Air brush questions

[rossb]

I've been painting with cans for a while and I'm going to starting playing with an airbrush. I noticed on the Pactra site that I am supposed to mix the paint with thinner before spraying:

http://www.testors.com/catalog_item.asp?itemNbr=1290

Is that true of all airbrush R/C paints? When using cans I typically shot at least a full 3oz can onto the body. How much paint is used when airbrushing a body?

 

[Candyman]

Typically I thin the paint. Pactra Acryl and Faskolor can be thinned with water. Actually, I use washer fluid because it evaporates faster. Enamels can be thinned with paint thinner. Thinning the paint will allow it to atomize better and you can spray it at a lower pressure. The actual ratio will vary but it seems a lot of people like close to 1:1 ratio. I would suggest getting a panel to practice on until you get the feel for the process. Use a pane of glass, or plexi or a 2-liter soda bottle cut in half.
And as far as how much paint you'll use, it depends on what you're painting. I usually try to keep the paint as thin as possible while still giving good color. Thinner paint is more resistant to chips and cracks.

 

[rossb]

1:1 sounds like a lot, Pactra says 9 parts paint to 1 part thinner. How much paint are you shooting on a typical touring car body?

The Pactra 3 oz cans are about $4 and the Pactra 2/3 oz bottles are about $3. Is the 3 oz can really over 4x the paint volume of the 2/3 oz bottle?

 

[Lessen]

I've actually been doing about 2:1 (paint:thinner) with Pactra paints.. with the exception of Sprint White which for some reason needs more thinner to keep from "webbing". Keep in mind that the more you thin the paint the less pigment is in the mix. Therefore you may need more coats then if you were to spray the paint straight out of the bottle. This is especially apparent with pearls and metallics. Backing these types of paints with white or silver is a must if you are to achive the proper tone.

 

[4u2nv]

Only paint I thin is Faskolor and I thin it with Windex. Seems to make it spray alot better. I mix it also about 2:1 but pactras stuff I dont touch. It hasnt gave me a reason to yet.

 

[hamz9561]

I'm kind of a newbie to the airbrush aspect of the hobby but what the other guys said is as good as the advice you'll get anywhere. I especially would recommend that you follow Candyman's advice and practice, practice and more practice. I use the 2-liter soda bottles and have learned how to make a good looking carbon fiber treatment using them.

 

[evilgrin]

Hey Rossb A full can per body is a bit of overkill even on a savage body.
when painting with the airbrush you want enough paint to give good coverage and get the shade of the color your looking for, you don't need much but it does vary from color to color and fluorescents are a world unto them selves.

I mainly use faskolor, createx and spaz stix paints never used the pactra.
with the water base I never ever thin with just plain water paint takes forever to dry that way as was stated above thin water based with Windex straight or cut with water (50/50) the alcohol in the Windex will cause the paint to dry a bit faster and the blue will not effect the colors at all. some also thin with 70% rubbing alcohol cut with Windex (50/50 or 60/40) this dries the paint very quickly and is great for detail work so the paint doesn't run all over the place from the air pressure.

one other thing to keep in mind is that each color has it's own ratios just cause 50/50 worked with lets say red it won't work with lets say green it may need 70/30 your best bet is to take lots of notes as your experiment/practice so when you go to paint your next killer body you have all the info you need. after a while it sorta becomes second nature kinda like remembering that the steering is reversed when your driving the car towards you the first few times it's a bit of a challenge then you don't even think about it you just do it.

A great site for all painting related info is www.cfxpaintworks.com tons of great info and very helpful painters.