"I'll do the thinnin' around here....and don't ferget it!"

Hints here for painting, decalling, weathering and displaying your finished models.
Post Reply
Blue Elephant
Getting well comfy!
Posts: 91
Joined: March 15th, 2014, 7:23 am
Location: Peterborough (the Real One) South Australia

"I'll do the thinnin' around here....and don't ferget it!"

Post by Blue Elephant »

Okay, digressing from my "Quickdraw McGraw" post title, I've been using my Aztek airbrush ...relatively...happily for a while now, and I appreciate that it takes practice to use effectively.....I've been thinning my paint (Lifecolor) to roughly the consistency of milk, thinned with distilled water to about a 50-50 ratio. Now I've started using Lifecolor's "own brand' thinners..to the same ratio, and find that, if anything, I've thinned it TOO far, as it runs like water. :sad: The compressor pops along at 15-20 psi..if anything, 18psi. I've backed the pressure off, increased/descreased the airflow, tried all except holding my tongue out the LEFT side of my mouth and still getting this runny mess.............it especially happens with the warmer primary colours, ie red & yellow............and I'm not even game to look at, let alone attempt NMFs! The recent disaster involved a day-glo red Aerospatiale Gazelle.........despite the even coating with Tamiya White Primer, it (red) just wouldn't appear smoothly and ended up looking horribly patchy..................the Red Arrows aircraft will have to wait!
Any clues/suggestions, please?
User avatar
AndrewR
In the basement lab
Posts: 23913
Joined: April 5th, 2011, 4:13 pm
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, The Great White North
Contact:

Re: "I'll do the thinnin' around here....and don't ferget it

Post by AndrewR »

I would suggest cutting back on the amount of solvent you dilute the paint with. The Life Color solvent will be more effective than pure water. Try 2:1 paint:solvent and see how that looks.
Up in the Great White North
Blue Elephant
Getting well comfy!
Posts: 91
Joined: March 15th, 2014, 7:23 am
Location: Peterborough (the Real One) South Australia

Re: "I'll do the thinnin' around here....and don't ferget it

Post by Blue Elephant »

Thanks Andrew, I've got a junky old Boeing P26, part of a job lot....I'll see how it looks in Day-glo Red :)
rob_van_riel
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 3317
Joined: November 4th, 2012, 11:28 am
Location: The Netherlands
Contact:

Re: "I'll do the thinnin' around here....and don't ferget it

Post by rob_van_riel »

Blue Elephant wrote:Any clues/suggestions, please?
I've never used lifecolour, and shy away from proprietory thinners, so I can't be too specific, but my normal response to problem paints is to limit needle movement to the bare minimum that will allow paint to flow. The result is that the paint is all but dry the moment it hits the kit. This doesn't allways work, as some paints simply refuse to flow well unless I open the needle further, but it might be something to try.
Which nozzle are you using? I find that the black nozzle (for reasons I have yet to determine) actually does give the best results with acrylics.
Blue Elephant
Getting well comfy!
Posts: 91
Joined: March 15th, 2014, 7:23 am
Location: Peterborough (the Real One) South Australia

Re: "I'll do the thinnin' around here....and don't ferget it

Post by Blue Elephant »

Hi Rob, for overall coverage I generally used the black nozzle, but had been having trouble with it, but a thorough clean got it working as normal. Perhaps my renowned impatience is causing me the grief? :D
SteveC
The Bug Has Well And Truly Bitten
Posts: 377
Joined: October 28th, 2012, 1:40 pm

Re: "I'll do the thinnin' around here....and don't ferget it

Post by SteveC »

A little late to this thread, but, for what it's worth, I would recommend just going back to using water.

I used the RAF set recently with the thinners and it was tricky to say the least. All the paints gave very patchy coverage and flowed too well if anything, but still managed to dry on the nozzle.

I switched back to just water, much less than you think you need, nowhere near 50:50 and quite a low pressure and it worked much better. This was with an Iwata Eclipse, 35mm needle.

When I flushed the brush through at the end, water even seemed to do a better job of cleaning as well.

Not sure if this helps at all.

Regards,

Steve
Post Reply

Return to “Finishing Tips”