Yet another one for my Froum friends. Is there a good way to make airbrush paints (i.e. Vallejo's 71 series) thicker for brush painting?
With the classic paints (Polly S/Polly Scale, Model Master, etc.) no longer on the market, many of the replacement mixes that I have found use Vallejo Airbrush paints. As I don't use an airbrush, the paint is a little thin for brushing by hand. Given I paint a lot of my own equipment, it is a pain to have to do two and three coats at times to get good coverage. Many of the colors don't have equals in the 70 series, which is brushable. I have used the 70 series paints and I like working with them, so I'm not knocking the quality of the line.
As usual, any assistance that can be provided would be most welcomed.
Hello All,
I'm old...and remember making paints out of Tempera powdered pigments, a binder, and water.
The binder we used was fabric starch.
The water was used to adjust the consistency.
Acrylics are water-based just like Tempera paints.
However, once dried Acrylics won't react with water and become soluble again.
That's why Tempera paints are known as "poster paint" and used for kids' finger painting.
What is the difference between Tempera paint and Acrylic paint?
To thicken spirit-based paints you would need to add a powdered resin.
For water-based paints a water-soluble binder will thicken them.
Originally this binder was egg whites, and sometimes yolks too.
Unless you plan on storing your paints in the refrigerator, these binders will decompose (rot).
Other alternatives would be:
Careful documentation of the ratio of binder to paint should be noted so you can adjust as needed and replicate your results for future batches.
For both of these "thickeners", I would do a test on whatever material you are working with.
A "primer" may be necessary for the water-based Acrylic to bind to the surface.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
It seems to me, to be counter-productive to buy paint that's meant for airbrushing if you don't use an airbrush.I still have a fair amount of Pollyscale paint left, and use it both for brushwork and for airbrushing - that's the benefit of such paints. Ready-to-use paint for airbrushing is, in my opinion, a rip-off, as the thinner, whether water or some chemical, is cheap, but the thinned paint is not, so less paint costs more money.For Pollyscale, I use water from my dehumidifier as thinner - works great, costs nothing. I also do a lot of brush painting with Pollyscale, and was very disappointed when Testors bought it and then discontinued it, as it was vastly superior to Model Master. I've not found a replacement for Pollyscale, but what I have should be enough to get me to the end.
Rapido's paint is also airbrush-ready, and while if works well-enough in that role, it's useless for brushing and, in my opinion, also rip-off.
Wayne
doctorwayne It seems to me, to be counter-productive to buy paint that's meant for airbrushing if you don't use an airbrush.
It seems to me, to be counter-productive to buy paint that's meant for airbrushing if you don't use an airbrush.
As I mentioned in my starting post, the replacement mixes for the colors that I need for painting my equipment are all using the 71 series Vallejo colors which are the airbrush colors. From everything that I can find, those colors are not available in the 70 series which is the thicker brushable colors.
Thankfully, I managed to "resurrect" the main paint color I needed for the latest project. I also think I managed to remember what I used for the second of the colors and the third is white.
However, it still would be nice to "match up" the colors I am used to using for future projects and have the same consistency of paints that I am used to.
P.S. If anyone out there knows a good water- or acetone-based mix for MEC Pine Tree Green, it would be most welcomed. I scrounged a few bottles but eventually that will either run out or dry out.
Just leave the lid off the bottle for a while and let the solvent escape. That will thicken the paint up. You just have to monitor it before it turns to a solid.
Joe