PLAMO: Re-WiredWolf - Plastic Modelling, Share & Learn

this is why i hate tamiya. you guys gotta help me, this always happens and i dont know why. the pictures are a bit blurry but what happens is when i airbrush my paint, the color looks completely washed out and blotchy, with uneven color being an understatement. it doesnt always happen so please guys help!

From your burly pictures it very hard to see what is going on. If you are using Tamiya colour as the base then cover with tamiya colours on the top it won't happened unless your paint it thinned till too watery or you thin the paint using water, Or it could be because if your base colour is lacquer(Mr Colour) and your top colour is Acrylic(Tamiya) The base colour will eats the top colour itself. Maybe you can explain more clearly on what base type u r using so others can help

no way your kidding me? theres some alclad underneath of some parts, but that was airbrushed over a week ago and i never heard of lacquer harming acrylic if its underneith. i was nervous whether or not i mightve thinned the paint too much. the proper consistency is 2 parts thinner to 3 parts paint right?

The proper consistency would be to thin it to the point where it is like milk, so whether it's 2:3 thinner to paint ratio or not really depends. I never went with that or any other ratio but rather, thin it to the consistency of milk and test it on scrap first.

mhm thanks g-man, now i just have to go grab milk to get the consistency in my mind xD can you give me any advice on the blotches? i mean has this ever happened to anybody else or you specifically, i know the pictures are poor, sorry :/, but it looks like alot of blotches of different shades of the color, and alot of times itll look washed out to the point where it looks like theres no paint even on there, and on top of the washed out broad color youll see speckles of different shades. you can see it best on 3 and 5

(02-09-2008 09:14 AM)herbertthepervert Wrote: [ -> ]mhm thanks g-man, can you give me any advice on this? i mean has this ever happened to anybody else or you specifically, i know the pictures are poor, sorry :/, but it looks like alot of blotches of different shades of the color, and alot of times itll look washed out to the point where it looks like theres no paint even on there, and on top of the washed out broad color youll see speckles of different shades. you can see it best on 3 and 5

Hard to tell with the pictures you've posted. My suggestion, take an inconspicuous piece and do further testing by spraying a layer or 2 of that same mix, might be better, or might not. It could just be your paint's too thin and further layers might help cover up the patchiness.

Thinning your paint to the consistency of milk requires that you thin it to a point where when u take a stirrer and lift it out, one or 2 drops will drip back pretty quickly and look slightly runny, unlike water. It's hard to describe it but enough practice should see you get the hang of thinning your paints.

bingo, i deff overthinned my paint then. when i pulled out the stirrer IIRC it ran like 5+ drops within 5 seconds. tomorrow im gonna run to my hobbyshop grab some more of their rediculously overpriced tamiya acrylics. thanks alot g-man, it seems youve always got everybodys back here :D its much appreciated

(02-09-2008 09:23 AM)herbertthepervert Wrote: [ -> ]bingo, i deff overthinned my paint then. when i pulled out the stirrer IIRC it ran like 5+ drops within 5 seconds. tomorrow im gonna run to my hobbyshop grab some more of their rediculously overpriced tamiya acrylics. thanks alot g-man, it seems youve always got everybodys back here :D its much appreciated

Don't say that man, we're all here to learn and share. I am absolutely certain someone's gonna come to my rescue one day, as it's often the case with me and my clumsiness.

Honestly, the "consistency of milk" thing has never worked for me.
Probably because I don't drink milk

The way I tell if my paint is thinned enough, is to do the "swirl" test.

Picture a wine taster, swirling the wine in a glass. Except I mix my paint in a palette.

When you mix and thin your paint, swirl it gently (either in the palette or a glass jar).
See how quickly the paint runs down the side of the palette / jar.

If it disappears very quickly, less than one second, then it is too thin.
If it sticks on the side of the jar for more than 3 seconds, it is too thick. (duh)

What I aim for, is the bulk of the 'swirled' paint to run down in 1.5-2 seconds; with the colour completely disappearing after another 2 seconds.

Of course, this is just my way of estimating the mixing ratio.
Several other factors come into play.
The actual shade of colour, spraying pressure, nozzle size etc.

One final point though, I've never known thin paint to cause blotches.
It is difficult to tell from the pics if the uneven colouration is due to bad coverage or the previous coat is being blown off.
The difficult part about airbrushing is that you are balancing around 6 variables.

Thinning ratio + air pressure + distance + panning speed + throttle + nozzle diameter.
And that's not counting ambient air temperature and humidity.
Change one variable, and you have to compensate with the others.

Have fun

p.s. help us to help you :
take clearer pics, use a more descriptive thread title.

here guys i got lucky and was able to turn out some nicer pictures

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