If you paint your rockets with an airbrush what paint do you use?
Those who use airbrush to paint what brand of paint do you use?
- Thread starter solid_fuel
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rharshberger
Well-Known Member
I most use Testors or Rustoleum (quart size canned paint) andcthe Rusto is thinned with Acetone to get proper spaying consistency.
Gary Byrum
Overstable By Design
Automotive. Acrylic Enamels. Millions of colors to choose from and you can buy as little as 4 oz. Requires a hardener and a reducer which lasts a really long time.
rharshberger
Well-Known Member
Where you getting 4oz quantities at Gary?
Gary Byrum
Overstable By Design
NAPA Auto Parts refers to it as a quarter pint. That's how I usually buy it. Made the mistake of buying a whole pint when I first started using them. Still have most of it and it'll go bad before I ever use it all.
rharshberger
Well-Known Member
Good to know, thank you.
thanks everyone.
double thanks for this
Gary Byrum
Overstable By Design
No problem. Getting started with having to purchase the reducer and hardener too, might seem pricey at first, but in the long run. there's a lot of mileage to be had with those. Not near the waste in paint and you use a lot less of it. The cost really averages about the same too. Another thing I learned the hard way, if you are looking for a glossy finish, get the "wet look hardener". They'll carry both and the other isn't glossy. Shop around for hardener though. NAPA charges a f'ing fortune for it. O'Reilly's has compatible hardeners at 1/2 the cost.
I am already spending a fortune on rattle cans and the color availability just isn't there for some colors. I have the compressor and airbrush already; I imagine that's where the majority of start up cost would be? I get a volume discount at a few auto parts wholesalers through work so that will help with the costs.
Airbrush or spray gun as in an HVLP?
I was under the impression that airbrush colours were water or urethane based, such as the ones in the following link? To be clear I am not saying this is or isn't the case but I purchased an airbrush recently and I have watched more videos on airbrush spraying techniques than I care to admit, in an effort to get some basic knowledge.
https://www.createxcolors.com/airbrushcolors.html
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=airbrushing+for+beginners
I just found this as well, it is called wicked paints by Createx, which is apparently a good substitute for urethane if you are doing a clear coat.
https://www.createxcolors.com
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in this post was specifically looking for advice on airbrushes. Like those made by Badger Air-brush Co.
Airbrushes can use enamels and non water based colors as well. Testors enamels are not water based and I think every kid from my era who built models as a kid used these and if you had an airbrush this is what you were spraying. That or Tamiya which I think are acrylic water based colors
As I said I know very little on this topic except for what I have researched and used. I have recently been painting with both an airbrush and several air HVLP guns, and so far I have only used them with automotive paints, specifically for convenience I have used the Dupli-Color 123 paint shop paints which doesn't require any mixing with hardeners/catalysts.
However I do know from several threads and conversations with automotive paint pros and enthusiasts, that the general consensus is that the better paints are ones that are mixed with a hardener/catalyst. Of course this may change as the technologies evolve and may have since I did that initial research. The point being from what I have seen a lot of airbrush artists use the water-based or urethane based paints that don't use hardeners but they do reduce them down with the applicable reducers.
I used to build and paint static models in my teens and back then I used the Testors enamels in my airbrush. I am just getting back into the airbrush and so far it has been limited to using automotive paint to blend out defects or paint damage, however I am now moving towards using it for graphics. This is what my airbrush research has been based around, not painting rockets as much as finer detail work. I don't believe that it would be practical to paint anything larger than a small rocket with an airbrush.
Love to see some of your work once you get your head around it and please share any tips you pick up.
Gary Byrum
Overstable By Design
When I asked the paint guy at NAPA about using automotive colors in an airbrush (several years ago) he recommended acrylic enamels. To which, he gave me mixing instructions. Basically 8 parts paint, 4 parts reducer and 1 part hardener. I broke his mix down to 2 oz and 1 oz quantities for my airbrush jars. For 2 oz jar I use 2 TBLS + 2 tsp of paint, 1 TBLS + 1 tsp reducer, and 1 tsp of hardener. Mix this very well and filter it into your jar. 1 oz jar - just divide by 2.
Nothing else required. Clean up with acetone. I usually just break down the entire airbrush and soak what I know it wont damage. Might want to invest in glass jars with metal lids though. The feeder tube in the jar is acetone resistant too btw.
Nothing else required. Clean up with acetone. I usually just break down the entire airbrush and soak what I know it wont damage. Might want to invest in glass jars with metal lids though. The feeder tube in the jar is acetone resistant too btw.
I use House Of Kolor paints run through a paasche dual action air brush with a bottom feed, so I can use a jar for airbrushing.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
As I mentioned in my previous post, I used to be a big static model builder when I was younger. This past summer I came across https://realspacemodels.com and ordered the Saturn 1B Block 2 SA-5, which I thought was a somewhat unique version of the Saturn family. I was planning on building it this winter and this thread reminded me that I needed to order some airbrush paint. So i just ordered a basic set of the Createx Wicked colours and reducer. I will let you know my first impressions as a novice on the topic, although my experience will be rudimentary at best.
More on the Saturn 1 Block 2 SA-5 mission and it's overall contribution to the Saturn program can be found here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_I_SA-5
More on the Saturn 1 Block 2 SA-5 mission and it's overall contribution to the Saturn program can be found here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_I_SA-5
Fantastic steampunk design and the paint looks great.
I use many of the acrylics (water based) from Createx, including their Wicked Colors line, Auto-Borne, Auto-Air, and so on. Water clean up. Been doing this for several years now. Clear coat with Future or any lacquer/enamel clear.
Have done, and no worries about drying in there if you fully disassemble and clean the brush. I clean it after each use anyway so no extra effort. However, I usually brush on future with a sponge brush and dab the drips.
Are all of the Createx brand paints water clean up? The local Hobby Lobby here carries many of the Createx colors and what they don’t have I can get on line.
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That sounds good, but I know absolutely nothing about mixing and spraying paint. What is hardener and reducer. What do they do, how do they work, how do you decide how much to use? I would guess hardener changes the drying time of the paint. What does reducer do? reduces what?
Sorry for the questions, but I've had a spray gun for a while and only used it for mold release, never paint.
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