Enamels in the airbrush

[captainozzy]

Is it generally considered that using acrylics for an airbrush is preferable / easier?

Have just been trying to use a humbrol enamel and the flow was very very lacklustre (despite being thinned with WS).

The airbrush certainly isn't top of the range but works perfectly well when being tested with water. Is it worth persevering and thinning down even further? Or is there a knack to it?

[Topcat_Ern]

Acrylics are better in my opinion (less smell and easier cleaning up). Advice is, the paint should be the consistency of milk. In reality, when thinned correctly, if the stirrer is place against the mixing pot it should immediately start to run down. To tell if it's the right viscosity when spraying, a cough and a splutter is too thick and blobs and splatters is too thin.

Cleaning between colour change with acrylics is a flush through with window glass cleaner.

The only issue with airbrushing is paint viscosity. When you know the knack there's no turning back.

Andy

[peebeep]

Well thinned enamels should spray as good as any other media, but whilst white spirit can be used for thinning them, not all white spirit is the same. Best practice is to use the thinner recommended by the paint manufacturer.

In respect of acrylic media, this is a bit of a minefield if you're starting out. Acrylic can be aqueous (water) based, spirit based such as regular Tamiya and Mr Hobby, or lacquer based such as Tamiya Lacquer Paint and Mr Color. There are any number of acrylic paint brands out there, but it's important to know what base they have. I'm not a big fan of aqueous acrylic, it doesn't adhere well on bare plastic and is often associated with tip drying/clogging. Spirit based acrylics were a revelation when I first tried them, despite being miscible with water they can be thinned with cellulose and spray very nicely. More recently lacquer acrylics have become available and for me these are first choice, especially when used with Mr Levelling Thinner. They spray readily and harden up rapidly. Gloss lacquer acrylics should be sufficiently hard after 20-30 minutes to apply masking over them.