The Little World

The aerosol paint can for model work has been around nearly as long as I have, though I did not come to them as a resource until I was in my teens. The cans were small then, as they are now, and just as expensive in relative terms. An AMT model car might cost $ 1.49 but the Pactra spray can to finish it was $ 2.00. Each can had about 1.5 models worth of paint in it If you sprayed properly. This you always had to buy that second can to get the second car done…

Model spray paint can be different from the hardware store spray paint – for a start, at the prices they cost and the small cans you get, the hobby shop owners feel little need to lock the cans up in cages to discourage graffitists. The paint inside the hobby cans may be enamels, solvent-based lacquers, or water-based acrylics. There are also specialised cans for polycarbonate plastic racing car shells. It is likely a finer grind of pigment for many of the cans.

The various makers try for the best volume sales with the cans that they can get – the standard colours are boosted with automotive pearl and candy transparent lacquers and the aircraft and armour sections are suitably authentic – or so they say. If the manufacturer has a good range of small vials they can frequently supply a good spray can.

The spray can option is the one to take if you are without an airbrush and compressor – as long as you realise that you’ll have to do your work in a spray booth. This can be as simple as a cut-down cardboard carton or as complex as a fan extractor station. None of them will be fume-free, but they’ll be better than free-air spraying. If you are an asthmatic opt for the best booth you can get.

The can is also the choice when you need to do a large area job that would involve multiple mixes from a small airbrush. The ability to proceed without pauses is the key to many flawless wet coat finishes. A case in point occurred when I deliberately bought a $ 15 spray can of satin black to paint the underside of a WW2 bomber. I knew that the size of the model would mean multiple mixes and it might well have gotten into several little glass bottles of paint. The additional cost of the can was justified.

There’ll be more overspray from the can and you have to be careful you do not overload the model with heavy coats. And once you are done with the can and satisfied with the job on the bomber,  toss it before you are tempted to start spraying anything else.

The tips about warming a can in a bowl of hot water before spraying are perfectly valid – but then so is choosing your day to do it.

The chief disadvantage of the can is the inflexibility of it. You get what they make and if you need a shade halfway between the standard hues, you need to decant the contents and respray them from an airbrush or paint gun anyway. You might as well do that from glass jar paints.