airbrushing enamels

what is your brand of preference when airbrushing enamel paints? i've tried airbrushing tamiya enamels but somehow it always comes out rough and textured. i don't have much experience airbrushing enamels and the only time i would even think of doing so is when i need to alcad chrome/polish aluminum on a part. any tips or reliable techniques?

tia

a.

Okay, first off, don't let anyone kid you. Testors Model Masters is THE line-up of enamel paints. They're much better than people say they are, and offer many interesting colors.

For airbrushing enamel, you'll want a dedicated can of Testors Airbrush Thinner. It's a higher grade of thinner with far less impurities so as to not damage the airbrush. You want to generally thin down the paint to the consistency of milk, then spray as you would lacquer or acrylic. Enamels, though, take much longer to dry in general. Also, enamels are hyper-humidity sensitive. Don't airbrush them if the humidity is over 50%, otherwise you'll get fisheyes, dark flecks, runs, and a whole host of other problems.

i actually started out airbrushing testors enamels when i got into the hobby of building sci-fi models back in the early 90's. however, with the headache i got from inexperienced airbrush handling, i gave up on the hobby for years until i discovered tamiya acrylics. it was not until recently that i tried airbrushing enamels again only to re-experience the headaches i had back then. i could never get the first mist coat on properly. and you're right, it takes forever to dry and does not have good coverage at all. how do you start your painting process with enamels? i try to mist coat until i achieve an even color coverage. this takes a long time and does not guarantee a good finish either.

a.

My personal preference these days is for the Humbrol line of enamels. I mix them with regular old lacquer thinner and they always seem to spray on so smooth and even.

Humbrol is my new favorite paint...

Murray

Testors enamels spray beautifully. You can thin them w/Testors own thinner, or better yet go get a cheap can of lacquer thinner at the dept. or hardware store-it makes the paint dry a bit faster, and I can't discern any real difference in finished appearance-I polish my paint anyway.

Testors enamels dry slowly, and are soft when dry-you can't touch them w/your fingers for long or it'll get sticky. I've heard of guys getting small cans of enamel hardener (at automotive paint supply shops), and mixing a few drops of that into the paint mixture-resulting in much faster drying and a much more durable finish. Just make sure to clean the airbrush NOW, once that paint dries it'll be a nightmare to remove.

I've always had good results using Testors enamels thinned with lacquer thinner. Drying time is not a problem for me since I have a gas oven with a pilot light that keeps it at 120F degrees. 12 hours in this makes it hard enough to polish but I keep it in for 24 hours just to be safe.

The Testors airbrush thinner is crap, IMO. I've always had trouble with airbrushing until I bought some real lacquer thinner. I soaked the needles (Aztek - another story in it's own) in it and colors which I don't even remember using started coming out of them. Here's a good example: With Testors thinner I had to wipe and scrub the paint off my equipment. With lacquer thinner, the paint drips off with the thinner without scrubbing.

Don't do detail painting with a brush unless you've got plenty of time to dry the parts after, or use some accelerated form of drying (like my oven). Testors takes forever to dry and you'll be sinking your fingers into exhaust pipes, engine blocks, or whatnot while doing final assembly.

I've never understood why Testor's enamels get such a bad rep in the hobby. They're easy to use, are compatible with any primer you care to use, and you don't have to worry about crazing and ghosting that you do with lacquers.

You can find pretty much any color you need. For my Jordan EJ10 I bought a bottle of flourescent yellow....you can't find that color from any other manufacturer (that I know of). Don't get me wrong, there's a place for lacquers and Tamiya's TS range is great for F-1 cars (p.s. Testors Bright Red Spray is a very close match to TS-49 and cheaper too), but if you're not hung up on exact factory colors etc..then Testors is a pretty economical easy way to go.

Why bother switching back to enamels? I tried spraying enamels for years (man how I tried!) and I'm sure I came across every complication listed. I finally started spraying acrylics (Testors MM Acryl, Tamiya, and Gunze), and will never go back. I have consistently excellent finishes, gloss or flat, it's not nearly as picky as enamels, it dries almost instantly, and I don't have to mess with toxic solivents.

If you feel you must try enamels, Testors is as good as any of the lot, but you will encounter all of the problems listed above. Use their MM airbrush thinner for spraying- nothing else! When using enamels, always match paint with thinner. But when you take the airbrush apart for periodic scrubbing, laquer thinner and a cotton qtip is better for removing old dried on paint.

Course, I just thin with a mix of 75% H20 25% isopropyl alcohol, and cleanup with Windex. And I don't get chemical headaches anymore, either!

good luck!

Oh, and Gunze makes a sweet acrylic flourescent yellow.

the reason i use enamels is because alcad 2 required a good gloss black enamel as a base for their chrome and polish aluminum. i find it difficult to get a good finish on them. i typically do all my car bodies in lacquers and interiors in acrylic.

a.