For the modelers who love spray cans but want more color options

[ZoomBy]

i was reading up on the faq and came across the pros and cons of spray paint over airbrushing, it says that a con of spray paint is you cant mix your own colors....well me being a graffiti artist, i know how to mix spray paint to get that unique color and wish to share the knowledge with you all...i mean its the least i can do, but let me tell you it is not easy, first you need a bic pen, crack it open, blow out all the ink from the tube, after all the ink is out of the tube cut it down to about 1"-2" long, now say you want a really light blue, go to walmart or where ever buy a can of krylon true blue and flat white, next go home take the caps off the cans as well as the nozzles, now put that 2" piece of pen tube directly into the spot were the nozzle would normally go on the white can, put the white can in the freezer (this will lower its pressure) for about an hour, now this is the real tricky part, right before you decide the white is cold enough, get a pot to a boil with only about an inch of water in it, place the can of blue in the water (this will raise its pressure, but because of this you have to be very carefull...you dont want the can blowing up) go over the to freezer take your white can out of the freezer, go over to the stove take the blue can out now very quickly flip the white can upside down and insert the other end of the pen tube into the blue cans nozzle , now push the 2 cans towards each other (a short pen tube is better, this way it wont pop out as easily, and the paint will have a shorter distance to travel) the lower pressurized white can will allow the higher pressurized blue can to spray its contents through the tube and into the white can, you may have to do this a few times to get the look your going for, but thats how you do it, so tips, always put the lighter color in the freezer as it is easier to change a light color by adding a dark one than vise versa, also you dont need to heat the can up..i dont, but some say it is better, also more than likely paint will spray out while mixing so be prepared for that, dont mix metalics with non metalics, dont mix krylon with rustoleum, also dont be afraid that the cans will blow up in your hand becuase your adding paint to an allready full can, the cans come with extra room in them, but if you need to, you can always just spray some out...i cant think of anything else, but if you have any questions feel free to ask, and ill do my best

[suiteR]

Oh smart idea. Glad that u'd brought that out. I really wanna try ('coz I am a spray-can user too). The theory you explained is quite understood. However, it would be nice to see a simple pix showing how to set up two cans w/ the BIC tube. Looking forward to see some illustration.
Many thanks!!!!

[Daryl]

Dude... that has got to be one of the most useful threads i've read here yet :sun: :sun: :sun: that's a great idea.

[NoBrakes]

you're a genius :ylsuper :ylsuper :ylsuper :ylsuper

[acunda]

Originally posted by Daryl
Dude... that has got to be one of the most useful threads i've read here yet :sun: :sun: :sun: that's a great idea.

ditto!!

[RyanGiorgio]

Wow, did you figure that out yourself? Thats a great idea.

[ZoomBy]

no i didnt come up with the idea on my own, but i did come up with this method as i find it the easiest....as for the picture ill try some ascii art for now...till i get to a scanner hope this helps...



______
|..........|
|..........|
|..........|
|..........|
|..........| <------- cold can
|..........|
|..........|
|_____ |
`____ '
. ||
_||_ <------ bic tub
'_____`
|..........|
|..........|
|..........|
|..........|
|..........|
|..........|
|..........| <------ hot can
|_____ |

hope that will do for now

[integra818]

I would like to add another tip to that, you can use 1 can of color, and one can of clear, niiiice shine

(have I discovered the P-man's tecnique??? probably not...)

[Ranger_X]

Bookmarked!

We should have tech articles in this forum!

[suiteR]

brilliant!!!
consider integra818's idea of mixing clear w/ normal color. which can should be warmed? And will one can mix to the other lead to overfill due to unknown cavity of can content?

[Midnight Racer]

Brilliant idea

[fullbloodchop01]

pure genius

[ZoomBy]

Originally posted by suiteR
brilliant!!!
consider integra818's idea of mixing clear w/ normal color. which can should be warmed? And will one can mix to the other lead to overfill due to unknown cavity of can content?

i never tried mixing clear, but id say freeze the color so you can add the clear to it instead of the color to the clear, personally i think it would be glossier if you just painted it and added the clear afterwards but like i said i never tried so i dont know, also it is possible for the can to overfill but im pretty sure you can add like a quarter of a can give or take without any problems, but also like i said you can alwast just spray some paint out of the can so you know you have enough room

[hermanchauw]

[Verminator]

Zoomby

Excelent thread, had my first try at mixing paint and it went great. Had painted a Revell Dodge Ram pickup in a mid blue which i thought was in a colour I could work with but it came out far to light. So I broke out a can of metalic black I had and followed your instructions. repainted the pickup and got a fab colour, it was darker than the original plus it has a metalic sheen to it. The pic attached doesnt realy show it but I am well pleased with the result it should go great with the white decals if they arnt to weak in colour. Has anyone used them, do they need a white background, if so is it actually easier just to paint them myself? anyhow pat yourself on the back for a great thread.:ylsuper :ylsuper