Scale Model Tips - Testing Cheap $1 Craft Store Acrylic Paint To Airbrush Your Kits With 

My wife imposed a "news blackout" on me. Said I was wasting good bench time watching news. I found this guy and I really like him. Good and fast info. I'm a fan spending more time at the bench. Thank you both!!

For the crafts that I do, dollhouse miniatures and sola wood flowers, these are the paints I will be using with my airbrush. This video was worth its weight in gold! I love how bright and organized your desk is.

You're an amazing resource for new and seasoned hobbyists wanting to branch out and see first hand the inexhaustible amount of tests you put out that leave little guesswork and plenty of inspiration for hobby painters.

I have to say that I admire how you present your materials and techniques, and yet, most of all, your enthusiasm and demeanor is SO positive and supportive!!! I really like your channel, and I follow your suggestions to the letter. I also make props for TV shows, like JAG, Agents of SHIELD, Picard2 and Chicago Fire. And btw, I bought that Grex airbrush; I love it, and it works really well! You're the best!!! 🙏

First off, Thumbs Up just for pronouncing Ceramcoat correctly. Secondly, thank you for being so positive about craft paints. I hear so many people in the wargaming community and model railroad crowd talk down about these wonderful paints. Maybe the problem is technique, and as you demonstrate, not using a good airbrush. I've been using these paints for years with good results - I am confident after watching your videos that I can achieve GREAT results. I started out using windshield washer fluid to thin but lately I have been using a matte medium or similar airbrush medium with distilled water to thin, and strain the paint through a micro mesh funnel from Micro Mark to avoid clogging the brush or leaving nits on the model. Interesting to see it used without straining. Great video.

I love it when people get excited about the colour that is coming out as they are busy working, it is so cool to see!

I'm a newbie and have been waiting weeks for someone to put out a video that was worth a $h¡t and took time to show the steps and ratios. Thanks so much. Now I can go try it

I use Apple Barrel and FolkArt acrylic paints from Walmart for some stuff when I'm painting models. You just got to thin it down just right and it works just as good as the expensive brands like Citadel paints. Like I mix FolkArt neon green and Apple Barrel brown together to make a nice mud green color I use for my ork skin. Well I paint my models by hand with paint brushes not air brush but it still works.

I love your channel I just started to airbrush this year when I got a brush for Christmas you help so much

Well in a nut shell. I'm a taxidermist. Fixing to get into lure airbrushing. All my research is createx.. but what u just did is impressive. FROM ALABAMA

Great to see this. Thank you for running and documenting these experiments!

I've had my airbrush and compressor for almost a year, but couldn't find the right combination of search terms to find what I've been looking for. I just stumbled on this looking up something else! This is great, thanks!

I have several of those color shift paints and the metallics. I'm really glad I found your site to see you test them out. Amazing finishes.

Great video! I use these paints 95% of the time and thin the same way. I have found, once dry, they hold the Tamiya and blue painter tape with no problem at all. For using silvers on aircraft bodies, I have found that several light coats work best and give a great look. Love this hobby and these paints help ease the burden on the wallet. Also, I have found when mixing colors, mix them together first then add thinner, better results and know that the color will normally dry a half shade to 3/4 shade darker. Thanks again for the video, I really enjoyed it!

i love how even after all the years of you doing this. you still get so excited trying new things. thanks for sharing this.

This video is phenomenal. By far the best video on using cheap paints for airbrushing I've seen. I hope you do an update video, or series, with these paints.

VERY interesting! I have been using a number of the "cheap craft paints" for years for weathering, structures and for scenery (I'm a model railroader). I hadn't thought that they would airbrush very well, but you showed that they can perform quite well. I do little airbrushing due to health problems, but I brush paint quite a bit. Many of these colors can be brushed easily but you are right, one needs a primer or a couple coats. For weathering like dry brushing or to make washes I still prefer the "model paints" like Vallejo, etc. Maybe finer ground pigments or a different binder? I DO like that the craft paints can be counted on to give a dead flat finish (important for my applications). Thanks for your info on air brushing this stuff. All-in-all they are a good deal for the price.

I have painted many model car kits with the craft paint's, always come out great!, Clear with Rust-Oleum 2x gloss clear,wet sand and buff, amazing results! Great video!

I am building a RG wing gundam using the folklart craft paints and your brushing technique. It’s coming out amazing! I’m really thankful for your videos! It’s my first time air brushing and everything worked great! Love the videos

Another great informative video, showing how we can use the cheaper hobby paint to best use on the model kits. Like you, when I see colour ranges being stopped, I go and buy up what they’re getting rid of.

This is awesome, thanks for taking the time to explore these cheap paints. It's funny because my wife was just asking if I could use this stuff a couple weeks back, and my initial thought was "No way, that's just cheap junk. I need the stuff that's been specially made for models." Guess again! Another test that might great to see is how these paints hold up to being masked over.

Just started airbrushing now that I’m retired. Never tried it before, thank you so much for the comparison. I’ve bought these paints to do acrylic pour painting so I have a bunch. Love the metallic purple you demonstrated! Thanks again, you’ve got a subscriber from me. Keep up the great tutorials.

Just started watching your channel and I enjoy it very much. Very informative channel and looking forward to binge watchinh all your videos. Aloha from Kansas

I have been thinking for years that modeling paints are the "scam of the century" but I also thought I was slightly biased in my considerations. You have confirmed my experiences. p.s.: i posted the comment before the brush test and i have to say you that is possible to use this paints on brush only if you use them extremely thinned, just a little before the water consistency. The more the surface the more you had to thin the paint. It requires time, patience ( 7\8 coats are quite normal for a 1\72 wing) and also some skills with the brush handling related to the pressure and the velocity of the brushstrokes but the money saving it's really big.

Great vid again and really enjoying your content both in the amount of vids you are putting out and the subject matters. I'm blown away by just how good these cheap paints are and how well they airbrush. Keep up the great work and all the best for Christmas and the New Year. You guys are doing it tough in the states at the moment and our thoughts in Australia are with you.

Wow that color shift was a GREAT experiment!! Thanks for these!

Thank you very much for your patience with this video,best video,best explanation,overall sir ,I can’t wait to try it,thanks a lot

Barbatos Rex I just want to give you huge thanks for this video. I've been hand painting using craft paints for a while and recently moved up to an airbrush. I was sad that I had so many cool paints, like the folk art blue flash, that I probably wouldn't be able to use with an airbrush. That being said, I tried the method you laid out here, and it worked like a charm. I threw on a blue base coat, then blue flash, each craft paints, and it came out really really great. Thanks for all the work you do and keep making awesome content.

Well then... wasn't THAT educational! Glad I watched this because now I'm not concerned about purchasing "cheap" paints. It really comes down to using decent equipment, proper technique, and an appropriate mix to the media being used. Low budget manufacturers are gonna LOVE your "real world test". I did. Good job!

Try brush-painting over a primered surface - the paint might be more even. I had not thought of using Ceramcoat because it was so thick, but you've shown that they can be airbrushed. Thanks for the demonstration!

Mr. Rex, Congratulations! You are the only airbrushing craft paint You Tuber to get thinning craft paint right. Isopropyl alcohol and ammonia(Windex) actually breakdown the acrylic resins. Windshield washer fluid(methanol) does not. Water is actually a bad thinner for two reasons. First, it takes way to long to dry. Second, too much surface tension-water would prefer to bead up rather than lay down. The only thing I would add is using a bit of flow-aid to help prevent tip clogging. I've subscribed to your channel. Thank you for this great tutorial. Bill

Thanks for the info mr Rex . Very helpful for anyone with hobby’s. Especially for us new guys that are investing a lot at the beginning and are trying to find ways to do there hobby and not break the bank to bad lol. Thanks again and Happy holidays.

Great video. I've been wondering about using these paints for model cars. I'm definitely going to have to try them. Thank you for this video.

Appreciate your videos and tips, very educational and informative. Regarding the hand-brushing, Acrylics always require 3, 4 or even up to 6 coats (even the hobby brands such as Vallejo) in my experience. Cheers, wishing you and family continued health

Thanks for showing budget friendly options

Thank you for this well organized and presented trial/demo

I would imagine that if you start with a decent selection at the store you could mix up some pretty convincing colours for aircraft and ships. Thx for the video.

Thank you for an excellent video, don’t apologize we love it on the fly. Looking for a craft that my 12 yr old grandson would enjoy. I have lots of these cheap paints so this was perfect. Going to purchase a airbrush and give it a go. Thanks again.

Thank you for these reviews. Very helpful and saves me money .

You know there’s this hermit who bought thousands of plastic spoons, cheap acrylic paints and pledge. He’s cave is jam packed full of all the stuff you show us. Think hes some second or third cousin to Golem. Seriously, you show something good, and you never see it again. Definitely in hermit stash. 😊

I was just looking at this kind of paint. It's everywhere. I didn't know if I could use it on models. Thanks for the video.

I’m just getting to resin kits, Godzilla stuff and your videos are extremely helpful. I really like the desk set up and tool videos you put up. I’m looking to start my first kit soon. Just a few more tools and some things to help organize the desk. So once again, thank you!

Very nice video, Im a real neubi to air brush, I really like this video, I thought I had to buy 5.00$ paints to make it work, I have 15 bottles of outdoor paints from a craft store for bird houses, Im going to thin them out and air brush the bird houses - this should be fun ... thanks again for this very useful video... take care...

What a great video! Thank you for taking the time to show all of this content as well as within a quality video! These color arrangements from what you had to work with is very impressive and gets the mind working on the creativity levels! Youll never know if you do not try, right!?

Great video, interesting that you use windshield washer fluid to thin your paint. I generally stick with Tamiya paints for most of my 1:35 scale models but money is very tight on my disability pension so I shop at the dollar store and bought some basic colors ($1 each) and found they work pretty well using my basic Testor hobby airbrush. Thanks for taking the time to make & upload your videos.

Thank you very much. People like you inspire me to try it because I don't need to spend a lot to get into the hobby. I just buy a nice air compressor (The ones with a small tank) and will start with the cheap airbrush that comes with it. looking forward to upgrade the airbrush next month but cant wait to try.

All the paint is gone because you're making so many awesome Videos and reviews of airbrush's that everyone want to try it! I know I went out and bought a airbrush kit that you reviewed because you did such a awesome job going over it. I felt I needed to try it. I painted a few truck models when I was 12 and I enjoyed it. Now 41 and wanting to give it a shot with some Rc body's! Love your Channel

good video thanks you have a new subscriber. look forward to future vids. hard to believe cheap paint can look so good but seeing is beliving

Love your video! I use this kind of paint on my statues and porcelain figurines with my airbrush and they look amazing. I use to thinner the Paint with window cleaner and a few drops of glycerine to keep the airbrush lubricated .

Excellent video. I'm totally new to this airbrushing and you make it look very simple. Great channel :)

Thank you for a very thorough test!

I recently got several of the folkArt color shift paints from Michael's. Using only the brush technique I found them very transparent and not all that effective. But, there were a few instances where using them as a dry brush, it would still show the original color underneath, but have some awesome interest to the places that I dry brushed. In particular I painted the Nemesis larva with a Contrast Guilliman Flesh, then drybrushed FolkArt Color Shift Blue Flash. I think it looks amazing.

I have just taken delivery of my first airbrush, and the compressor is ready to go. I am just waiting for an adapter that will allow me to connect the two together and I should be in business. While I am waiting, I have been binge watching your videos, and can only say how educational they have been, and I am hoping that I won't flounder as much as I probably would have if they hadn't been so useful. Keep up the good work, it's much appreciated.

I have a bunch of Decoart craft paint that I had purchased, intending to use for 40K terrain pieces. I had planned to hand brush it on... now I am 100% going to airbrush it on instead! Thank you for doing this test/demo for us!!

Dude your videos are awesome! I'm just getting into using my airbrush and I watch your videos constantly for tips and tricks.

I've been using these cheap craft paints on all my plastic models on top of oil-based primers and have had great results. You have to put a clear gloss over them to seal the paints before you put on decals. I love using the craft paints as they are very cheap, come in thousands of colors, are easy clean-up, even if you make a mistake on an oil-based prime it will wash off without staining, as long as you don't wait too long and most of all they can be used indoors because there is no solvent smell.

Thanks a ton for the demonstration and It basically answered all my questions lol. Subbed and looking forward to your next content.

The key to (bristle) brushing acrylic paints, especially craft paints, is a good primer. I've found that Stynylrez and gesso work perfectly (Stynylrez for anything, but gesso works great for miniatures as well, especially Reaper Bones). Oh, and all of the FolkArt Color Shift paints are ace over both.

Wow, really good information. I use these paints for hand-brushing details (windows, figures, etc.) on my railroad layout. I'm excited to try them with my airbrush. Thank you.

Thank you for the RnD. You've saved me a fortune in paint.

Superb video! The craft paint, applied with a brush, do wonderfully over a flat white primer or a white highlighted flat black primer. Have used Ceramcoat for 40 (Folkart for over 30) years and love them!

that "colour shift" over the chrome spoon looks to be a BRILLIANT "silver" for a spacey future scratch built rocket ship !

Damn! Another Excellent Excellent video. Thank you.

That color shift over black looks awesome!

They have some really nice colors. My wife has a bunch of them and will be trying this out.

Great video. I'm just getting started into model and mini painting. This is a big help. Picked up a bottle of the DecoArt black paints to test with and glad to see it wasn't a total idiot move.

Thanks for the information. Just starting going to use on custom Christmas ornaments.

Being a long time artist and master modeler, I have always done my painting free hand with a brush never used an airbrush until absolutely nessesary. Things just scared the hell out of me, this video helped me get fantastic understanding of mixing ratios with my acrylics so I dont f up my airbrush. This really helped me feel more comfortable using the damn thing especially on my models

I have a huge drawer from my kids of the Apple brand acrylics and this will be great as I am getting back into modelling and have a good airbrush I need to learn to use!

What a great demo! I’m a model railway hobbyists, and I can see these techniques working on my structures. I am familiar with most of the brands you have tested, and I’m going to try using the tube type paint from Kaiser Craft for painting backdrops. Cheers - Bruce

Excellent video! I just started airbrushing and this was exactly what I wanted to know. At this point for me, I can't afford to spend $100s of dollars building up a stock of airbrush paints

Thanks for putting this information out there. I have been using craft paints almost exclusively on all of my model building for years. First of all, I love the plethora of colors available and if I can't find the exact color I want on the shelf, I can easily custom mix the color I want. Secondly, price and value are definitely positives as I try to do everything on a budget. When I seen that you were going to be using the Folk Art Blue Flash, I knew that you were going to be pleased with the outcome. The first time that I used Folk Art's colorshift paint I used the Blue Flash as well. I shot it over light gray primer onto a 66 Olds 442 build I was doing (see my profile picture). The results were stunning and I have been hooked on the colorshifting paints ever since. However, I didn't know what it would do if it was shot over a gloss black paint. That purple was fantastic so now I'm going to give that a try on one of my future builds. What brand of gloss black did you use for that test?

I've used the craft paints a couple of times when I did a custom aircraft and couldn't find the model paint the matched the aircraft's colors. I thinned mine with a 50/50 mix of water and pledge floor shine. The floor shine helped promote a bit of adhesion. I was still very hesitant to mask over the painted surface, but was able to do it with a gloss clear on top, and de-tacking the masking tape.

Great paint tutorial! Thanks

Great information ! Thank you much ! 🙂👍

Glad I found your channel. Thanks for doing this. I've been wondering how these paints would work on plastic model work. Unfortunately, I've gone to two Michaels Art Supply stores in my area and for the past two years or so, their craft paint shelves have been virtually bare. As a matter of fact, a lot of their shelves have been bare. so much so that I asked employees if Michaels was going out of business. They said no but I have to wonder.

Thanks for sharing your windshield wiper fluid as airbrush medium trick. I am not going to waste any more money on the brand name 'made for airbrush' stuff from now on, nor will I use water or alcohol either. I've had great success with the Delta Ceramcoat paints brush painting (so long as I prime my plastic parts first...). I experimented with some some Ceramcoat in my airbrush once (using that airbrush branded media to thin it....) without good results and clogs. However, I was using an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS with 0.35 nozzle at about 20 psi. Perhaps I need to change my nozzle size to something larger like a 0.4 or 0.5? At any rate, great video about great paint. Here in Nebraska USA, we have the exact same supply problem with the craft paints, and Plaid's website states they are working to address the supply issue. Guess since everybody went on lockdown, they picked up crafting, model making, and miniature painting along with endless home improvement projects! What a difference spare time makes.

Excellent tutorial. Many thanks from Nova Scotia.

I used these paint for my re painting action figures. They work great. Never used them in an airbrush thanks for the tips

I'm defiantly going to do this on my lures!!!!

Thank you for this video. I just tested some "Decoart Crafter's Acrylic" metallic paint from Dollarama in Canada and it worked beautifully.

Very cool idea.

Luv the WB Frog!!! 😃😆😆

I actually used black ceramcoat mixed with water to paint a refurbished metal firearm lower receiver with an airbrush. Many many thin coats on top of a lightly primed surface and it came out absolutely wonderful and has remained a great finish for months now. Sure it might not be as great as expensive coatings but it’s worked well for me and I would recommend it to anyone. No issues covering sanded JB Weld either. Tip - the charcoal black is a perfect match for Heckler&Koch black. Edit: I forgot to say thanks for the great video! Was a big help for me.

Brilliant video 👍

Hi, I am a new subscriber. Really enjoy your test vids on all the various paints and techniques. You have asked for suggestions on things to test. As I am new here and have not had time to review all your videos perhaps the following has already been done, but here goes.

I'm really glad I found this videos thank you so much

Nice video. Color shift paint, you can use silver , gold , or black as a base. All 3 will come out a different finish color. I been using types of craft paint over the last 6 years with a airbrush, and it is one of the most versatile paints I've seen. You can mix colors to make a unique color with ease. I mainly use on anime figures.

Thanks for putting this together. Love your channel and Love your avatar. I'm Mazinger Z fan myself

I use these a lot for a lot of inside cockpit or other detail work. They work great'

Great job !

This is a great video. Thank you

You make Chris Chapman proud I tend to add washer fluid first I think it’s easier to mix. I also put on Stynelrez primer Thanks

Bought a bunch of craft paints (acrylics) from Wallyworld today. So far they are working just fine. Need a lot of thinning, but other than that, coverage and levelling is good. Also dry quickly!

Another great video

Holly "clean windshield batman" It does seem the washer fluid is the ticket to thinning these paints. I cant wait to try it. Thanks for the review.!

That was a fantastic video! I agree with another comment, that you should mention 'airbrush' in the title or thumbnail. Also second the benefit of a primer with brush coating. I love the idea of investing into airbrush and working with cheaper pants. Great video, very educational!

Awesome. I use a bunch of the folk art ones from Walmart. Works great for chassis’ and floor pans. The ones you should try are the Folk Art brushed metal line from Walmart. I was very impressed. I thinned mine 60/40 with washer fluid. 👍👍

Nice demo thanks.

Thank you for this trick.. im sure gonna try it out.. thank you very much