Airbushing House Paint

[JCoatney]

Hello All,

My wife and I are the proud new owners of a (not so new) Benjamin Moore paint store, complete with it's computerized paint mixing machine.  The hi-tech color matching machine has got me wondering if there's any way to use this gizmo to support my hobby. There are a few lines of paint I want to experiment with, including a water-based alkyd that supposed to dry rock hard. I've read of some folks thinning latex paint way down with Windex and successfully applying it with an airbrush, but I haven't found any more info beyond that.

Has anyone tried anything like this? And if so, can you let me know what you learned?

Happy modeling- Jim Coatney

[uncletony]

Interesting idea… My sense is that paint designed for walls is not really suitable for running through an airbrush -- I think the filler particles are too large and will eventually ruin it. This comes from back when I was a starving artist and we used house paint quite a bit for things it wasn't intended for… I used liquitex acrylic and rhoplex (basically generic acrylic medium, milk consistency) quite successfully in an airbrush though, so maybe you could use the pure pigments with a with some kind of binder that has no filler…

let us know what you discover!

[Des]

A very interesting thought Jim and probably worth experimenting with, you just never know, you might be onto something here but what Bo has said may put a damper on your idea.

Des.

[WarrenD]

Jim,
      I want to say I recall someone doing this in the past, but they filtered the paint quite thoroughly before using it because, as Bo said, the particles are not ground as fine as those paints we're used to using.

Warren

[Michael Scarborough]

I actually had some oil based paint made to match a section of a Japanese Rufe that I was given by my dad. Really different color than usual. Took it to my guys and they used the computer to match the relic and mix me up the paint. I had to thin it considerably, and then some, to get it to work in the airbrush. But, as Bo has said, acrylics and latex are a different kettle of fish. It's a neat thought but it may just be a lot easier in the long run to buy dedicated hobby paint.

Cheers from NYC,
Michael

PS To those of you interested in Japanese aircraft colors, the relic was examined by the folks at the Smithsonian and declared legit, just rare. Can't remember what they cataloged it as. It was one of the Rufes sunk at Florida Island the day we attacked Guadalcanal. My dad's PBY squadron went in there right afterward and he got the relic of the wreck within a couple of weeks of it being submerged. Been safely stored ever since. If you have questions PM me...I don't want to hijack Jim's thread here. (This means YOU Warren.)

[ALBATROS1234]

i know a guy locally that used latex on tanks but not thru an airbrush.i want to say he had to add some stuff to it. like retarder and/or hardener i want to say dish soap too, thinned it considerably as well. he does these 1/18 scale armor resin conversions so he wanted to economize instead of using 6 jars of tamiya paint he got this o.d. green color matched at home depot and used that. brushed only as he doesnt have an airbrush. but it actually looked good and there werent any noticeable brush strokes and the finish was durable enough that it didnt scratch off easily. i was sorta impressed.