Spraying white

[Snowboar]

Hi all I’m a bit of a newb and just got the hang of airbrushing when I dilute Tamiya I usally open the jar and fill it with Tamiya thinners to the start of the neck which normally works a treat but the white seems to be watery but with specks as if it to thick I’ll suss it out but though you lot might save me some time should I increase psi dilute more even though it feels thin any ideas welcome what the difference with spraying whites also struggling a bit with metallic s thanks

[Snowboar]

Lowered psi seemed to make it better 

[Snowboar]

Is white and metallic just harder to get coverage with ?an advice appreciated thank you

[Pete in Lincs]

Do you use a primer? The paint will grip and cover better if you do.

As for diluting Tamiya acrylic, just do a small amount, no need for the whole jar, to about the consistency of milk.

Use a pipette to get it out of the jar into a mixing vessel of some kind.

Use Tamiya thinners by all means. But car screen wash works too.

Works for me.

[Mark Harmsworth]

I agree with using a primer. When after a white finish I use a white primer first.

 

Also just thin the amount of paint you need. I mix mine in an old small glass (I can then see how thin it is) and then transfer the thinned paint to the paintbrush using a paint brush.

 

Mark

[wellsprop]

I used to have real issues spraying white, yellow, red and metallic paints.

 

I bought Mr Sufacer white primer. Mixed 50/50 with levelling thinner and sprayed at 15-17 PSI gives excellent coverage and density. Mr Colour and Tamiya paints, thinned again 50/50 provide an excellent finish. 

[Pete Robin]

Can't comment on using airbrush, but if you are in the UK, try Halfords acrylic plastic primer in white aerosols. Spray lightly and it usually covers beautifully in a couple of coats.

I used it regularly over some very dark coloured plastics and it was a treat to use. Also works as the perfect base for painting over with yellow.

Regards,

Pete

 

 

[Farmerboy]

33 minutes ago, wellsprop said:

I used to have real issues spraying white, yellow, red and metallic paints.

 

I bought Mr Sufacer white primer. Mixed 50/50 with levelling thinner and sprayed at 15-17 PSI gives excellent coverage and density. Mr Colour and Tamiya paints, thinned again 50/50 provide an excellent finish. 

Wot he said!!!, works for me, also l work on the principle that to get a decent coverage with the above colours you have to do more than one coat, tend to take two to three coats over the course of a couple of days, patience, patience, patience!

[Mike]

I use Alclad White Primer, and also often use it as the top coat, as it's a good white.  It's got a bit of a yellow tint to it if you compare it to a purer white though, and I have a bottle of White 2.0 from Stuart Semple that I intend to have a go with next time I'm spraying white.  it's supposed to be a very dense white, packed with pigment.

[Tojo72]

I always basecoat with Tamiya white primer in the can,really helps when spraying white.

And I still have a couple of jars of Model Master white enamel which has slways bern excellent.When that's out,I'll be looking for another white,but the white primer makes difference

Edited January 29 by Tojo72

[Casey]

It can be surprising fact but a lot of good pigments are usually transparent by themselves - which makes sense. Titanium white, most reds and yellows are good example.

 

For white, it is normal to add a tiny little bit of ochre-like colors to increase their opacity and resulting in yellowish tint - as @Mikementioned.

 

Yellow paint - try adding small amount of pure titanium white and see how much better coverage it will get.

 

For red - mix in some yellow or even sienna. For example, RAL3000 (Fiery Red) can be mixed with 2 paints cadmium red and 1 part of raw sienna.

 

 

Edited January 29 by Casey

[MickE]

I second the use of Halford's white primer. I just used it today on my 1/48 Buccaneer before spraying the underside in Mr Color gloss white.

[Mike]

10 minutes ago, Casey said:

Yellow paint - try adding small amount of pure titanium white and see how much better coverage it will get.

I experienced that with Xtracrylix paints in the dim-distant past

[spruecutter96]

Red, yellow, orange and white are always tricky to spray properly, unfortunately. As previous folks have said, putting down a very smooth base-coat of primer is always a good thing.

 

It's always better to put down three thin coats, as opposed to one thick one (which will obscure all the fine surface-detail). 

 

Hope this helps. 

 

Chris.  

[Snowboar]

Thanks for reply’s i prime everything after turning psi down it got a lot better just was a lot slower to cover still learning I’m getting better took me six months to get the airbrush to work or seems like that lol thanks all

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

I get best results by keeping the air flowing for 2 or 3 passes but only flowing a small amount of paint on the first pass. After the "blow dry" passes I'll repeat. I never lay down a wet coat until I've got the coverage I want. Going slower really is faster. I consistently get good white and yellow coverage over a black base coat in a single session using this technique.

[Dave Fleming]

As Jamie says, a black primer coat is actually a good start - see here:
 

 

[Snowboar]

Jamie that seems how I sort of did it I. The end at first I was trying to blast it on  and I got a couple of drips which I had to sand back so slow and steady when u do other couloirs do you do more than 1 coat and is metallic the same approach at the white

Thanks

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

1 hour ago, Snowboar said:

Jamie that seems how I sort of did it I. The end at first I was trying to blast it on  and I got a couple of drips which I had to sand back so slow and steady when u do other couloirs do you do more than 1 coat and is metallic the same approach at the white

Thanks

 

I shy away from absolutes usually but I find this works pretty well for most of what I'm doing that's wide area coverage. For free hand camouflage painting I'll have the nozzle a finger's width from the surface but the basic principle is the same - keep the air flowing and the paint minimal, but it's not really a disciplined paint-two-three-paint-two-three thing then.

[Snowboar]

Cheers for ya advice

[Snowboar]

Cheers for ya advice

[Snowboar]

Quick question is mr surfacer a primer or a type of filler primer thing reason I ask is cos of the different grade etc probability asking the most obvious question’s cheers for your answers

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

It's a filler primer. The lower the number on the can the coarser / more filler-y it is. Mr Surfacer 500 is spreadable or brushable rather than sprayable but it does fill scratches and things quite well. Mr Surfacer 1000 can be airbrushed with a little thinner. I'll warn that I've found it's not always the most robust of primers. I have used it as such, painted over it and later had the whole lot lift off under vinyl masks right down to the plastic.

 

I still use it, but for surfacing only. By that I mean I'll brush or paint it on but polish back to a smooth plastic finish but with the scratches filled before starting with a priming coat, for which I just use my own paint but bespoke primers would be fine too.