Rust-Oleum won't give me straight answers to my questions about Testors enamel weights.

[Plumcrazy Preston]

Here is their verdict:

 

Hello,
 
After consulting with our Research & Development team and resident airbrush expert, we are able to provide the following information:
 
As far as the weight of the paints, each individual paint has a unique weight, depending on pigments used.  With that being said, our team does not feel that weight is key in the thinning process.  There is no fixed amount of thinner to be added to paint for airbrushing.   Factors such as type of airbrush and compressor are more influential than the paint.
 
A good starting place is 1/2 paint, 1/4 thinner and 1/4 gloss clear.  All thinner and paint settles too fast; the gloss clear keeps everything in suspension.
 
The goal is to achieve a milky like consistency, not runny or watery.
 
We hope you find this information helpful.  If you have any additional questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,
Jenn Gitter
Product Support Representative

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by Plumcrazy Preston

[Plumcrazy Preston]

Now where does that leave me?

 

I will have to set up my own outdoor lab one day, weather permitting in SW Oklahoma, with my electronic digital postal scale, my notepad, my pencil, my pill cups, my pipettes and my calculator to get these weights per unit volume down pat and recorded.  Does anybody here hand-load gun ammunition with reloading manuals? Does anybody here understand working up loads? I'm a man of level measurement and precision. I hate guesswork. I hate wasting money, time and energy. I want to work up paint mixtures as near perfectly as feasibly possible. 

 

I don't know how to get stuff to "milky consistency". It's not something measurable. It's not something one can hold a steel ruler to. I lack that skill. I believe in pursuing consistency in one's workmanship through accurate weights and measures, data recording, lab testing and numbers crunching. I'm a former automobile mechanic by trade. I had torque wrench's, hole gauges, thickness gauges, dial indicators, steel rulers and shop manuals with printed data in them to work with. Painting is pure physics, algebra, meteorology and chemistry. 

 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by Plumcrazy Preston

[4mula1fan]

Who's John? Oh, OK. Now you're going to edit that out, John?

Edited November 10, 2021 by 4mula1fan
Busted!

[OldNYJim]

I mean, they're right though.  There's no perfect formula for getting the perfect paint job every time with every kind of paint. 

You need to practice, get a feel for the paint and what works for YOU with YOUR technique, your equipment and in YOUR environment.

They're not refusing to give you straight answers - you're asking questions that they won't be able to answer...

[Plumcrazy Preston]

3 minutes ago, 4mula1fan said:

Who's John?

Oooops, the cat's now out of the bag. I forget to edit that message for posting here. My handle as shown here is NOT my true legal name. No idiot in his right mind would ever reveal is true legal name on forums like this full of perfect strangers but I got a bit careless. So now you all know my true legal first name. I can guarantee you that B. is not my true legal middle initial and Preston isn't my true legal surname. 

Edited November 10, 2021 by Plumcrazy Preston

[4mula1fan]

Plumcrazy John?

[OldNYJim]

8 minutes ago, Plumcrazy Preston said:

No idiot in his right mind would ever reveal is true legal name on forums like this full of perfect strangers

 

Charming.

Jim King
An idiot
Valparaiso, Indiana

 

 

[Plumcrazy Preston]

15 minutes ago, CabDriver said:

I mean, they're right though.  There's no perfect formula for getting the perfect paint job every time with every kind of paint. 

You need to practice, get a feel for the paint and what works for YOU with YOUR technique, your equipment and in YOUR environment.

They're not refusing to give you straight answers - you're asking questions that they won't be able to answer...

 

That said, my plan is still to carefully record information. Gun handloaders work up loads from loading bench manuals  and test-fire them at the range to check results. Like painting, there are many variables like powders, primers, case dimensions and bullet weights. Each and every gun and round is a physical law unto itself. Serious riflemen in military sniper training and in shooting matches, try to hit dimes consistently at 1,000 yards. Once the elusive nit is finally discovered, that load gets "etched in stone" as it were. I will use the "loading bench" approach to this hobby. When I finally get a paint mixture that gives me results I like, I will stick with my guns as they say. Yes, even in the shooting sports, one has to test specific loads in specific guns in specific weather just the same. 

Edited November 10, 2021 by Plumcrazy Preston

[SfanGoch]

Bro, you're never going to get anything done. You waste far too much time with trivial, irrelevant nonsense to be taken seriously on any level.

[Snake45]

9 minutes ago, Plumcrazy Preston said:

Does anybody here hand-load gun ammunition with reloading manuals? Does anybody here understand working up loads?

I do, and I do. And IMHO you're just vastly overthinking this. 

As has been posted here recently, painting a model car is at least at much art as "science." There's no substitute for experience. Those of us here who can now lay on a pretty good paint job almost every time can tell you about a long history of not-so-good paint jobs, failures that had to be stripped and redone, and so forth. 

If you insist on working up a paint "load" for every model you build, you're not going to get many models built.  

To go back to your reloading analogy, have you ever heard that "Every gun and ammo combination is a law unto itself"? It's true. You can buy every loading manual on the market and even write to the experts at Handloader magazine, and NO ONE can tell you what's going to be the most accurate load in YOUR gun.  You just have to shoot to find out what works for YOU. 

Much the same is true for model painting. You just have to jump in and start trying things, based on the best advice you can find. 

Good luck with your efforts, and happy painting! 

[Snake45]

9 minutes ago, Plumcrazy Preston said:

Serious riflemen in military sniper training and in shooting matches, try to hit dimes consistently at 1,000 yards. 

Fellow modelers, let me assure you that the key word in that sentence is TRY. No one is actually able to DO that. If you can put every round in a 5" group or less at 1000 yards, you'll have bragging rights almost anywhere you ever go. And you'll win a BUTTLOAD of money in bets! 

[Plumcrazy Preston]

Right now, it's 71 degrees outside with 69% humidity in Lawton, Oklahoma. It's overcast outside and looking like rain. Is this a less than ideal weather condition to airbrush outside right now even inside a special folding tent designed to be a portable paint booth? Winds are 15 mph south and dew point is 61 degrees. I cannot spray paints inside my apartment and have no special ventilation system for that express purpose. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

5 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

Bro, you're never going to get anything done. You waste far too much time with trivial, irrelevant nonsense to be taken seriously on any level.

Agreed.

 

This has just gotten stupid!

I'm really beginning to believe that the OP's only purpose on this forum is to play us all for fools.

 

If you ever actually paint anything, post up.

I, for one, am not going to hold my breath.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Snake45]

1 minute ago, Plumcrazy Preston said:

Right now, it's 71 degrees outside with 69% humidity in Lawton, Oklahoma. It's overcast outside and looking like rain. Is this a less than ideal weather condition to airbrush outside right now even inside a special folding tent designed to be a portable paint booth? Winds are 15 mph south and dew point is 61 degrees. I cannot spray paints inside my apartment and have no special ventilation system for that express purpose. 

It's a bit humid for optimal results. 

[SfanGoch]

4 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

This has just gotten stupid!

I'm really beginning to believe that the OP's only purpose on this forum is to play us all for fools.

This inauthentic poseur doing a bad imitation of Andy Kaufman as Tony Clifton.

[Plumcrazy Preston]

Thank you 45, it should be dry for most of the wintertime but again it might be too cold outside to set up the paint tent.

What are optimal weather conditions for airbrushing outside even inside a painting tent?  I can generally tell if it's too windy and rain or snow makes it out of the question. 

 

-humidity?

-temperature?

 

Yes, Mother Nature and Father Time can actually slow me down. I have to play it by ear, weather-wise.

Better yet, is there a good book on this hobby I can pick up and read? 

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by Plumcrazy Preston

[Smoke Wagon]

Shoot, and here I was just shakin’ and sprayin’ Tamiya and Rustoleum rattle cans.

I guess if you got the free time to be the Walter White of painting then more power to you, but it’s kind of dumb to try and put a Rustoleum employee on blast for not having an exact answer to your somewhat ludicrous questions. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by Smoke Wagon

[SfanGoch]

1 minute ago, Plumcrazy Preston said:

I can generally tell if it's too windy and rain or snow makes it out of the question. 

So can armadillos.

 

[NOBLNG]

30 minutes ago, Plumcrazy Preston said:

When I finally get a paint mixture that gives me results I like, I will stick with my guns as they say.

How will you ever know if you don’t SPRAY SOMETHING?

[Bucky]

23 minutes ago, Plumcrazy Preston said:

 

 

Yes, Mother Nature and Father Time can actually slow me down. I have to play it by ear, weather-wise.

 

 

Dude, it seems to me that the main thing slowing you down is YOU!

[StevenGuthmiller]

3 minutes ago, Bucky said:

Dude, it seems to me that the main thing slowing you down is YOU!

Ain’t that the truth!!

That’s precisely why I’m starting to think that he has no intention of actually doing anything!

Stop being such a goof and spray some paint for God’s sake!!!

This isn’t brain surgery.... and “loading shells” has zero to do with anything!

 

 

Steve

[Smoke Wagon]

My advice to you is to just stop sweating the small stuff. Seriously. Why go through all the trouble to try and analyze your paint down to the molecular level, when chances are you’re going to get something like a speck of dust, hair, God forbid a bug, in the paint anyway?

The key takeaway is to have fun. It’s a hobby, not a day job.

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, Plumcrazy Preston said:

No idiot in his right mind would ever reveal is true legal name on forums like this full of perfect strangers but I got a bit careless.

You're serious, huh?

 

I've been a member here since 2014, and everybody knows my name.

I take ownership of what I say and do, and I'm proud of it.

you can call me an "idiot", but I'm far too old to still be hiding behind my mama's skirt.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[OldNYJim]

52 minutes ago, Plumcrazy Preston said:

Better yet, is there a good book on this hobby I can pick up and read? 

 

Yes, I gave you a link to a completely free and excellent book on exactly this subject (and much more besides) last time you posted about painting.  You also retain the option of buying a copy of said book from the link I gave you previously. 

[Bucky]

As far as the answer you got from the company, it seems to go along with pretty much all the answers you were provided by the fellow members of this forum.... you know, the guys that actually paint model kits.