Pour-spout cap for paint jars

karim · Post by **karim** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 10:04 pm

I'm starting to work with my Sotar 20/20, and the little itty-bitty paint cup is making me wish for an easy way to pour paint. Does anyone know of replacement caps for the little 1/2 oz glass jars (that MM & Polyscale paints come in) that have have a pour-spout?

I'm looking at the USPlastics website, and some of those look promising, but there's no way to tell a) if they'll fit, and b) if they will seal tightly enough to keep the paint from drying out.

Anybody seen something that fits the bill?

Ziz · Post by **Ziz** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 10:23 pm

Don't know of a pour spout, but a neat trick is to use a toothpick or spare bit of sprue. How, you ask?

Point the toothpick into the paint cup of the airbrush at an angle. Pour the paint from the bottle by touching the bottle to the toothpick and let the paint run down the toothpick.

When you pour paint "straight", you're relying on your aim and gravity to hit the target (the paint cup), By doing it with the toothpick, you give the paint a "channel" to follow.

karim · Post by **karim** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 10:27 pm

I know that trick, but the bigger problem is that the lip of the jar is curved, and paint tends to run over the lip and surface tension tends to retain the paint along the side of the jar, thus making a mess.

Pat Amaral · Post by **Pat Amaral** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 10:53 pm

Instead of pouring out of the jar, I use an eyedropper. I'm guaranteed to get the paint where I want it and it helps to precicely measure ratios when I'm mixing colors (two drops of this color and six drops of that color give me a fairly exact 25%/75% ratio). Also you can mix the paint right in the sotar's cup - no waste (except whats left on the walls of the eyedropper).

I got two glass eyedroppers at the local pharmacy for about $2. The glass ones tend to be a little easier to clean.

Del · Post by **Del** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 11:27 pm

Ditto the eye-dropper. Easy to use, easy to clean.

karim · Post by **karim** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 11:45 pm

Yeah, that's what I use now... the annoyance is that it's still messy. the jars stand open while I'm painting, or I have to put down the brush to open/close them. The dropper ends up wasting a lot of paint, and either makes a mess on the table, or potentially tips the jar over if I leave it in.

Tony Agustin · Post by **Tony Agustin** » Sun May 01, 2005 3:45 am

How about using a straw? They are pretty cheap and free if you visit McDonalds or whomever.
You could cut a straw to a shorter workable length, mark a line on the bottom tip guesstimating how much paint you might want and dip it into the paint at that mark. Just close off the top opening with your finger and pull the straw out and transfer the paint into your airbrush by taking your finger off the top of the straw.

knightdriver · Post by **knightdriver** » Sun May 01, 2005 7:30 am

Tony Agustin wrote:How about using a straw? They are pretty cheap and free if you visit McDonalds or whomever.
You could cut a straw to a shorter workable length, mark a line on the bottom tip guesstimating how much paint you might want and dip it into the paint at that mark. Just close off the top opening with your finger and pull the straw out and transfer the paint into your airbrush by taking your finger off the top of the straw.

That is exactly what I do, works awesome....... and straws are cheap (if not free). Next trip to a fast food joint, grab a handful. They last forever.

Maschinen Krueger · Post by **Maschinen Krueger** » Thu May 05, 2005 11:46 am

switch to Vallejo paints, they have the businees end of an eye dropper top and you squeeze out what you want. Or if you are stuck on MM paints, try and find eyedropper bottle like that and transfer your paints.

karim · Post by **karim** » Thu May 05, 2005 11:57 am

Good ideas all, thanks guys.

I did call up US Plastics and using my Important Corporate Guy Voice, asked them to send me some samples of various products. Love that trick... works like a charm, no questions asked. Got a box of a variety of plastic bottles, jars, and dispensing lids on the way.

BTW, I use primarily Polyscale, not MM. I hope one of the samples they're sending me will be a good 1-oz size plastic bottle that has some sort of pour-spout that seals well enough to preserve paint. If I can find such a beast, then I'll be a happy camper... Buy a jar of paint, transfer it to the jar, thin to the right consistancy for airbrushing, and be ready for use!

Jonas Calhoun · Post by **Jonas Calhoun** » Thu May 05, 2005 1:22 pm

I've saved Visine, contact cleaner, etc bottles for a while. I transfer a lot of paints to them, especially for figure painting. I paint slow enough that having just a drop or two at a time is really useful.

Also, here's another company that sells Vallejo style bottles:

http://www.western-plastics.com/brochur ... l#picture1

Every so often, there's a group that buys a whole mess of them (discount for like 2000 bottles or so), and then splits them among the users. It's one of the figure painting mailing lists, I think.

Dan