Tru Color paint behavior

[nickelplate759]

I just finished another session with Tru Color paint and my airbrush, and it reinforced a lesson - if you are having trouble getting a smooth even finish, it's probably that the paint needs to be thinned some more.  I'm using a Paasche dual-action with a medium (#3) tip, and I find that I usually need to add thinner, even if I just bought the paint.   I've tried air pressure from about 22 lbs to 30 lbs, and it doesn't matter much if the paint is thin enough.   I've learned to tell by looking at the spray pattern - if it's too narrow, the paint is too think.  It should be close to the pattern from spraying pure acetone (but again, do NOT thin it with acetone).

[dem34]

I just finished another session with Tru Color paint and my airbrush, and it reinforced a lesson - if you are having trouble getting a smooth even finish, it's probably that the paint needs to be thinned some more.  I'm using a Paasche dual-action with a medium (#3) tip, and I find that I usually need to add thinner, even if I just bought the paint.   I've tried air pressure from about 22 lbs to 30 lbs, and it doesn't matter much if the paint is thin enough.   I've learned to tell by looking at the spray pattern - if it's too narrow, the paint is too think.  It should be close the pattern from spraying pure acetone (but again, to NOT thin it with acetone).

Ideally with every paint, no matter if its advertised as being airbrush ready or not, old or new you're going to want to thin it down to the consistency of whole milk before loading it. Thick enough that you actually get a layer of pigment on the model, thin enough that you won't clog the tip. Much easier to test with a little stir stick than sit around spraying test board after test board. But of course still do so at least once before putting a model in the cross hairs.

[u18b]

Peteki convinced me that test spraying white plastic spoons is the way to go.

You can VERY quickly see how things are coming out.

[ednadolski]

Peteki convinced me that test spraying white plastic spoons is the way to go.

You can VERY quickly see taste how things are coming out.

Fixed it for you

Ed

[peteski]

Yes, plastic spoon paint test is well accepted by automotive modelers.
And no, they don't lick them. 

[haasmarc]

I usually thin Tru Color paint 1:1 with Mr Color Leveling thinner and spray it around 25 psi.  It comes out glassy smooth.  I also keep track of the paint level and refill the bottles with plain acetone.