decanting aerosols for airbrush painting??

[funkyrimpler]

this is another of my many newbie questions and i cant find an answer anywhere!!

How do i successfully decant an aerosol so that i can then pour the paint into my airbrush pot?

Any help would be great!

thanks

Si

 

[andygh]

I just spray it into the lid, look out for splashback though

 

[David 317]

Hi,

I spray it into the airbrush jar through a cut down straw. Also put some cling film over the opening to reduce the splash back.

You may also need to stir out any bubbles before you begin to airbrush.

Good luck!

Regards

David

 

[CDW]

The few times i've done this i've sprayed into a test tube, you can get the spray to hit the side quite easily and it just trickles down into the bottom.

golden rule for me is do it outside, less mess to clean up if it goes pear shaped and you don't get high on the fumes

 

[tecdes]

Not in the know here ! Find it puzzling.

Why would you want to go through all this when you can obtain so many products in bottles & probably much cheaper than aerosols ?

Laurie

 

[CDW]

Laurie.... my situation was that i'd sprayed an item with a rattle can and in the process of finishing off i'd chipped the paint in a couple of areas, thus decanting to touch up with brush was the only option left to me.

 

[Ian M]

A very good question Laurie but the answer is, apart from the reply Colin gave, that rattle cans can be a bit "industrial" in the amount of paint they spew out. Decanting to an airbrush gives you full control over where the paint goes.

Also some of the car builders on here might just do it to get the colour matched paint. Also the range of metalic paints in rattle cans is huge!

Ian M

 

[andygh]

An aerosol can of primer will last me for 10-12 models

If I decant it and blow it through the airbrush it will last for 40-50

The airbrush puts on finer layers = wastes less paint = costs less money

I have Yorkshire genes :cheesygrin:

 

[yak face]

Hi simon , as david 317 said , get a drinking straw (preferably the big ones , ie. Mcdonalds or burger king!) and fasten it to the nozzle with tape . Then just spray into a jar etc. Put some cling film over the opening and poke the straw through it to stop the atomised spray blowing back all over your fingers. When youve got enough, let it stand for a while to let the propellants evaporate a bit , then spray away! I used a silver acrylic aerosol , decanted and thinned with cellulose thinners on my Tu 22 Blinder and it gives a finish same as alclad , although like alclad make sure you prime the bare plastic if youre using cellulose to thin the paint, cheers tony

 

[stona]

Good luck!

I have only ever tried this a couple of times and never again. To say I made a bit of a mess would be an understatement

Cheers

Steve

 

[Richy C]

The guys have covered it , use a straw and cling film and masking tape , but as Tony has mentioned you HAVE to let it settle to let any gases out , my method is cut down a straw to about 2 inches or so tape it to the can nozzle I now use either a empty tamiya jar or if I need more it goes in a airbrush jar which are 2 to 3 times bigger , cover the jar with cling film poke the straw through , spray away and bob is your uncle , I also recommend doing this outside and once its decanted then I would normaly leave it 24 hrs to de-gas and settle

 

[Hooterville75]

The best way Ive been taught to decant spray paint is getting a small jar, straw, (bendy type preferred), and a piece of cling film or as in the states we call it Seran Wrap, and either masking tape or blue tack. Put a piece of Seran Wrap over the top of the jar your decanting the paint into and poke a hole the size of the straw in the middle. Take a small piece of blue tack and thin out big enough to wrap around the nozzle of the aerosol can. Wrap the blue tack around the nozzle hole so you can insert your straw around the nozzle hole sticking in the blue tack OR if your using tape, tape the bendy straw around the hole of the nozzle. With the one end of the straw attached to the hole of the nozzle, stick the other end of the straw in the hole of the Seran Wrap. Sit back and decant the amount of paint you want in the jar. Very minimal mess. When finished, clean the nozzle with a paper towel soaked in some thinner. Turn the aerosol can upside down and spray until only propellent is coming out and the paint has stopped. Hope this helps and saves you some messes. There are various videos on youtube.com that actually show you the best way to decant paint.

 

[ian lanc]

Look if you want to touch up any parts using the aerosol can its simple to do and all

you need is a few sheets of A4 paper and cut a small round hole into the paper then

align the hole to your damaged part, then lightly spray at the hole 'only', Taking away

the paper to inspect the repair job and repaint until your happy.

 

[Adrian "Marvel" Reynolds]

I decant all the AS tamiya sprays like Yak Face explains, it takes a good hour if not more to let all the propellents evaporate so just set it aside, one other note, the empty Tamiya jars I decant into tend to get very cold, especially at this time of year just be careful

 

[MrTin]

I have a chum who makes model Aston Martins in slot racing form and he always does this as he can get the right (difficult to match) Aston metallic green in aerosols, but can only get a flawless finish with his airbrush.

He then decants Halfords clear spray (which is actually a lot better than the paint!) and finishes the models with that after the transfers of roundels and numbers go on.

I've never done it myself as I have always been able to get my favourite cellulose paint in any colour I wanted, but was told this week that my local supplier can't get it any more because England's last manufacturer has finally ceased production, so I might be doing the old decanting trick myself soon. Although I am going to experiment with Testors enamel. I'm no big fan of acrylics, which is what the paint in Halfords tins is supposed to be, even though it really stinks to high heaven!

The methods above sound very sensible to me and I will use them if I need to decant.

Cheers,

Martin

 

[GeeBee]

Very rare I buy any aerosol paint these days, but if there's a colour I can get in a aerosol instead of having it custom mixed, I also decant it to use through the airbrush, I always keep small glass bottles, the one vinegar from the supermarket comes in are very handy, as the have a screw lid, others I keep are from little bottles of thinner or cough mixture ....

Then I get the aerosol, and cut the top off ....now before you try this, you need to make a very small hole using a dart or something simular, let the gas escape, then chop the top off using metal shears or scissors, leave it to gas out for around 30 minutes, then pour the contents into the bottle, and add a small metal BB or a glass marble.