Acrylics Tips on air brushing

Wayneb · Jul 23, 2011

Hey Guys,
My first question since recently joining this great group......
Have just cleaned my air brushes and I need some advice as to how to break down acrylics to flow properly through the brush...Using reaper pro paints that are somewhat thick and I know are discontinued but are still good;also some andreas' paints.
Looking to lay down base coats....I am ..was using the air brush to color or tint wood carvings with oil base stains and am concerned that the acrylics will dry too fast and clog the brush.
Any tips would be appreciated before I get started.
Thanks in advance........Wayne

Reccymech · Jul 23, 2011

I'll start by stating I'm definately no where as good as many of the members of this forum are, but, for what's it worth. When thinning down the various mediums, ie enamel, acrylics I'm pretty conservative. With enamels that I use (HUmbrol), is thinned with standard enamel thinners purchased from Bunnings (large building supplier in Australia). Acrylics I use, Valllejo, their thinner and the same for Tamiya it's own brand.

With acrylics people have posted that they will use deminerlised water, and/or isoproply alcohol, as yet I have not tried this, so cannot comment other than to use it to clean my airbrush.

When thinning with whatever medium, the 'flow' is that of milk, and the best example is to just test and adjust till the consistency is correct for painting.

Probably does'nt answer your question fully but may at least give an understanding. I'm sure someone will come along and correct as required.

Wayneb · Jul 23, 2011

Thanks for your reply,
I guess the answer that I was looking for is there a flow agent or retarder that would keep the tip clear as acrylics dry so relatively fast.
Again............thanks for any advice

kansas kid · Jul 23, 2011

Hi Wayne: re airbrushing Acrylics

Hi Wayne:

Now I will tell you that I presume a lot more knowledgeable PF Planeteers
will respond to your question. However, . . . duh. . . this is the weekend. But
I will put in my two cents.

Since you are using acrylic paints. . . and yes, the better quality paints are
somewhat thick. And that is as it should be. We do cut the paint. I am
suggesting that you consider one of the Winsor Newton products for an easy
flow of your acrylics in jour air gun. Yes, it is expensive, . . . but you only use
a few drops in each cup of paint. As to what the formula is, you learn that
by experience. And naturally, you learn those lessons on a substitute piece,
or a piece of scratch material. You don't do that on your important project.

Disciplined model builders do not want any surprises. So we experiment with
a certain technique or new product on a piece of no importance. That way
we learn all the lessons and so we won't be 'surprised' when we working on
the important project.

The Winsor Newton product I recommend for using in your air gun is called
Flow Improver. And I put just a couple of drops in the air gun cup along
with the paint, and I think it works just fine. In the USA a 125 ML bottle costs
about $10 USA dollars. I hope this is of some help to you.

As I said, the main movers and shakers, our best PF modelers will have
better information for you come the following week.

Good luck,

The Miami Jayhawker

Wayneb · Jul 23, 2011

Hello Jayhawker,
I have Winsor & newton oils and flow improver but did not think it was compatable with acrylics.But I am not trying to fool anyone.I am a novice miniature painter with a fierce desire to learn.Any help is appreciated..........thanks for responding..........Wayne

Ferris · Jul 24, 2011

Hi Wayne,

I recently started to use an airbrush for figures and Vajello acrylics (used it for planes, tanks and dioramas before, with enamel and Tamiya acrylics).

I used an acrylics paint thinner (Vajello has one, but I got mine from a specialized airbush store'; this is not just a thinner, but actually the paint's medium (so the paint without the pigment). This worked very well, even to very fine dilution.

I've tried plain water as well. This worked, but did not flow as nicely and formed surface droplets at high dilution. So I can recommend the medium. By the way, I assume Rick meant ti use a W&N flow medium for acrylics; I would be very surprised if it were compatible with oils. You could have a look at the W&N website to see what they offer.

About keep your airbush clean. Yes, I worried about that too. I tried two things here, that both worked:

- Airbrush cleaner for acrylics from the same airbrush shop. Prepare a seprate airbrush container and spray some every now and then (so replace the paint cup with this container). Use the same stuff and a hog's hair brush (cheap one from China; they have their uses!) to clean out the nozzle from the front every few minutes, so the paint doesn't build up. Watch out for spatters after doing that.

- Do the same as above, but with alcohol. Worked almost as good, but is more smelly.

So to summarize my experience: I'd recommend to look for a specialized acrylics thinner and an acrylics airbrush cleaner at an airbrush shop. They were not even that expensive (try and find a neutral brand).

The painting itself went perfectly and was much more even and a lot quicker than hairbrush work.

You can even do some highlighting and shading with the airbrush. Mark Benette here at the forum is a master at this; have a look at his vBench if you want to learn about Mark's technique.

Well, hope this helps. Good luck!

Cheers,
Adrian

Hans · Jul 24, 2011

Wayne, Acrylics and Acrylics may not be the same. Some are water bases, some are alcohol based. The alcohol bases (like Tamiya or Mr Hobby) are better suitable for airbrushing than the water based ones. The water based ones can be diverted again. Some of them like Revell Aqua will accept "higher" Alcohols as a thinner, but most won't.
The reason for clocking is that water bases acrylics (....and water is not the real thinner, it's just the medium for this emulgate...) are prone to built up a "film" very fast. What you you need is, is a medium which prolonges this film-building.

Usually every producer of acrylics offer some sort of "retarder". Revell offers a "Aqua Mix" which acts as thinners plus retarder. Mr Hobby offers a "retarder mild" which can be used with water based acrylics also. Vallejo offers an own product. Every art store offers retarder for artist's acrylics and some of them works fine for air brushing, too.
For a fast and a homegrown solution I often uses window cleaning fluid for thinning water based acrylics. Usually these window cleaners consists of water, tensids (soap), alcohol and (outside Germany) often holds some ammonia. This "thinner" works quite good, but after some minutes you have to clean the nozzle also.
Therefore: Never start spraying on the object. If the nozzle "pukes", the results are not on the object. Hold a brush with thinners at hand and clean the nozzle after some time. Open the airbrush nozzle wide and spray it "clean".
Some airbrushes with long nozzles may clogg earlier than others and unpolished needles will help clogging also.

H

Wayneb · Jul 24, 2011

Thanks Hans,
Very interesting info and is much appreciated.I will put it to use.
Thanks again,
Wayne

dubik · Jul 25, 2011

I just bought Andrea's thinner, and it smells like it's alcohol based. It's quite interesting actually. I used it yesterday and it breaks paint quite nicely, it becomes very fluid. Vallejo's thinner is a bit different. Also I saw in one compendium video, that a guy used airbrush cleaner to thin paint, I bet it won't let paint clog in your airbrush

Uruk-Hai · Jul 25, 2011

When I started airbrushing Vallejo I had problems. It helped a lot when I started using Liquitex Flowaid with Distilled water to thin the paint with.

Cheers
Janne Nilsson

pmfs · Jul 25, 2011

with model color.

I use Ajax glass cleanner!

skeeterbuck · Jul 25, 2011

Wayne, I also have a hard time airbrushing Andrea or Vallejo acrylics, but for me if I'm airbrushing Tamiya or Gunze acrylics, I use acrylic lacquer thinner. Yes, that;s right! Acrylic lacquer thinner. Tamiya and Gunze both have it and it mixes beautifully with either and sprays very well. Hope this helps!
Charles

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