Are these Testors water-based acrylic paints any good?

[RickRollerLT1]

Hi, I just picked up a tona these from Michaels for .50 ea!... Yes, 50. a piece. Got about 16 of them for $9.00 total (regluarly 2.99 ea, woulda been alot more if regluar price nonoftheless a coupon added)

Are these any good? I've worked with (craft brand) water based acrylics a few times before, so I know the procedures to working with them.

Any anwsers would be lots appreicated!

[Chief Joseph]

If you're talking about Testors Acryl paint, then I find them to be a little hit-and-miss. Brush painting small items is usually trouble-free but airbrushing can get a little froggy. The Flats shoot through the airbrush easier than Glosses. I've almost always thinned them with distilled water and a drop or two of Liquitex airbrush medium. I use gravity-feed airbrushes, so I thin them a lot and shoot at low pressure. Tip-dry is a real problem with them, and you can go nuts with the paint flow stopping every few seconds. Thinning with the Acryl airbrush thinner is probably the most reliable solution. Some guys have good luck with cheap blue windshield washer fluid. I usually have the best results when I've used a good primer coat (an enamel or lacquer primer, not Acryl itself as a primer!). Hope this helps.

[RickRollerLT1]

Allright, I tired some of them out on some spare parts I had kicking around. I find that on the parts that are allready painted, it covers the serface MUCH better than it would on a bare plastic part as Joseph mentioned. (TNX for the tip!)

But depending on the color of the painted part and the acrylic paint, it may not cover so well on some bases. For example, if the color of the part painted is black but the water-based paint color is white or anything bright, the previous color will show through the acrylic paint.

Funny thing is one time ata LHS, they bragged that acrylic water-based paints (Eg. Testors/Model Master) don't need a base coat underneath. But I heard from another you DO NEED a basecoat or the plastic/color underneath will show thorugh. Is that right?

Well anyways, guess the .50 I paid was worth it to some extent.

[RickRollerLT1]

My luck with them has been so bad I threw out unopen bottles of them!

I sure hope ya' didn't pay alot for the unopened ones you threw out? Most places charge $4-6 a pop for those, and thats alot for something thats available ina craft brand for 89. or wait till the testors ones go on sale/clearence.

Edited October 6, 2011 by V-spec

[scalenut]

no problems with them, I use the testors universal acrylic thinner to make them spray at 18-20 psi.

If that doesn't work you need a larger needle.

the basecoat will show thru on any paint if you don't put enough on, or need to prime first.. the acrylics are actually quite opaque.

for brushing the same thinner also works well

highway , instead of saying something is "junk"with no explanation ,, try explaining why or perhaps don't comment at all and maybe learn from people who have some worthwhile info.

[Chuck Most]

I will say that I have used the Testors Acryl line, and have had mixed results. Like Joseph said- they are fantastic for brush-painting small pieces, but airbrushing them can get a bit iffy, no matter what you do. For the price you paid, though, even if they don't turn out to work for what yiou have in mind, you aren't out as much money as you would have been at full price.

[highway]

highway , instead of saying something is "junk"with no explanation ,, try explaining why or perhaps don't comment at all and maybe learn from people who have some worthwhile info.

There, since it's obvious my opinion doesn't matter to you and one of my previous replies standing up for myself and my opinion to you has been deleted from this thread, I have deleted all the posts I've made in this thread but this one!!

[Deathgoblin]

I use Acryl paints almost exclusively instead of standard enamels and don't have any problems at all. Haven't tried them in the airbrush yet, but the interiors and other components all come out fantastic. I've heard using alcohol to thin them works really well. We'll find out!

[scalenut]

I would not recommend alcohol ,, it dries them too fast ,, leaves a grainy finish and causes major tip dry ..

the testor's thinner works 10X better ,

[Chief Joseph]

Not to get off topic too much, but if you ever want to experience pure JOY when airbrushing an acrylic paint, use Medea Com-Art paint. No thinning needed, dries on the model almost instantly, won't cause tip-dry, and you can leave it in the airbrush cup overnight and come back the next day and pick it up and start spraying again. The downside is that It's expensive and the color selection is not that great, which means you have to custom-mix most colors.

FWIW, I have the best luck spraying Testors Acryl paint with my old Aztek airbrush. As scalenut mentioned, a larger needle/nozzle will work better than a fine one.