Has anyone tried airbrushing using craft type acrylic paints such as Ceramcoat, Anita's, Plaid, etc?
any success? Tips?
I would be using these in a Paasche Model H single action airbrush primarilly for weathering.
Yes, you can. Just make sure the color is thoroughly mixed and dilute it with distilled water (Available at Wally* World or any pharmacy.) start out slowly and mix until the consistancy is about the same as 2% milk. It's great for fading paint on r-t-r cars and for making custom colors of prefaded paint on an undecorated model.
A number of guys also use blue windshield washer fluid to thin the paint. It's a little less viscous than pure water. I have found that I get a finer spray than with straight water.
George V.
I airbrush all my structures with craft paint. Paasche H with a medium or large tip and turn your air pressure up a little bit. I use water with a bit of isopropyl alcohol as a thinner. (about 10-20% alcohol)I found this makes the paint a little tougher than using washer fluid. I mix up a pint of this thinner and then thin my craft paint with it. Works great and you can't beat the price!
I've used CeramCoat paints for several years now. They really need to be thinned a lot to make thiem work well. But I want to pass this along... a paint store owner friend of mine said that thinning acrylic paints with too much water will adversely affect their adhesion. He suggested using a product by an art supply company called something like Gumbacher. It is airbrush thinner. I've used it ever since using the CeramCoats and have had no problems with them whatsoever. I usually use about 5 parts paint, 4 parts of this thinner and 1 part water. That mixture works well for me.
The only other problem I see with them is that they dry dead flat. You need to overspray them with some kind of gloss coat to have any chance of decalling on them. Otherwise, it's like trying go put a decal on sandpaper.
dlm
I found this on deltacreative.com Delta Creative is the manufacturer of Ceramcoat
" When the acrylic paints are thinned with Delta Ceramcoat® Acrylic Thinner, it reduces the paints to a proper consistency for watercolor and airbrushing techniques. When the acrylic paints are dry, they cannot be "lifted" like watercolors. Thinning acrylics with water causes them to lose their vivid color and appear flat after drying. With airbrushing, too much water can cause the acrylics to lose their bonding and covering ability. Mix equal parts of Delta Acrylic Thinner & Ceramcoat Acrylic Paint for use in an airbrush. Add additional Thinner until desired consistency is achieved. Clean Airbrush following the manufacture's directions."
Thanks. I didn't realize that CeramCoat had a thinner like that. The only problem with the Grumbacher(?) product is that it's pretty expensive... as I recall, it was about $8 for a pint. But it does last a long time. I may have bought three of them in the last 6-8 years.
I believe Joe Fugate just mentioned recently that he airbrushes thinned acrylics on his backdrops to get the "lighter at the horizon" effect. He mentioned he buys these at the art store pre-thinned. Don't know if these are the same as craft acrylics, but if so just wanted to throw out there that they may be avilable pre-thinned for airbrushing. Jamie
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danmerkel He suggested using a product by an art supply company called something like Gumbacher. It is airbrush thinner. I've used it ever since using the CeramCoats and have had no problems with them whatsoever. I usually use about 5 parts paint, 4 parts of this thinner and 1 part water. That mixture works well for me.
He suggested using a product by an art supply company called something like Gumbacher. It is airbrush thinner. I've used it ever since using the CeramCoats and have had no problems with them whatsoever. I usually use about 5 parts paint, 4 parts of this thinner and 1 part water. That mixture works well for me.
Interesting. Grumbacher is an oil based paint thinner for artist oil paints.
Windex is the best for those paint. And its cheaper than other manufactured thinners. Its likely you already have Windex on hand.
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loatharhttp://www.misterart.com/store/view.cfm?group_id=68&store=001 Interesting. Grumbacher is an oil based paint thinner for artist oil paints.
That's not the same stuff! I wouldn't try it with the acrylic craft paints.
AggroJones Windex is the best for those paint. And its cheaper than other manufactured thinners. Its likely you already have Windex on hand.
Windex and other similar products have been also known to turn some acrylics into a real mess. Caused the pigments to coagulate into something that looked like wet cottage cheese. I would certainly test it first. And you still have the water issue since most of those products are mostly water anyway.
danmerkel He suggested using a product by an art supply company called something like Gumbacher. It is airbrush thinner.
My bad. The thinner is NOT from Grumbacher. It is a product made by Liquitex called Low Viscosity Acrylic Airbrush Medium. I use it as mentioned above: about five parts Ceramcoat paint, four parts of this thinner and one part water.
I'm sorry for the mis-information. But in all fairness, the last time I bought some of this was about 4-5 years ago.
http://www.reuels.com/reuels/Liquitex_Airbrush_Medium.html
I use craft paints extensively. Thin with Windex- works great. If the item has no metal parts you can chuck it in the microwave for 45-60 sec (depending on wattage of your oven) and harden the paint bullet proof.
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Some acrylic. The Walmart craft work excellent with them. I should know, I use them all the time.