Has anyone ever sprayed with the little testors paints?

chiver · Post by **chiver** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 11:31 am

Is it easy to use? How much thinner? If any?

Wug · Post by **Wug** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 5:05 pm

Use the recommended thinner and thin it as thin as milk or skim milk.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 5:51 pm

Yes, years ago. Thin as noted and clean your brush thoroughly.

Post by **TER-OR** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 7:56 pm

I never had any luck with those enamels, they always stayed tacky. Probably I didn't thin enough - you can really push material through a Paashe H....

chiver · Post by **chiver** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 8:26 pm

I tried it and it worked out. As seen on my side project thread

Rogviler · Post by **Rogviler** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 9:29 pm

TER-OR wrote:I never had any luck with those enamels, they always stayed tacky.

Same here, although I never airbrushed them. With a regular brush it seemed like it would be tacky as soon as you touched it to the model, so brush strokes and uneven coverage galore.

So how much thinning did they end up needing? I've always thought that they were really nice colors, lots of pigment and all that, but gave up on them when I was a kid due to the frustration.

-Rog

Mr. Badwrench · Post by **Mr. Badwrench** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 9:46 pm

I've used them in a pinch. I even found some in the bottom of an old box, something like 27 years old. Thinned about 50/50 with lacquer thinner, sprayed at about 15psi. They worked, that's about it. I wouldn't want to use them for a large project.

tetsujin · Post by **tetsujin** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 3:33 pm

I'm actually doing a project right now with Testor's enamels, after years of not using them. Mostly Model Master, but I used at least one of the little bottles after I realized I didn't have any black...

I did run into the "tacky paint" problem on a couple parts, which I basically had to strip down and paint again. I think it's 'cause I handled the parts before the paint was done curing (dumb, I know, but I had to do something with them...)

My understanding of these paints is that thinner doesn't just thin the paint, it also helps to catalyze the curing process. So you don't want to store thinned paint. Instead you want to thin it right before you use it.

The strength (and weakness) of these paints is the long curing time. More time to cure also means more time to self-level and produce a smooth finish. But it also means more waiting in between color coats.

My feeling working with the enamels again after so long was that they were pretty good, and I think I got good results and smooth color coats, but I'm not too interested in using them again anytime soon. They did take some getting used to, and maybe if I used them more I'd come to appreciate them more as well. Hard to say. It also may be that when I do use lacquers again I may find some things that worked better for me with the enamels.

Scanam2006 · Post by **Scanam2006** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 9:51 am

I use them all the time. They are completely compatible with Model Master enamels and just a bit thicker. Often I need only a bit of a color and the old little bottles are perfect. Also since they are carried at Michaels at 40% off they are cheaper than model master. When it comes to basic colors like black, white and aircraft grey I can't tell the difference between the little bottles and Model Master

Scanam2006 · Post by **Scanam2006** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 9:09 am

I just finished spraying two 144 Dragon X-15's with the small Testors bottles. The result is the same as with Model Master. I believe that the paint is almost identical to the Model Master. The main advantage is that the bottles are smaller so less has to be bought for odd colors. Thinning is almost the same.
The small bottles also will blend and match the Model Master perfectly

Bullet175 · Post by **Bullet175** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 9:17 pm

I was using the small bottles in my airbrush long before the Model Masters line ever came out. They worked fine. I found the Testors airbrush thinner works best for keeping the paint from being sticky. It seems to dry better with it.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 11:14 pm

Bullet175 wrote:...Testors airbrush thinner...

Which is, for the record, mineral spirits (i.e. paint thinner), naptha (aka white gas), n-propoxy propanol (that one I had to look up, it's a synthetic solvent and quite nasty from what I read) with just a touch of aliphatic hydrocarbons.

Back when I was shooting enamels, paint thinner worked great and I could buy it in gallon containers.

mightymax · Post by **mightymax** » Sat Jan 05, 2013 10:50 pm

I grew up modeling in the 60's,70's,80's and used those little bottles through my Paasche H3 all the time. I just thinned them with hardware store mineral spirits that my Dad kept in his basement workshop, with never a problem. The silver never fully dries and will burn your fingerprint into the finish if you hold the model. The other metallic shades like copper I think behave the same as the silver.

I still have little square bottles of Testors (called PLA Enamel back in the day) that have 19 cents stamped on the lid!

Max Bryant