Allan--mixing paint-new brainwave

[Allan]

H all,
Like most of you, I've been putting thinner in the bowl of my airbrush first and then adding paint. I've found that even mixing the thinner and paint by backflushing doesn't really mix the paint properly. It still seems sludgey. Smooth airbrushing is hard to do with poorly mixed paint.
I've come up with this idea. What I needed was some sort of recepticle that I can use over and over again to thin and mix the paint and thinner and then pour the resulting smooth, liquidy mixture into the bowl of the airbrush. That way the paint will be smoother and mottling easier to accomplish.
I've decided to use a metal thimble for this purpose. Here're some photos.
Allan in Canberra

[lancer]

It's a method that works very well. I have been using the same technique for a long time now. Now all I need is a decent working airbrush and I can perhaps get air brushing again

[sequoiaranger]

I have seen the type of airbrush that has a tiny source cup, but I don't have one like that. Still, I think making up paints as you go is hazardous if you want consistency (which I think you do).

I have the type of airbrush (Binks, c. 1970) that feeds from bottles with a tube that fits into the airbrush and bottle (with the tube fitted into a screw cap). I have two bottles of each type of paint--"regular" as a base from which I can make thinned airbrush paint, and to touch up, and "thinned" to use in the airbrush. The "thinned" stuff is all the same consistency (I have a habit of one hundred shakes before use and a small mixing ball inside to create currents). That means lots of paint bottles (I have hundreds), but I name each paint and label the top by putting a sticky white paper circle and writing on it. I can always make more thinned paint by using the "base" and adding thinner. Regardless of the main bottle's shape, the thinned airbrush bottles are uniform and conform to the thread of the airbrush tube-bottle-top. Works for me.

So I suggest having a dedicated bottle of pre-thinned paint, then using a large-sized eye-dropper to suck up paint from the bottle to put into your airbrush bowl each time you need it. You can rinse the eye-dropper out in thinner when you're done. If you need extra-thin paint to do some fine mottling, then you can put a little raw thinner in the bowl first and then add thinned paint on top of THAT.


PS--I "code" the bottle top label. F'rinstance, I put "P-- Primer Gray" on the main bottle of gray primer, meaning "Pactra". The name may or may not be the actual manufacturer's paint name---more likely my own name. I use "F" for "Floquil" (different thinner required), "T" for "Testors", "TA" for "Testors Acrylic", "H" for "Humbrol", etc.  Then, with a "sharpie" black permanent felt pen I put a diamond on the thinned paint bottle top under the coded name. Names can be quite frivolous, like "P--Zane Gray", or "T--RLMM Gray" (to distinguish the mix from "RLM Gray").

[jcf]

I use 1 oz plastic squeeze bottles with a screw-on cap/nozzle, pretty much just like these:
http://www.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=332790


Easy mixing, just shake, and easy no-spill metering into the airbrush.
Also they keep a mixed batch of paint good for a long spell + they are easy to clean and very solvent resistant.

Jon