Anyone have any comments on water-based paints for airbrushing to help me make a decision? Modelflex,Pollyscale, etc. Thanks!
I use and like Modelflex - straight out of the bottle. No need to dilute. Be carful of 'old' stock - the paint thickens up with age (even in sealed new containers) it can be diluted with water.
I'd like to second that on the modelflex. I do a lot of custom painting including some contract work and I absolutly hate using anything but modelflex. THe only downside I've found to it (besides the old paint issue, which I haven't had a problem with yet) is that some of the colors are very sensitive to whats underneath. I recently did a bunch of cabooses in (surprise!) caboose red and no two are exactly the same shade of red, even after several coats. It's been my observation that the reds are the most sensitive to this. The other nice thing about the modelflex is that the bottles have the same thread pattern as the siphon lids for my Testors airbrush, so when I want to paint I just open a bottle, screw on the lid and spray! One other hint for modelflex is it helps if you ocassionally run some thinner through the brush as it brakes up the pigment and does a really super job cleaning the brush. I do this every few months and have no problems. Hope this helps, CHris
Chris - I have been using SP Light Gray as a primer under whites reds and yellows. I prefer it to the regular Primer Gray. If you are painting a model with white and black plastic it seems to be better to start with a light coat of Primer, then SP Light Gray and then white/red/yellow.
Back when we used to do tricked out paint jobs on our Harley tanks, we found that a light coat of silver over the grey primer, made yellows, and whites brilliant. It seems to reflect the color better when the color is thin, which we need to prevent hiding detail like rivets.
<font color="336633">I use which ever paint I can get hold of, I get through quite a bit of TTX yellow...... I prefer to spray the old xylene based paints but as its now impossable to get them imported I have no choice but to use the water based ones </font>
Watash, You know why that paint under coating done what it did don't you? You painted the gray onto the surface, then scuffed it and repainted a coat of silver, and then probably scuffed that. then to start the base coat of the body color, then once that dried then went and scuffed that and gave it another coat of body color. And when it was all dry the silver would reflect depth in the paint. If you went and scuffed that last coat one more time and gave it another coat of body color it would have really reflected the depth in the paint! I done all types of work with paint, from painting real homes to painting cars old and new even classics! And the way to get a glassy finish on a car is to coat whatever the orginal color is with a gray primer, "high build" once dry, scuff it for another coat to be aplied and stick and then shoot a thin coat of silver on the gray as a primer sealer, and lightly scuff it I mean real light not to much that the scuffing would take the silver color off but enough to get another coat of paint to stick and dry. Then blow on a coat of the body color as a base coat, let dry, scuff and do it again. a thin coat of body color 3 times and then a finish coat of gloss on it all will make that car look like glass! It will have a deep reflecting shine from the silver paint under the body color.. Its all from light. The light will shine through the body color and reflect off the silver paint and cause a "depth" effect in the paint. This is a trick of some real autobody shops that knows what they are doing or restoration shops for old cars like the Model T's and such... I helped refurbish a 1933 Plymonth 5 window coupe about 3 or 4 years ago. Its an easter egg now! HA ...... Purple and Yellow... shinning like a new silver dollar and looks like glass!!!!! And not a section of the car is bought aftermarket! Its all factory steel! No plexiglass in the thing anywhere....The guy that owns it asked if I'd help him with the body work and painting it and all and I did and well If my memory serves me right he dumped a Mopar "AAR" 340 in it with a 4 speed transmission. I know it will haul the mail thats forsure! I got to drive it around a few times and all and the flat road above my house is like a mile and a half stretch and I opened up the 6 pack on it and WOW! 110 MPH in no time! I didn't squeal the tires at all, but i'm possitive that it would smoke them right off!!!! HA!
I've found, when using water-based paints, that a little general purpose alcohol for thinner will speed up drying time and allow a smoother finish. It also seems to thin the paint better than water
