I think the alcohol mix may act as both a dilutant and a retarder, but am uncertain of the exact chemistry. If it works with Tamiya paint, it may well work with any acrylic, and I suspect that the constituent alcohols can be bought in most places.

[Mick Bonwick]

Last night I sprayed Revell acrylic no.47 Mouse Grey onto the upper body and it adhered much better.  I will leave it for 24 hours and will then try spraying Revell acrylic gloss white this evening.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

Your description of the white acrylic coverage problem seems to suggest a mix that's too thin. I recommend mixing very small quantities at a time in your side cup, gradually increasing the pigment content until you find the right mix for your application. Also ensure that the paint still in the container is well mixed - Humbrol acrylics are normally quite good, but I have known some where the pigment is so separated from the carrier that mixing it satisfactorily takes up to 10 minutes. The length of time a tin/jar has been on the retailer's shelf will affect state of the mixture inside.

[6029 King Stephen]

Thanks Mick for your advice.  I think you are right that the white paint mix was probably too thin and the quality fo the paint depends on the length of time it has been on the shelf and stored before use.

 

Going off on a slight tangent, I also enjoyed your article in the November Hornby mag on spray booths.  I currently have the Expo version of the booth that you highlighted as being not so healthy when it came to paint extraction.  The most annoying aspect to this booth is that when it has been assembled, if you try to move it using the handle, the front sides have a tendency to fall down.  The securing of these is problematic as you really need three hands. 

 

In the recent BRM magazine there is a reader's offer that includes a booth with a light that looks easier to set up that costs around £66 (cheaper than the Expo version that I currently have) and I would be interested in your views on this.  Based on your article, I am interested in getting the one that cost £125 as the amount of airbrushing that I do would not warrant spending more than this on a booth.  I also have one of the respirators that you reviewed but have yet to try it out.  I usually have the air con blowing from behind me that wafts the fumes towards the filter but if the motor is not powerful enough to draw the fumes through the filter, then I really need to start using the respirator!

 

Regards,

 

Steve

[neilkirby]

Best white coverage I have ever had with acrylic was using vallejo white primer straight out of the bottle. Usual disclaimers apply.

 

Regards,

 

Neil

[Nile_Griffith]

I realise that your location might mean getting a hold of this product is difficult, but I can't recommend Vallejo acrylic products enough. Their "Model Air" paints are ready to go from the bottle, although with white I would recommend using their white primer as a base. I've used their various acrylic products through my own iawata airbrushes for some years now and use of their airbrush cleaner has meant that so long as I have my cleaning regime in place at the start of each project I have had little problems with airbrushing acrylics.

[ROSSPOP]

Aha!   The trusted Expo extractor.......or not.   I`ve had mine for at least 8 years and has been better than nothing so long as you use a good face mask.

Unfortunately very early on it was apparent that the type of plastic used for the canopy reacted (melted) with the type of thinners and airbrush cleaners I use........ acetone + xylene and the hinges quicly deteriorated and  the hood panels have been held together with Duck tape ever since.

 

Oh well , at least I`ve had my money`s worth !!!!!!

 

 

[Fixair]

Aha!   The trusted Expo extractor.......or not.   I`ve had mine for at least 8 years and has been better than nothing so long as you use a good face mask.

Unfortunately very early on it was apparent that the type of plastic used for the canopy reacted (melted) with the type of thinners and airbrush cleaners I use........ acetone + xylene and the hinges quicly deteriorated and  the hood panels have been held together with Duck tape ever since.

 

Oh well , at least I`ve had my money`s worth !!!!!!

 

 

DSC03098.JPG

I use both enamel and acrylics for both 1/72nd aircraft and railways.

For acrylics as with enamel wash the parts to be sprayed in and washing up liquid/water. I use an electric toothbrush as well to really degrease the larger parts.

Prime with Hannants acrylic primer which is in fact ghost grey. It acts as a superb primer and shows up any blemishes that need filling or sanding.I use an Iwata Eclipse Airbrush at about 12 p.s.i

If you wish to slow down the drying add Isopropil alcohol to the paint  (local chemist) and water thinning it to the consistency that YOUR airbrush is happy with. Use thin coats and not too distant from the model because it will of course dry before it gets to the model.

Modellers make the mistake that because acrylics dry quickly they think that they can mask it or roughly handle it soon after. Give it at least 12 hours to cure. I have no problems masking it with good quality tape. Tamiya being the best. Avoid B&Q etc crap like the plague. I even use a a combination of tape and rolled out sausages of Blu Tac for camouflage patters and this is removed without damage.

I agree that acrylics tend to clog airbrushes at the tip. Simple solution. Have a cotton bud soaked in the Iso propil and just clear the tip as you go. Get some good quality airbrush cleaner and here is the secret.................... Blow though and back wash the brush at the end of the session then remove the front element of the brush, back off the needle and put the plastic tube of the aerosol cleaner over the end of the nozzle and blast it back into the cup. Then empty the cup, reposition the needle and end cap blast more cleaner through the brush then remove the needle and wipe clean. Only put the needle back when spraying again........Trouble free airbrushing.

Good luck. There is much to be said for water based acrylic but it will never adhere to bare plastic. It must be primed. I always prime enamels. As for spraying white I have very successfully painted a 1/72nd Short Sunderland with Humbrol acrylic white with excellent results.

[6029 King Stephen]

I have managed to have a success airbrushing the white to my model.  I primed it with Revell acrylic Mouse Grey and after waiting several weeks, I airbrushed on Revell gloss white.  I think that I may have slightly overthinned the paint because it has dried to a slightly grainy appearance without a smooth, glossy finish.  I will be sanding it down with Tamiya fine grit sandpaper and then giving it another coat, probably using Railmatch acrylic roof white. 

 

I think that my change in fortunes with achieving a better airbrush finish is down to the performance of my Iwata SBS airbrush that admittedly cost around £150 but was absolutely worth every penny.  When I think how much I have wasted on buying cheap airbrushes over the years and becoming disillusioned with the whole airbrushing experience - I should have bitten the bullet years ago and bought a quality product.  The difference in airbrushing with the SBS is that I airbrush at a much lower pressure (15psi) and once paints are thinned to a milky consistency, I do not get any disasters that I want to wash off immediately.  I have used it to successfully airbrush Humbrol acrylics and enamels, Revell acrylics and Railmatch enamels.

 

I am travelling to Australia this weekend and whilst there, I shall be buying the whole of the Life Colour acrylic range and failing that, the enitre Vallejo air range - although I understand the latter still need diluting with water for airbrush use despite the name.  In recent weeks since getting the SBS my railway modelling has taken the back burner as it has renewed my interest in plastic and whitemetal modelling because I am now able to get the same results as I have seen in magazines or that others seem to achieve.

 

Long may it continue....

 

Regards,

 

Steve

[6029 King Stephen]

I was unable to source the Lifecolor paint range in Perth but was able to buy some packs of Vallejo Air; WW2 Allied colours, WW2 German collours, Weathering colours, Chipping set, Rust and Steel set as well as a set of Italeri WW2 Allied colours set.  I also bought a load more individual Vallejo Air colours too.  In all I spent about £500 on paints and came back with 70 odd Vallejo colours, Revell and Humbrol enamels and some Tamiya acrylics.

 

Yesterday I sprayed a 1/35 ICM Opel convertible with Vallejo Air Dark Earth straight from the bottle into the airbrush cup and onto the model without thinning it and it went on a treat.  I was airbrushing at 10-15psi as recommended by both Iwata and Vallejo and it was brilliant.  I will be buying the remainder of Vallejo Air colours when I visit the UK in February.  I might also get some of the sets provided by Lifecolour too.

 

Regards,

 

Steve