Paint bottles.

[Mike C.]

Not sure if this has been brought up here before, in trying to organize all my tiny Testors paint bottles,  I stumbled onto a way to mark them a little better.  If you're like me, and find it nearly impossible to read the small print that tells you what the paint is, I took a sharpie and after using a magnifying glass to read it correctly, wrote it more clearly.  On one side say brown. On the next gloss or flat and so on. I was shocked that I had so many blues. Oh and get yourself one of these cheap spice racks. I. Still not completely organized but getting  closer. 

[stitchdup]

I just put a dab of paint on the side of the tin/pot.

[Mike C.]

2 hours ago, stitchdup said:

I just put a dab of paint on the side of the tin/pot.

Thats a good tip Les but I was having trouble more with the flat and gloss, Which I had to mark bigger so my old eyes could tell what was what. I Have flat black, semi gloss black and gloss black.  I also found the number for Testors flat black. Its SKU 356063. CC 1149TT next time you are in Hobby Lobby looking to buy flat black. There's like 5 different blacks on the Testors rack there and none of them are marked flat black. I told them about this on numerus occasions but apparently, it's no big deal to them.

[skymnky721]

I always label with a marker also,,so far so good,,one question,,is there an advantage to storing the bottles upside down?  I may learn somthin here,,,

[slusher]

good tips, I have been using the magnifying glass on colors i don’t use often.

[Mike C.]

52 minutes ago, skymnky721 said:

I always label with a marker also,,so far so good,,one question,,is there an advantage to storing the bottles upside down?  I may learn somthin here,,,

Just sort of mixes it up for you.  You should constantly keep turning them ever week or so after you shake them. I try to do the same with spray cans.

[Raoul Ross]

I've gone one step farther. It's one thing to look at paint through the glass bottle, it's another to see what it actually looks like when painted. I did a 'Metallic' paint swatch, as it were. Gathered all my Metallic paints and painted them in one *Easy To Compare* swatch with the paint code on the back.

I will paint something and then later go, "That paint would look good on this too" and then wonder which paint it was. This way, I can compare immediately which is which and what is what. The first 2 are divided with Acrylics on the left and Enamels on the right.

I dunno, it werx for me....!

 

I did it when I was lookin for a way to make exhaust manifold look more RL. Came out pretty good for a first try!

 

 

 

Edited September 23, 2022 by Raoul Ross

[Raoul Ross]

Another wonkey edit.

Edited September 23, 2022 by Raoul Ross

[Raoul Ross]

Wow, that edit went really wonkey!

[Dpate]

12 hours ago, Mike C. said:

Not sure if this has been brought up here before, in trying to organize all my tiny Testors paint bottles,  I stumbled onto a way to mark them a little better.  If you're like me, and find it nearly impossible to read the small print that tells you what the paint is, I took a sharpie and after using a magnifying glass to read it correctly, wrote it more clearly.  On one side say brown. On the next gloss or flat and so on. I was shocked that I had so many blues. Oh and get yourself one of these cheap spice racks. I. Still not completely organized but getting  closer. 

Sweet tip! I'll probably get one of these racks when i go get a cheap candle warmer plate so i can keep decal water nice and warm.

[Mike C.]

9 hours ago, Dpate said:

Sweet tip! I'll probably get one of these racks when i go get a cheap candle warmer plate so i can keep decal water nice and warm.

That warmer plate is also a good idea. Don't forget to pick up cheapo hairdryer for fixing warped styrene. I'm always forgetting to pick one of those up.

[skymnky721]

On 9/22/2022 at 8:48 PM, Mike C. said:

Just sort of mixes it up for you.  You should constantly keep turning them ever week or so after you shake them. I try to do the same with spray cans.

Ok,,good to know,,one more question,,what makes enamel paint "gel-up"  after a few months?  It happens to only certain colors,,Ill open the cap to stir  and the whole amount of paint is a "block " of jello like blob  and its junk at that point,,and toss out with still 1/2 the paint in bottle?  I add thinner to many paints after having for a month or so,,but some colors just seem to do it more than others.  Its a mystery to me.

[stitchdup]

50 minutes ago, skymnky721 said:

Ok,,good to know,,one more question,,what makes enamel paint "gel-up"  after a few months?  It happens to only certain colors,,Ill open the cap to stir  and the whole amount of paint is a "block " of jello like blob  and its junk at that point,,and toss out with still 1/2 the paint in bottle?  I add thinner to many paints after having for a month or so,,but some colors just seem to do it more than others.  Its a mystery to me.

your lid isn't tight. there will be a small build up of paint on the lid or rim that letting air in as the top wont seal properly. i'm going to guess you take excess paint off the brush on the rim and thats whats causing the problem. the revell and humbrol tins are really bad for it but a paper plate on the bench is my method with brushes now. it wont happen with screw top paints as the tightening up off the lid cleans the threads on plastic tops but it can distort the metal lids causing them to not seal either

Edited October 2, 2022 by stitchdup