Car spray paint

M

mantis147

Guest
Hi all,

After being away from airbrushing for a bit I've decided to start again, so I bought a new iwata hp-ch which I'm made up with. My question is can halfords car spray paint be put through it? As I have a couple of tins where the spray nozzles are bust. If it can be used how would it best be thinned out? I do have standard thinners or wicked paint reducer?

Cheers.
 
I think the straight forward answer is no. There is a minute % chance that I'm wrong (as I never used that brand) but car spray paint is always thick (paint and pigment wise) and even with reduction will clog up your airbrush in no time (as you'll not reduce the size of the pigment).

There is a reason there is airbrush specific paint, you are trying to squeeze paint through a hole less than a 1/3th of a mm wide, you'll need very fine pigment to get it to go through that.
 
Last edited:
I have been spraying car paints (2k ) through my HP-CH with no problems , thin it with paint thinner and off you go
even sprayed humbrol and one shot(pinstriping paints) works also
and I have been spraying with water based car paints for about 17yrs ,, ICI/NEXA ,PPG .
the downside with urethane paints is that they smell and it's quite messy to clean up the airbrush,, waterbased works like a charm though.
 
Rattle can paints are made to dry fast. So unless you put something in to slow it down, it will dry quickly in your gun.
 
I know it's possible with some spray paints. Main thing I've read is that after decanting you want to let it sit in an open container for a while to let the propellant outgass before putting it through your brush. Normally inside the can the propellant gas is compressed into solution with the paint, like the carbonation in beer. You have to allow it time to go flat, otherwise it can fizz up inside your brush and cause problems/mess.

EDIT- Some links:
http://gamerabaenre.com/?page_id=1347
https://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/decanting-tamiya-spray-301?category_id=8&type=article
 
Last edited:
I have been spraying car paints (2k ) through my HP-CH with no problems , thin it with paint thinner and off you go
even sprayed humbrol and one shot(pinstriping paints) works also
and I have been spraying with water based car paints for about 17yrs ,, ICI/NEXA ,PPG .
the downside with urethane paints is that they smell and it's quite messy to clean up the airbrush,, waterbased works like a charm though.

You are the first post I have come across that says it works fine, when searching around. I have the same airbrush and also a Hp-M2, that i would love to shoot some nice automotive 2k clears with. Would you mind sharing what brand clear coat you spray and how you thin so it sprays nicely? What about your PSI settings, etc.? how many coats do you apply having thinned it so much.

I see a lot of clears want a 1.2 - 1.4 tip size depending on the gun typically. This info would be of tremendous help.

Much appreciated!
 
I'm glad I found this thread as I have an almost unlimited supply of cheap Hycote double acrylic auto paint (rattle cans) that can be thinned with 2k thinners and was considering trying it in a cheap airbrush. I never gave a thought to pigment size.
 
You are the first post I have come across that says it works fine, when searching around. I have the same airbrush and also a Hp-M2, that i would love to shoot some nice automotive 2k clears with. Would you mind sharing what brand clear coat you spray and how you thin so it sprays nicely? What about your PSI settings, etc.? how many coats do you apply having thinned it so much.

I see a lot of clears want a 1.2 - 1.4 tip size depending on the gun typically. This info would be of tremendous help.

Much appreciated!
to spray clearcoat with an airbrush is harder because of the very narrow spray pattern, when spraying clears you want a wide spray pattern and a rich flow of material,
BUT,,,i got a Passche vl it comes with 3 different needles and tips ,, with this you can apply clearcoat very well , on helmets and objects with that size,
if you use the largest needle and tip,
I 'm using a clearcoat system called standox at the moment, used other brands like sickens, mipa, before
how to mix a clear ,, usually it's 2 parts clear 1 part hardener (2:1) and 10-15% thinner,,, some are 3:1 and 10-15% thinner
How many coats,,,well first I apply a "tack coat" it's a light coat over the area and let it "flash" rest for few minutes this is to get the clear to grip in to the surface,,then I apply 2 coats with clear to get a nice and shiny surface,
nowadays I use a " big" gun for clears it gives you best finish,
to apply clearcoat is an art form too,, been doing that for +17 and excrement can happened still,he,he,,
 
I used car spray paint many years ago ( there was nothing else available) and just used the standard thinners for that paint, i think it was cellulose at the time. My airbrush was an Aztek 3000.
I have used inspire solvent paint through my airbrush (iwata hp-b), its 2k solvent but works fine with reduction. Not sure what is in Halfords paint so i would stay clear. IF i were to try it i would first experiment to find out which reducer works with it without any undesirable affects. Only then would i consider spraying it.

Lee
 
Last edited:
Back
Top