jonbryon Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Hi, Now I live in Asia, Gunze Mr Color paints are by far the easiest to come by, so I've been forced to switch from my beloved Xtracolour. It's been okay, but twice now I've powered up the airbrush, thinned the paint and started painting at about 10 PSI, only to have the paint form 'strings' like cobwebs. These not only clog up the detail of the kit and stream off the edges, but fill the air with cobweb-like paint! I've managed to reduce it by cranking the pressure up to 20 PSI or so and more heavily thinning the paint, but this reduces the control I have over painting and makes the paint pretty translucent (especially with Mr Base White). I am using Mr Self Levelling Thinner (400) and a Badger 200. Is there any way to *not* have this 'cobwebbing' and still spray at a lower pressure and with better opacity. I have heard a lot of good things about these paints, but so far I am finding them a lot less user friendly than the enamels I've been using for the past 10 years or so. Thanks for any help Jon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grant in West Oz Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 You have stumbled into the happy accident of under-thinned acrylics. My Citadel 'skull white' pressure pack does it too. Buggr'it. Way back (before I shaved) Hot Rod Magazine had a 'How-To' on making just that effect for purposes of custom look paint. I think it was large nozzle and high pressure which bought on the phenomenon. We kiddies who possessed not an airbrush among the mob just drooled at the thought of being able to control the consistency of our paints. I have no sure answer, as I abhor the user-unfriendliness of the (many) acrylics I've encountered. However as a specifier, I can say you should experiment with thinner ratios as your pressure variations have no major beneficial effect. G p.s. I have had good success with Polly Scale with Tamiya thinner, as they flog a line of RAAF colours I consider to be pretty good. But... the others have all left me cold no matter how high I jumped. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonbryon Posted February 22, 2007 Author Share Posted February 22, 2007 Thanks Grant. I've used Citadel, Tamiya and Gunze Mr Hobby Color acrylics in the past, but never seen this phenomenon before. I guess I'll be thinning my paint more from now on (and oh how I miss enamels!). Cheers Jon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trojansamurai Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Mr. Color should be thinned a lot, as it is fairly concentrated. I usually use 40-50% thinner for general painting and 60-70% thinner for fine detail work. It also helps to use Mr. Retarder, which slows down the drying time and prevents the cobwebs. Alternatively, you can use Mr. Leveling Thinner, which has Retarder already mixed in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonbryon Posted February 23, 2007 Author Share Posted February 23, 2007 Thanks for the info. I'm used to only thinning 20-30%, so I've just gotta get used to a different paradigm. I am using Mr Leveling Thinner at the moment, but thanks for the advice! Cheers Jon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lekkertakkies Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 I also paint with mr Colour and thin with the levelling thinner and sometimes I still get cobwebs. To fix that I add in a few extra drops of Mr Retarder Mild (in addition to the levelling thinner) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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