Scale Model Tips - Testing Cheap Metallic Craft Paint & A $20 Airbrush 

I enjoy your vids and have learned quite a bit about using cheap acrylics, however I’d like to see you build something and see your skills used on a model. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for taking the time and effort to show us the difference between the airbrush and the spray cans 👍🏼👍🏼

Thanks for the review on these air brushes. I'm getting into model building and was curious about how to paint and this help greatly. Great video.

Excellent test. Thanks for sharing your videos and knowledge 😊 Artie

You are doing a great job with your videos. Always look forward to your new ones. Very well done!

Man I love this channel, please keep the videos coming

This is the best test video of these types of paints that I've seen. Some modelers can be snobs about paints. I'm glad to see that Your showing just how good some of these craft acrylics can be. Thanks for sharing and I think I'll hit the subscribe button on the way out.

Great video and I will definitely be subscribing! That black flash is killer. I bought their color shift set and never really did anything with it but now that I see how gorgeous that black flash is I have to incorporate that into some work. That is such a brilliant color. Their color shift aqua flash is another beautiful color. Great job bud

Another great test video. Very appreciated! I bought about 20 bottles of the craft paints after your last tests. They seem more durable than the vallejo paints I've used, and don't clog up nearly as much as the vallejo stuff. Also picked up some micro Mark nippers a few months ago after watching your video on them. Keep it up!

Can you adopt me? You’re like the cool role model father I never had 😂

I still use my Passche "H" model 44 years later . I also have the 1, 3, & 5 needles. Old reliable hasn't failed all these years. I also save the old glass bottles, clean the labels off & relabel with a label maker. The slip on nozzle caps for the bottles are good for short term paint storage, They also keep dust & tiny debris out of the jar nozzle. You could use a small travel hair dryer drying between coats. I found & still a dryer that's approx. 4.5 "x 5"x 2.5 dia. with a 6ft. cord, an on-off switch (1 heat setting) & it folds up into a compact package.

Great insight, as always! Thanks!

Really love your channel; I've learned a lot from watching.

Keep them comming love the info

I was showing your fantastic videos to my wife , and we both agree you have hands with a nervous twitch! HA HA

I love just catching this video as I am using cheap acrylic paint thinned with you're thinner lol learning to airbrush

I've been looking for glass jars for the HF Quick Change kit everywhere! ... no luck. Thanks for the great videos my man.

Another great video. Thankyou. When i started airbrushing i started with craft paints reduced with a 50/50 mix of water and glass cleaner.. worked great and dried quickly. However i had problems with craft metalics until i switched to a 0.5 needle then all was fine.

Good stuff. We had a guy in a previous club to which I belonged used these with fantastic results on Manga figurines. He used plain old windshield washer fluid to thin them with great results. O wouldn't recommend that stuff for airbrushing now that I know what's in it, but I'd definitely use the homebrew thinner that you and Grumpy Modeler have showed in your respective videos.

Thanks for putting links now!!

Nice video, thanks for sharing! 👍👍👍

Great results....double the paint volume after thinning for a fraction of the price of model paints. These techniques open up so many possibilities to any on a budget.

Excellent! I’ve not tried the Decoart. But I do have about 30 of the folk art craft paint including approx. a dozen of the mettalics. A friend of mine painted a truck kit with a blue color shift, and his came out great. He said he sprayed 11 mist coats until it was layered how he wanted. I like folk arts metallics, but I like folk arts Brushed Metals. I only have 3 for now, but they are sweet. More of a satin netal look. Thanks!

Really cool stuff! I've been trying for ages to get a good metallic/candy red finish with hobby-specific paints, and it's getting really frustrating. The only somewhat good results I've had weren't even with the airbrush, but with rattle cans (Tamiya Clear Red over gunmetal). I've spent probably $100 on various paints at this point, and still haven't quite achieved that perfect color. These cheap ones might be worth a try.

Enjoy watching your videos...appreciate the time spent producing and uploading them to RU-vid I painted a Estes rocket last year with the extreme sheen craft paint, using a Neo for Iwata airbrush....the Neo did a great job laying down the craft paint and the finished look was excellent....I get mixed results shooting cheap craft paint through a Paasche H ...so the Neo Iwata is my “go to” airbrush for spraying craft paint I don’t use windshield washer fluid ...I use Liquitex as a medium One thing I recommend is buying a cheap nail Color shaker....works great for shaking craft paint...just my 2 cents

The Harbor Freight airbrush uses the same fittings as Badger. I wouldn't run anything but water based acrylics through it, the seals might not take it.

Thanks for doing the hard work of testing all these various products. Just a thought concerning these paints and the Paasche, maybe the manufacturer didn't put very much glycerin (retarter), if any, in the paints because they intended for them to be brushed on. Mixing in some retarter or flow improver might be a benefit here. Also, reducing the air pressure might help with a siphon feed gun because it will slow down the drying action during spraying. Just some thoughts.

I use a hair dryer to dry the paint between sprys

That's actually pretty cool how you can just adjust the paint to air mixture and shoot it without worrying about trigger control on the airbrush I use my airbrush for guitars so I do a lot of large flat surfaces so I was worried if I get a more expensive airbrush then I'd have to take a while to learn how to control the button so I hold it down and back and just the right place and hold it perfectly steady so I can get a perfectly even coat

I guess you messed up a little with “clockwise and counterclockwise” in the beginning. 😂😂👍🏼

Thanks, great review and test. I have the Paasche but have not used it much; I think I'll give it a try again. I saw Blu3ManiC's post about the air hose at Harbor Freight but could not find it on line. One of the reasons I haven't used the Paasche is the hassle of having to change the air hose. Can you get an adapter that changes the airbrush's small fitting so I can add a quick coupler and use it on the standard hose?

You definitely need a .5 for those Extreme Sheen colors. A .3 will clog up on you or cause a sputtering with the Extreme Sheens. However a those folkart metallics do well with a .3.

I've been Airbrushing for a long time been wanting an airbrush with a Mac valve but did not want to spend 2 to 300 dollers on an iwata. So I went on. eBay seen an AB for 26.00 Mac valve said what the hell pulled the trigger iam impressed . Um looks more or less than the name brand one . It's a point zero if I had had a. AB like this o. The past wow . Oh on. Your acrylics I've used auto air. Paints in the past and had their thinner left over I picked up some craft paint from Walmart deco or Americans don't rem but I thinned those paints with autoair paint thinner and they covered real good and flowed quit nisce out of the neo I was using o had to mix some 6o get the RAL lift colors but the auto air thinner works nice way better than Windex or any u home made stuff .

Great video! So, 60/40 - thinner to paint, then? Good note about the type of airbrush used. Also REALLY like the study of the effect of the paint over black or white primer. Very helpful!

Would love to see a video/review about the Paasche H, since you mentioned it in this video. That airbrush seems to be extremely popular and has a long history.

Was on the fence about picking up that Passche brush, but now I'm fairly confident in getting it. Now to find a cheap, quiet compressor.

Paasche H sprays about the same as both the cheap externals - very rough unless spraying levelling glossy paints. Only benefit being ease of cleaning. Definitely prefer internal mix for better atomization - would suggest the Paasche VL if you wanted a spare work horse.

This helps all I use is this type of paint and I have a cheap brush kit. And I just can't get it to spray consistently and iv tried everything I can think of. But also a lil lost cuz I'm new at this. I didn't wanna blame it on the brush if it was me.

The only issue I find with the new one you got compared to the other quick swap one is that you have to clean in-between paints. But the other one has plastic bottles so its not as safe to keep solvent paints.

hi...what a great video sir...i have one question, can i use levelling thinner from mr hobby to dilute the water based paint..????

Black is the ideal primer if you want to paint silver.

Have you tried shooting gold over red? I heard that red is the paint of choice for when people restore gilded objects. They mentioned that the red under the gold leaf produces a warmer gold.

Make sure to try adjusting the color nozzle (Needle Cone) certain thicker paints might need this open a bit more with standard thinning measurements.

about priming spoons if you have trouble with remembering use different shape spoons to tell what is what.

Did you try the extreme sheen over a black base? I didn't see it in the video, but I'm curious if the extreme sheen is transparent enough to spray over the alclad gloss black base

The reason the first color ran to the edge is because you ever sprayed it. It needs to be hair dried between coats and it works great without a primed. Because it's acrylic add a little acrylic polyurethane to enhance adhesion and durability/anti-scratch.

I bought that Paasche Beginner Airbrush kit from Hobby Lobby for $17. What a piece of junk. No paint flow even with a 50/50 mix. The spray bottle metal tip doesn’t stay connected to the airbrush body…keeps sliding out. The air hose threaded connection to the airbrush was leaking air so I used some plumbers thread tape, that fix it. But when using canned air propellant, the female threaded connector in the pressure can regulator pops off under pressure so there is no way the regulator can stay connected to the propellant can. I’ll be returning this airbrush ASAP!

I love your video series on those craft paints so much, very informative! and i have been playing around with those paints as well but it seems that i can never get a great coverage from craft paints unless putting a very thick layer on it. I feel like i need to build up the paint for probably around 0.1 mm to fully cover the color of primer (just feels super thick anyways primer coat and paint coat together, i use Vallejo gray primer btw), and usually matt color dries thicker. Do you guys have any solutions or suggestions? a thick layer of paint is just very annoying especially on an HG gundam model. Thanks!

I'm pretty new to your channel but I really enjoy the content. I do have a quick question, do you happen to have a video where you have made some recommendations on airbrushes, compressors, etc? I'm trying to find a good brush I can use to lay down primers and do larger areas for dioramas and other projects. I don't like spraying primer through my nicer iwata hp brush. I had thought about the badger patriot 105, but maybe something like this brush (the one in your video) would be better suited for something like that? I would rather invest in something that would prob last longer and has good build quality.

I hate labels too! Try using a hairdryer to warm up the adhesive prior to peeling.

So intersting Don Yost the famous deceased ol man car modeler used the Pasche instead of a really good airbrush...but he only sprayed enamels

The HarborFreight 10 foot airbrush hose now comes with the 1/8 to m5 adapter for these airbrushes. I was in there to buy a mechanics seat today and while checking out the air brush stand noticed the new hoses now come with adapters instead of 1/4 on one end and 1/8 on the other they changed it to a hose with dual 1/8 ends and 1/4 and m5 adapters attached that you can unscrew. Saves from buying a $10 adapter set on amazon and waiting for it to arrive for the same price and you get the hose as a bonus ;)

I just bought this kit what we're the fittings called for the compressor instead of the air can

My compressor delivers 20psi and 4-7l air. Is that enough for this airbrush gun? I want to use this airbrush gun for 2k paint. What do you think about it?

Wow I would have never grabbed the galvanize tin if I didn't see this.

I just picked up a few of these colors and per your video I got great results...thank you! I also picked up the Creatax 4030 balancing Clear for my Wicked Colors. Do you think it could also work with theae craft store paints as well?

Where did you get the Procon AB from?

Another great video, really interesting. In your opinion what's your choice of most cost effective silver acrylic paint? I've been asked by our local Junior and Infant School to paint old fashioned robots on their window's so I would be using a large amount of the paint.

any chance you can test this Paasche airbrush again but using the Chrome Markers in the glass jar?

To be completely fair Paasche has been around since 1904. Your hobby lobby purchase is already on sale compared to a retail of 28.97USD. The metal H3 was my first airbrush 35 years ago. Great video on a great airbrush. Keep up the good work!

Can you provide the name or link where you got your dropper for the windshield fluid?

Great video. I think over the black primer those colors really popped. How much is the procon airbrush?

Those color shift paint read the label it tell you exactly how to get them to shift back and forth you have to do it just like they said

the black flash color shift looks really nice, do you think it would work as a candy base for clear colors?

What pressure did you use on your compressor for this airbrush?

Scratch my suggestion you have a spoon system that already in place.

Soak that labeled HF bottle in a pan of water for a few hours. That should loosen up the label's adhesive for easy removal. You may have to fill the bottle with water too to keep the label submerged. I use this procedure a lot for removing labels before putting items in the dish washer.

Morning mate. Another good and informative vid. May I ask a question? I see that you were using a "trigger" airbrush (sorry I don't know the correct name for it). I'm looking to get a new airbrush and I've looked at a "trigger" type but I'm not sure as to whether they're any good or they're for a more experienced modeler? I have 2 of the top button type and like them but I'm always looking for a new challenge. Any advice greatly appreciated my friend....

Hello what a great vid for comparison. How about clear coats for car models? What’s your best choice?

In the UK on amazon with delivery it's £49.98 that's about 68.35 US, wow.👍

I used 50 50 mix of future floor polish and paint

TIP* If you put the back of your hand up to your filter, you will feel a draft, turn your palm to face the filter wipe a damp cloth on the back of your hand and you will still feel the air crossing the back of your hand and going between your fingers. If you are spraying and your airbrush is not a dual type brush, when you need air across the spoon to help it dry, move the spoon almost up against the filter and it will draw air across the spoon and help dry the paint enough to do your next coat. I am not saying to face the filter with the painted side of the spoon, I am saying to face the unpainted side of the spoon up against the filter and it will draw air across the painted side. Way better than blowing on it with your mouth and also better than waiting for it to dry enough on it's own. It is a consistent steady flow of air but not strong enough to pull the wet paint and cause it to sag or wrinkle. The cleaner the filter the better the air draw to help dry the test paint on the spoon.

Hi, thx for the advise of the psi for vallejo, great videos, I found a brand called Golden, that have a line name high flow paint, that work on airbrush, do you mind take a look?

What gloss coat did you use

A note for the cheaper harbor freight bottles with the annoying stickers. Soak them in hot water for a couple mins and you should be able to easily get that crap off 👌🏻

The DecoArt you have to thin a lot and can clog your tip.(The metallics) The pigments are not milled enough and some colors spray better than others. The DecoArt in the tubs sprays way better.

You have to use a hair dryer between layers or the paint does not not dry on the lower layers

Paache. Thats a name I have not heard since Pearl paint was open.

Do you have any tips if it doesn’t come out

I have the DecoArt ice blue metallic and I airbrushed it on and it looks great but I do want to gloss coat it. What do you suggest?

Is it because the paint is so diluted the tip does not dry up there for no need for gylcerin i have yet to buy a air brush & want to use acrylics. T.Y

Have you made a video that shows how the metallics behave with different color primers? Maybe a comparison of Bare plastic White Gray Sand/tan Black.

How do you think one of these cheap brushes would handle PVA (elmer's) and water?

I would like to see video of House Of kolor candy paints being tested;shot through the Cheap airbrushes and the expensive airbrushes,then compare the two.

Do you think the Harbor Freight gun would run automotive clear coat?

Can you please make a video of how to clean

i noticed that you used the 2 guns differently. the cheap one you kept your finger on the spray longer than you did with the more expensive one. you used the expensive properly by taking short quit sprays due to the size of the area you were spraying whereas with the cheaper one you took longer spray strokes instead of short quick ones like you did with the expensive one.

Acetone or LA'S TOTALLY AWESOME (tm) will remove stickers and residue.

whicked just watching your advise I quickly went on eBay bought decorArt paint buy 5 get 5 free 34 pounds for 10 paints different colours from London thank you

Can you make a video about your paint booth?

What do you use to clear or gloss coat?

what did you thin these paints with ? thanks

Did you mention where to get the caps for the bottles? If you did I missed it.

I just bought this airbrush kit today… I’m new to this. What kind of compressor or pressure can should I use with this?

Can this spray alclad primer

Could you test one of those battery powered airbrush?

What are the plastic spoons actually used for when you paint them ????????

recommend an air regulator?.

Do you prefer the Paasche or the Harbor Freight cheap airbrush?

Instagram link don’t work?