Paint mixing cups

[Chaos Lord Tom]

Hello brothers,

 

Recently puchased an airbrush and trying to get the hang of it. For now on, I'm thinning my paints directly in the cup but I had some issues as all my paints are not the same consistency. For now, I'm thinkimg about using small cups to prepare my paints but I can't seem to find a good source to get those cups (metal or plastic).

 

Do any of you have some advice or source for such items ?

 

Thanks a lot

Edited January 6, 2020 by Chaos Lord Tom

[infyrana]

You could always try grabbing some of the empty dropper bottles and mixing them up in there.  You can get them from places that sell Airbrushes normally, they do ones with agitators in too, best of all you can put the top back on and keep it for later.  Another idea is eggcups for boiled eggs, you might need a pipette for pouring into the cup though.

[Arkhanist]

I got a ton of small plastic cups from the 'party supplies' section of the supermarket - called plastic shot glasses.

Also available dirt cheap on amazon/ebay.

I mainly use them for oils and diluting washes, but they'd work for diluting for airbrushes too. Or as suggested pre mix into empty dropper bottles.

For my airbrush, my trick is to put some thinner in the cup first, then add the paint - you can always add more thinner if you misjudge. If you do paint first the paint in the narrow needle channel going from cup to the nozzle doesn't get thinned much even with stirring the cup, so you have a glob of thick paint clogging your spray to clear though before you get to the thinner mix.

 

Edit: another trick is backflushing. This is where you put something over the nozzle hole like a gloved fingertip or preferably something like folded kitchen roll (the tip of the needle is very sharp and pointy!) to prevent airflow out the front, then blow some low pressure air (push down on the trigger and pull back a little). The air has nowhere to go but back up the needle channel and into the paint cup, which helps mix paint and thinner, much more so than stirring. Be warned, if you push a lot of air backwards while the nozzle is 'blocked' it won't just gently bubble through but vigorously splatter paint upwards out of the cup, and at extremes can even force paint beyond the needle seal into the back of the airbrush where it will need to be cleaned. This is where a cup lid (to stop splatter) and a pressure control valve on your compressor comes in handy, and I'd practise with some water to see how it works first!

 

Very useful technique though, not just for paint mixing - helps you clear some blockages, and I use it every time when cleaning my airbrush with solvent to help remove paint from the needle channel.

 

To help visualise why this is useful, here's an air/paint diagram

 

 

The needle channel is the path between the paintcup and the nozzle at the front (where air and paint mix to spray) If you've had your airbrush apart, you know that channel narrows down very, very tightly inside the nozzle - I've found ensuring that area is a] clean and b] only gets nicely thinned paint is the key to preventing clog nightmares, particularly with acrylics. The other one is with a 'floating' nozzle (one that doesn't screw on) to ensure paint is cleaned out from where the nozzle meets with the metal body. Dried paint in there at the front of the brush prevents a proper seal between nozzle and brush and causes a bunch of problems.

Edited January 6, 2020 by Arkhanist

[Ovidius Incertus]

Ditto the small plastic cups from the grocery store ("Dixie" cups in the US).  Or else the cups that come with liquid medicines like Nyquil.

[Rik Lightstar]

I've been using the small clear perspex cups, however in the interest of attempting to reduce my impact on the environment where I can my next order will be for some paper ones like these

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00N13M5OM/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_R4hfEbTH26Q0A

 

Rik

[Fajita Fan]

I get 30 Hefty brand 2oz cups from Walmart for $2, they’re scaled down red party cups so they’re rigid enough to wash out and reuse. Awesome for mixing PVA glue with sand, cheap craft paint, and washing brushes with brush soap. I also want to experiment with mixing my own cheap terrain washes from ink, medium, and water.

[Chaos Lord Tom]

Thanks a lot for your answers. Some good food for thought.

 

For my airbrush, my trick is to put some thinner in the cup first, then add the paint - you can always add more thinner if you misjudge. 

 

Great tip as I already clogged my airbrush on the 1st day doing paint 1st with a pretty thick Vallejo Khaki !

 

 

I've been using the small clear perspex cups, however in the interest of attempting to reduce my impact on the environment where I can my next order will be for some paper ones like these

 

Good idea, I wonder if they will be as practical as plastic ones.

[Bung]

If you want to be more environment friendly get some shot glasses. They can be cleaned with the harsh stuff and reused until you break them.

[Firedrake Cordova]

The normal suggestion is plastic shot cups or medicine dosing cups.

 

Also, this video might help (chap uses Tamiya paints, but the concept is the same): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH5OHYfSq5A

[Axineton]

I picked up a couple of 5ml chemistry beakers on amazon and they are great for mixing a bit of paint.