The Little World

I cannot get a consistent answer from other modellers on a question about paints and varnishes. Not surprising – it is the part of the hobby that seems to have the most variability and the opinions echo the numbers of paint products and processes avaiable.

Here’s the question – is it good, bad, or ugly to replace unsprayed paint from a colour cup back into a paint jar? Do I upset all of the chemistry, physics, and moral soundness of the paint by conserving the extra?

One source says yes, one no. Both sources produce superb paint finishes on YouTube right before my eyes. Both use materials I have access to as well as some that are exclusive to the UK or North America. I have no facility with the Japanese language and cannot gain more from their YouTube presentations than the vials offer, but I’ve seen both practise demonstrated. i can’t tell whether the Japanese modeller is praising or damning it.

One view says that the thinners contaminate the paint. They do that in the colour cup, but yet we spray that onto the model.

One view says that as long as the thinner and/or retarder is compatible with the paint ie. the manufacturer’s own product – it is as compatible in the jar as in the cup.

One speaker says that you cannot overthin the paint in the jar by adding back the excess – only eventually arrive at the jar full of thinned paint. As long as you test it before you spray, you can adjust the consistency.

I puzzle. My only really recent discovery is the use of the tiny steel spoons that I purchased from Ustar as instruments of measurement. I now know approximately how many dips of the spoon will be required for a top or bottom coat on a 1:72 fighter plane and can multiply this to accommodate the greater surface area of a bomber or transport. If I take 14 scoops of the Ustar spoon from a fresh jar, I then use the same spoon as a dribble guide when adding thinner – and put in 28 drops from whatever liquid is needed. The results seem to be pretty good whether it is a solvent or aqueous acrylic. In most cases I finish my coat with no excess in the cup.

The  fly in the paint comes when I have been ever so clever and have mixed up a custom jar of something that may not have the original consistency of normal paint. I can’t think how I did it, but I made up a full jar of the yellow-green zinc chromate that is perfect hue but as thick as sour cream. I need to cut it dramatically to drive it through the airbrush and no two cuts seem to be the same consistency. I soldier on with it on the US aircraft as it is such a good match but I long for the jar to get down to about half-full – then I’m going to flood it with X-20 thinner and see if it cannot be got to a proper consistency. If I ever run out of it…I will not remix a custom shade. I’ve found a Tamiya colour that is well good enough.