What paint for airbrush?

[bbrc77]

Hi,

I am picking up an airbrush soon but not sure what paint to get. I will be experimenting with heli canopies, blades, and just painting in general.

Thanks for the help.

[EKron]

I use mostly water based Auto-Air and Wicked paint with Auto-Air 4012 High Performance reducer. Dry between coats with a heat gun.

These do need to be clear coated with an automotive grade 2-stage urethane clear that's about $50 bucks a quart. You'll need urethane reducer too if for nothing else other than cleanup. An HVLP gravity feed touch-up gun is good for this.

There may be rattle can alternatives for clear but I have no experience with them.

Good luck with your painting!

--Elisabeth

[bbrc77]

Thanks for the info. Do you have a link as to where you personally buy your paints?

Thanks.

[EKron]

First of all, I've been reminded (thanks Helique) how dangerous urethane is to shoot. Do not use this product without a good quality, proper fitting respirator. Otherwise, you will die! This may even be heavily regulated in Cali? Dunno?

I buy what I can from a local automotive paint store.

Also online:

TCP Global
Chicago Airbrush Supply
Coast Airbrush

Auto-Air Colors home page
(on their dealer locator page, I see a store in Palmdale)
Createx/Wicked Colors home page

You can probably grab some application guides online too. Auto-Air needs heat and again, a heat gun works well for me. Having some junk canopies to try stuff on is very handy.

Good luck!

--Elisabeth

[bbrc77]

Thank you for taking the time to send me those links. I checked what they have and it is a bit overwhelming for someone with no experience. Huge favor, if you were to tell a newbie, "look, go buy these set of paints", what would they be?

I see a lot of options such as semi-opague, transparent, etc. If you would not mind telling me what to buy for my first time, I would really appreciate it. All I want to do is experiment painting my own canopies, as well as foamies.

Thanks.

[debrartin]

Originally Posted by bbrc77

Hi,

I am picking up an airbrush soon but not sure what paint to get. I will be experimenting with heli canopies, blades, and just painting in general.

Thanks for the help.

For fine art I use specialized acrylic airbrush paint which I buy artist supply source, there are a lot of airbrush paints and inks on the store.

I sometimes also use tube acrylics which can be thinned with liquid medium or water, but they should be sieved before putting them in the airbrush.
Gouache is excellent for airbrush, again it must be thinned, but it gives great opacity