Spray Paints (The poor man's airbrush?)

I'm just wondering if anyone has success with spray painting. I bought a bunch of dirt cheap cabeese and wanted to paint them two different schemes. I plan on doing the stripe with some advice from Diburning (q-tip and some modelling paints). But first I wanted to paint the body real quick and easy, I used some general purpose metallic silver from Krylon ( http://www.krylon.com/products/general_ ... _metallic/ ) for one, and on the other I used orange gloss spray also from Krylon (I tried to get flat or even ultra flat, but there were no flats other than black and white and maybe just a few other colors that wouldn't work for me). The silver (more like gray, not too shiny) came out AMAZING, it looks like it came that way! The gloss orange... not so much. It didn't really stick at all. I tried sanding the side of another and trying, and still no good.



So, Krylon general purpose metallic? 10/10

Krylon gloss? 1/10

Anyone know if a Krylon flat would work? And do they make flat in colors like orange, purple, etc?

I would be very careful using Krylon on plastics unless you are following their surface preparation instructions carefully, including priming the surfaces with their Krylon® Fusion for Plastic as directed. Paints not designed specifically for plastic often contain solvents that will eventually damage or destroy the item you're painting. I've also found that general purpose spray paints apply more heavily than model paints and you may end up covering small details that are molded on.

I use DuPont Krylon metallic silver for painting plastic passenger cars to simulate stainless steel. I like the effect, and have had no issues with it. You can primer it, but I don't think this is really necessary.

Krylon Fusion for Plastics is actually formulated for use on flexible plastics like vynal. I have used it on styrene model ship hulls, but have not tried it on model railroad projects. It does give a very tight bond, and is resistant to scratching (so is good to use on radio-controlled model ships). I have also used it to re-finish a vynal top on a car.

Krylon paints are really top-quality products. With spray paints, you get what you pay for. Not only is the paint itself fast-drying and resistant to runs, but the spray nozzel produces a fine mist and is easy to control, and is easy on the finger.

Cheap rattle-can spray paints should be avoided. They are thin, runny, slow-drying, and have a long period to wait between coats. Worse, they seem to have a high concentration of tolulene that causes them to attack plastic and other paints, including themselves. You can easily ruin a model with cheap spray paint.

You also need to be aware that there are two basic types of spray paint, enamel and lacquer. Lacquer will attack plastic if it isn't protected by a proper primer. Also, lacquer over enamel will attack enamel, but enamel over lacquer is usually safe.

Les

Make the investment and buy an airbrush. I have been painting now for about two years with my Iwata and I have to say I am very happy with it. I also recomend that you stay away from the toxic paints. Use the Polly S to paint your projects with. You can even use the craft paint that sells at Michael's or AC Moore craft stores. If you must use the solvent based paint such as Dullcoat, protect yourself and use a respirator and paint in a ventalated area. You can buy an air brush (Iwata) for about 159.00 at the BIG E show in a couple of weeks. Using an airbrush will give you more control and better results.

I would echo Trainguy's sentiments and likewise advise that you very seriously consider purchasing an airbrush and a small hobby air compressor. I've been painting HO models with an airbrush for almost 30 years and would never consider attempting to do any reasonably good looking paint job using over-the-counter spray cans. In spite of possible claims otherwise, they simply do not have the degree of control necessary to do a good job. The investment in a good airbrush (I like Pasche myself) is the best money you will EVER spend in the hobby and the airbrush will open up a whole new world of quality modeling and realism for you.

CNJ999

I'm expecting to get my first airbrush be the end of this month,I did some projects like my CN Geometry car with a blue box Athearn RDC BUDD,but I have to find some decals for lettering...

for the spry paint,have a try with the Tamiya model paint..It's one of my favorites one..

by using multi purpose paint,pay attention with them,sometime,the paint is thick and that make harder to wok on them and I missed a project by using this,before to painting you model,try with a old or broken model,you will have a very good idea for the final resut and it's much less expensive if you scrap a paint job and have to put back the piece on the remover and start again..

for some of multi purpose spray paint,the final finish are glowing,sometime,it came good after the seal,but sometime,it's worst..you should talk to your hobbyist,that will give you some tips to do something great without an airbrush kit

just for give an idea...
here's the CRESCENDO AIRBRUSH SET from Udisco Hobby in Montreal
https://www.udisco.com/index.php



110.88$ USD,it's a pretty simple set to begin and it's not too expensive,it's the one I project to buy..
for the compressor,it's easy to find used one for few bucks..
like this one
http://www.cafr.ebay.ca/itm/Mini-Portab ... 4cfd4aeea5

I'm generally a big advocate of using an airbrush and "safer" acrylic paints such as Polly S, Folk Art, Apple Barrel, etc. I do put "safer" in quotes because one really should still use basic precautions like a spray booth or dust mask - you still don't want to be inhaling that stuff.

I tend to make one exception to airbrushing with acrylics, however, and that's when I'm painting something white, especially something which has been molded in a dark color plastic. Even using a primer, I find that acrylic white paint just does not cover well without having to apply multiple time-consuming coats. A couple months ago, I had seven Athearn mechanical reefers I wanted to paint all white. Manufacturers usually will mold cars in black or gray styrene, but apparently Athearn sometimes molds their cars in a color close to what the final factory paint color will be. Once I stripped the paint off the shells, I still had a rainbow of plastic to deal with - white, black, blue, and orange! It would have been a nightmare to prime and paint over that and have all the cars look the same. Instead, I opted for painting them with Krylon for Plastic gloss spray paint. It saved me a lot of time and hassle, and the results were excellent. I'll post pictures here later.

The trick with spray paint is you need to have a certain technique, but that technique is actually not much different than how you use an airbrush. Keep in mind at all times that the paint flow rate is higher than you'd typically use for an airbrush, and it's not variable, so adjust accordingly. Sweep from side to side, starting the spray before the end of the car and continue across and off the other end in one movement, don't get too close or too far away, and keep the spray moving - don't stop on one spot or you'll almost immediately end up with a big runny blob of paint. And if you do not have a spray booth and proper ventilator, DO IT OUTSIDE on a calm day with no more than a light wind, and keep it outside until it's dry and the paint odor subsides.

I still don't advocate using spray paint instead of an airbrush in all cases - by all means, buy an airbrush and compressor and you will be happy that you did. I have been using an airbrush for about 20 years now and it is without question one of the best hobby investments I have ever made. There are occasions, however, when a careful and justified use of spray paint is a good way to go.

jwhite07 wrote:
I tend to make one exception to airbrushing with acrylics, however, and that's when I'm painting something white, especially something which has been molded in a dark color plastic. Even using a primer, I find that acrylic white paint just does not cover well without having to apply multiple time-consuming coats. A couple months ago, I had seven Athearn mechanical reefers I wanted to paint all white. Manufacturers usually will mold cars in black or gray styrene, but apparently Athearn sometimes molds their cars in a color close to what the final factory paint color will be. Once I stripped the paint off the shells, I still had a rainbow of plastic to deal with - white, black, blue, and orange! It would have been a nightmare to prime and paint over that and have all the cars look the same. Instead, I opted for painting them with Krylon for Plastic gloss spray paint. It saved me a lot of time and hassle, and the results were excellent. I'll post pictures here later.

When it comes to priming a piece, in my case especially for structures, that's quite another matter. I will heartily recommend priming such using rattle-can paint primer there, or for a primer coat on many other plastic items, providing that the primer is plastic compatible and applied carefully. I do quite a bit of scratchbuilding with basswood and always prime my finished model with cheap, light grey, auto primer. In fact, this is even a recommended approach by a number of the wood and resin craftsman kit manufacturers. Control and high quality isn't of as much a real concern as is sealing the surface and hiding the wood grain. The desire here is to simply get the wood well sealed for the final top and weathering coats to be applied with my airbrush.

So, I would certainly agree that there is a definite place for employing rattle-can paints in the hobby...just not for a final, delicate and controlled top coat application of paint.

CNJ999

I have used cheapo "rattle can" spray paint for my N Scale structures with good success. Pro: It's cheap. Cons: Limited color selections in flat (as has been noted); potential to overspray and obliterate detail.

I only use these paints outside, which means the season's over for a while for me. Next 70 degree day with low humidity (ha!) I'll be out there again with a few items that are in the queue.

I use sometime spray paint on my trains,espescially to repaint Budd cars,even in the winter,when it's not windy,I go outside to shoot the paint and after,I put a board on the oven the start the fan,that bring the air outside,and y only use spray paint that we can find on the hobby store..
I do not buy every kind of spray paint,some are not "pastic friendly" and I scrapped out a model once cause that,limited on the colour choice,but for auminium colour,i was great..I did few RDC budd with that paint,after,I was borowing my friend's airbrush to complete my projects.
Now I'm expecting to get a brand new airbrush kit to do my myself the finition without asking my friend all the time to get his airbrush..

Spray paint are good too for building paint,event for the roof,that almost never got the right colour..
sometime to repaint structures like bridge or tunnel portal,it's a good alternative..