Thread: airbrush paint

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Hello can anyone help me here. I need paint for my airbrush. New to the whole airbrush game here. What kind of paints can I use . I can only find small bottles and there gonna get expense for my project. Any ideas on any paint I can use other than airbrush paint??

Thank you

The husband used regular old craft paints from Michaels, he just watered 'em down a bit, when he was using his airbrush.

I think you can use acrylic craft paint sold in any craft store like Michaels, Hobby Lobby, etc. Ceramic shops may carry them as well.
Usually, you can find them on sale. Or, use a discount coupon if regular price.

The bottles are only a few ounces. Because they're acrylic, they are easily thinned with water.
How big is your "project"?

Oops... looks like someone hit "post" before I did.

Any paint can be applied via an aerosol delivery system (be it rattle cans or an airbrush). The difference between brush and aerosol delivery is paint can be much heavier/thicker for use with a brush, but when air is used, it must be thin enough for the available air source (compressor, compressed air, etc.) to be able to pick the paint up, move it through a pathway, and dispense it, so usually paint used in an airbush must be thinned (usually 50%) by mixing it with water (for acrylic or latex paints) or paint thinner for mineral-based paints. If you try to use paint made for a brush in an airbursh without thinning it, it's going to be too thick to move smoothly through the airbrush.

As for selecting your paint, a color is a color. If you're looking at painting a large area, don't buy dozens of little 1 or 1.5 oz bottles. Get one bottle (or better yet look up the international color code for that color) and go to Home Depot or a similar home store and have them make a custom-colored quart (about $10) or gallon (about $18). Just make sure you're using the right type of paint for the surface you're painting. For example, latex interior wall paint will go on anything (wood, rubber, vinyl, plastic, stone, etc.). As an example, the Creature From The Black Lagoon project I'm working on now has pieces made from fiberglass, latex rubber, vinyl, rubber, sculpy clay, and Apoxie, so I'm using three different colors of custom-blended latex paint to paint everything. Acrylic paints will go on almost anything, but can cause problems with some vinyls and rubbers. Mineral-based paints work great on hard plastics, wood, plastic, and stone, but will cause problems on soft plastics, rubber, or vinyl.

I agree with everything Bruzilla mentioned... I Am an airbrush artist and have Painted on many different surfaces and the one thing I would add is you will get much better results if you seal or primmer what ever surface first before you airbrush. Your paint will also go further. FYI...Always clean out the Airbrush you will be sorry if you dont. I always use a squirt bottle with either water or solvent handy to clean out the Airbrush in between colors.

There are paint supply places if you need larger quantities of specifically AB paint instead of buying little 1 once bottles........check your local art stores that carry AB paints, they carry Qts, etc if needed. BearAir.com is great for discount AB stuff, as is westcoastairbrush.com.

& strain your paint after you mix it with your reducer / water...etc, this will help mixing, thinning to a better consistency & get out any globs that will drive you crazy clogging inside the nozzle....... & yep clean that AB thoroughly, especially with acrylics.......

prep is as important as painting, yep prime it & seal when your done. Try to keep from touching the surface from start to finish, oil from your hands can cause you some prob's also....

Nice thing on this forum, you have multiple AB peep's & artist's here that we've got you covered for just about any question on paints & AB's you can think of asking !

PS - & sometimes "mistakes" can be a good thing when painting, some of the best effects came from " a mistake"...... relax and have fun with it, don't feel you should get it right 1st time ( but ya have to get it right the 2nd time,..LoL ). I've had many students get frustrated after a few times.....& some that still can't after 6 months because they don't take the time to understand....... plain & simple your going to have some trial & error experiences & challenges with ABing, we all have in the beginning, but like I said you have us !

& no ABing the cat or husband..........

OMG Thank YOU ALL this is gonna help me so much. I am gonna try to paint over great stuff and styrofoam. I will post pics I promise . I Will try a few trials with these awsome ideas before I try on my project.

So I understand that water base paint or latex is best on styrofoam.. What about great stuff? And what should I prime with.???

Hello Dark Lord. How are ya doing?

I am trying to make lava.LOL So being perfect is not on the list. I just need some gray. red, orange and yellow.. I think. Very very large area. Or small depending on my time management. I have a whole big plan in my head. But It will be okay if it grows over the years too. LOL.

I saw airbrush paint as the title and knew Dark Lord would chime in. he helped me a ton with mine. His airbrush is a custom built one crafted from the handle of a dead Jedi Knight that he himself killed.... :P

JK, but ya DL knows his stuff.

Unless you have incredibly good tap water, use distilled to thin your paints.

You can also get filters for airbrush paint to get out any dried bits in it, if you're using non-airbrush paint and your airbrush clogs a lot, you might want to find one of these.