Check out this new line of paints!

[MustangMan]

Company name is Auto Air Colors. They originally marketed air brush paints for crafts but the son of the founder reformulated for auto (1:1) painting. They've got over 200 custom colors (like Hous of Kolors if you're familiar) but what's cool is this stuff is water based with ultra low VOCs and comes in as small as a four ounce bottle!

I just got some samples for 1:1 car painting, but I emailed their tech support about flexability and painting Lexan. Here's the email response:

Dear Mark:
Thank you for contacting Auto Air Colors. Please excuse our delayed reponse to your inquiry.

The Auto Air Colors are incredibly flexible and do not require a flex additive for any application. They are well suited for use on lexan body cars.
If you are using an airbrush, many colors atomize beter when thinned with the Auto Air Reducer. They can be reduced in any ratio. Some colors such as the Pearls and Semi-opaques are reduced 300% - 400%.
Thank you and please let us know if we may be of any further service.

Sincerely,
Auto Air Colors
Technical Support
[email protected]

Anyway, I've spraying some Pearlescent Mango on some scrap lexan to see how it works (with my cheapo $5 dollar air brush I might add! First time using it)...

Check their distributor listing for a paint supply house near you and feel free to give it a shot. I'm sure there's a lot better painters on here than me...

www.autoaircolors.com

 

[PiErow]

I will stick to spaz stix and faskolor. Although i have yet to try spazstix.

 

[MustangMan]

That's fine. I'm just letting those know who are willing to try something new or want an incredible look you can't get with other off the shelf paints for Lexan bodies...

I just finished three light coats of the Mango with one final semi-heavy coat. It looks good but needs to be backed by some white (which they also sent me)...

They've got pearls, metallics, color shifting, opaques, etc...

 

[savagefan04]

thanks for the tip. are u thinning out the colors or just spraying straight?

 

[MustangMan]

I thinned the Mango with a few drops of water. But I don't think I really needed to (still learning how the airbrush works)...

According to the literature the AAC paint uses a .50mm tip and my el cheapo came with a .75mm tip.

For the backing coat of white (basically working in reverse of painting a 1:1 car) I didn't thin at all.

What's cool about these paints is the low VOC (I was painting in my kitchen! try that with a rattle can) and the fact that whatever you don't use (that's not thinned) you can pour right back in the bottle.

This might be "old news" for other water based air brush paints, but in the 1:1 painting industry this is unheard of! The normal 1:1 paints get reduced, thinned, flexed, etc. depending upon the surface, humidity, painting hardware, etc and any left over is waste.

 

[MustangMan]

BTW, I've finished the painting sample. Letting it dry over night, then I will flex the crap out of the Lexan and post some pics...

 

[PiErow]

I checked out the link. I like some of those paint jobs, their sick. Where did yu get the stuff?

 

[Buncrana]

I saw those at Bruckner Hobbies in the Bronx and they were about $14 a bottle.

 

[FRIDGE]

OMG I've been using auto air for a very long time. but i can't say that you guys were supposed to know i am a true airbrush freak at heart. auto air works really good and they have soo many colors like he said. as a tip you can use a hair dryer if you want to speed up the drying time (thats my reason for using it soo much) as for where youcan get auto air check their "Dealer listings" and you should be able to find a dealer in your area pretty easy.... **edit**!! Buncrana are you aerious i never checked bruckner for them but i didnt know that they were that expensive. it must have been the 8oz. or 16 oz. bottle. that not good. if you guys want some AA check Dixieart.com they have nice deals on the stuff there!! only thing is you should check the auto air site before hand so that you can know what colors you want.

 

[Buncrana]

Fridge, you got pics of your work?

 

[MustangMan]

OK...

Here's the scrap of Lexan I shot last night...

This is a cutout wheel opening from my HPI '56 F-100 body I am about to start on...

This is their Sparklescent Mango...

Applied with my $5 air brush from Harbor Freight... :dance:

It is backed by their white "base coat" (remember on 1:1 painting the white would go down first...)

I dried each coat with a hair dryer (took mere seconds before I could lay another coat on)...

Check out how flexible this stuff is!

 

[evilgrin]

I've been painting with the Createx Auto-Air line of paints for the last few years it's great stuff and the color selection is fantastic.
For those of you that didn't know Parma buys their faskolr directly from createx and simply puts their label on it and resells it to you at a higher price, they add nothing to the paint to make it flex or stick any better.

The auto-air paints have the flex agent already added to the paint witch makes it ideal for painting lexan bodies, but the regular createx works just as well provided you don't spray it on too thick.

Buncrana bruckner is a rip off when it comes to the auto-air paints I belive they are selling the 4oz bottles of AA for 14$ it's been several months since i've been there so I may be wrong on the size of the bottle. you can go online and get AA much cheaper at www.dixieart.com or www.bearair.com.

MustangMan welcome to the wonderful world of water based paint, createx recently reintroduced their AA paints about a year ago after redesigning the formula the new stuff works even better then the old formula I'm still using.
And just cause you can dry it with the hairdryer it's still not fully cured it still needs a good 24 - 48 hours to completly cure other wise it does some funky stuff when you try to clear coat it.

 

[MustangMan]

Thanks...

I'm still waiting on the color chart book and the "How to Paint Flames" DVD so I can start on my 1:1 paint project.

In the mean time, I'm painting my HPI '56 Mango with Lime or Teal flames. This stuff is sweet!

 

[evilgrin]

Post up some pics when your done i'd love to see it.