revell aqua paints

[davefocus]

hi.

has anyone any idea how i can prevent the above paints from being too diluted?

i opened a new pot of revells 378 grey paint, gave it a good stir, and started painting with it.

unfortunately its coming out very diluted to the point of being useless.

i don't want to give my model numerous coats of paint if i can help it.

any help would be appreciated.

[Seahawk]

Surprised at this: the usual problem with Revell Aqua is that until diluted it's the consistency of golden syrup! What do you mean by "a good stir"? I'd give it 5 minutes unbroken stirring. If it's no better after that, I'd return it as faulty.

[jenko]

Agree with Seahawk. The paint is "designed" for trowelling on rather than brushing. Sounds like you have a duff pot.

[davefocus]

i'll give it another good stir. it had the consistency of coloured water - not very good really!

[AdriaN (MLT)]

you have a dodgy pot. revell aqua paints are almost always semi thick in the pot and require thinning!

[fostersdave]

i only ever use aquacolour(easiest for me to get hold of!),as other members have said it's normally quite thick but i had a similar problem with mettalic copper,not so much thin as a very strange purple colour which even after stirrinng and shacking was as thin as water and still purple!

[davefocus]

hi. the consistency looks fine in the pot however when i applied it to the model it felt like i was 'pushing' very diluted paint around the part being worked on. not impressed at all.

[rmcclure]

hi. the consistency looks fine in the pot however when i applied it to the model it felt like i was 'pushing' very diluted paint around the part being worked on. not impressed at all.

As the other guys have said, it does sound like a Friday afternoon pot of paint and the normal consistency is pretty much like interior decorating emulsion. Bin the pot - or take it back - but try and stick with Revell Aqua as it's so easy to find - every LHS seems to stock it - and once thinned down I find it works really well. I thin with plain old tap water that's had some W&N flow improver added.

[pinky coffeeboat]

I quite like Revell Aqua paints, though I haven't sprayed them yet. I used their steel paint a couple of nights ago for an exhaust pipe - went on nicely and has a nice smooth metallic sheen to it. That was after I stripped off Vallejo oily steel that went on badly (very streaky.), dried badly (very streaky..) and looked bad (very steaky...)

I'm sticking with Aqua as best I can and will attempt to spray some soonish.

Edited January 11, 2013 by pinky coffeeboat

[fostersdave]

good to spray with,just thin with tap water,goes on nice never seems to streak

[Murdo]

I've found that it sprays well once thinned but you do need a few thin coats. It dries very quickly though.

 

It seems good for brush painting but does need primer to lie properly.

[pinky coffeeboat]

good to spray with,just thin with tap water,goes on nice never seems to streak

 

Do you add any form of retarder, flow enhancer?

[rmcclure]

Do you add any form of retarder, flow enhancer?

Winsor & Newton flow improver - never fails. I keep a small bottle of pre-mixed water and FI ready for thinning paint in the AB cup.

[pinky coffeeboat]

Thanks! I'm looking forward now to giving them a spray.

[peanut patrol 26]

i only ever use aquacolour(easiest for me to get hold of!),as other members have said it's normally quite thick but i had a similar problem with mettalic copper,not so much thin as a very strange purple colour which even after stirrinng and shacking was as thin as water and still purple!

i have found that the revell aqua paints metalic colours have this purple.for mettalics i only use alclad2 or games workshop.

[Flying Badger]

Hi

I've got the Newton and Windsor Acrylic flow improver stuff, how much should I be adding to thinned paint for spraying? I've tried it a few times and not really had much success.

TFB

[rmcclure]

I'm sure the bottle I bought had the ratio in the instructions - 20:1 water:FI IIRC. Mix up a squeezy bottle and leave it on the bench ready for use.

[Flying Badger]

Thanks rmcclure, I tend to use tamiya acrylic thinner for all my paint (its just alcohol and water I know) so I may use an empty bottle to mix 1ml with 20ml of thinners ready.

TFB

[pinky coffeeboat]

As an update for my own experiences with these paints, today I finally got round to spraying with them. I had a small paint job to do so was eager to try them out (painting the canopy on my Minicraft Stratocruiser black as an under coat).

I used tap water mixed with a little bit of Daler-Rowney flow enhancer; I didn't accurately mix the proportions (the bottle of flow enhancer states "add a tablespoon or two of flow enhancer to 500ml....of mixing water") but placed about 1.5ml from my dropper into a small plastic bottle with the tap water in it. I then added this watery mix to a couple of drops of 09 Anthracite and mixed thoroughly before pouring it into my colour cup.

Spraying: pressure about 15psi, the paint came out very nicely and the airbrush had that lovely smooth hiss to it. The paint initially went on "beady" but when allowed to dry, it flattened out beautifully (I didn't use a primer - tut! tut!). Subsequent coats went on so smoothly and after several passes a nice solid layer built up. All of it very nice indeed. The paint has a nice satin sheen to it.
Cleaning up was simple - a drop or two of Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner, followed by a cup load of fresh water and that was it.

My impressions? It was a lovely enjoyable spraying session, no nasty chemical smell and no real mess either. The paint finish has pleased me hugely and as I already enjoy using them to brush paint with I think I'll be using them a bit more. Over a primer as others have mentioned, I imagine the first coat not to bead as much.
Out of the plastic tub they are a bit thick and emulsion like, but from my very limited experience they seem to airbrush nicely. I can't wait to try more.

Jeff

Edited February 16, 2013 by pinky coffeeboat