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What is the best method for decanting spray paints


LSP_Ron

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Ron, first of all, as a precaution, do the decanting outside if you can!

 

I sit the rattle can in a container of warm-to-hot water for 5 minutes before the decanting procedure. This increases the quality of the flow noticeably, and is even more worth doing if you're spraying a model directly from the can.

 

What I do is get a suitably-sized drinking straw and attach it to the nozzle of the spray can. There's a variety available here that neatly fits over the nozzle on Tamiya spray cans. Be sure to use the ones with the concertina elbow. You can tape it on if need be.

 

I then just sit an empty paint jar (I recycle all the glass ones) on some newspaper on a table outside, sit the straw in the opening of the jar, and press the go button. The jar can fill up quickly so you'll need to keep an eagle eye on things and go lightly with the trigger finger. Be aware too that the propellant gas makes the mixture quite volatile, and hitting the bottom of the paint jar too hard can have explosive results, literally.

 

Once you've got the jar full enough, leave it for as long as you can to de-gas (at least 30 minutes). If you're uncertain, give the paint a gentle stir with a toothpick; if it goes volcanic on you, it ain't done yet.

 

Good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Kev

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Once you've got the jar full enough, leave it for as long as you can to de-gas (at least 30 minutes). If you're uncertain, give the paint a gentle stir with a toothpick; if it goes volcanic on you, it ain't done yet.

 

Good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Kev

 

Yep, know all about the volcanic action of Tamiya spray cans.Once the chill has gone from it it should be fine to use. As Kev said drop a toothpick in it to see what the reaction is before you seal it up. If you dont it will erupt even with the lid screwed on.Great paint to use though and through an airbrush the result is great even with their gloss colors.

Edited by Cunumdrum61
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How about setting the glass jar in a bowl of very cold water before decanting the warm paint into it? That may cool down the stuff to the point where it is less dangerous.

I have done that when casting polyester resin (which was meant to be applied onto fiberglass) into a small mold.

Also on hot days I have used cold water immersion to retard the setting up of mixed bondo. I just do not do this where the bondo would get wet.

By the way, do not put the setting bondo into a refrigerator for cooling. I once did that and afterward all the food in the fridge tasted like polyester resin. :lol: Damn good thing I was not living with any woman at the time as I would never hear the end of it. Female humans have a tenacious memory for a man's flubs and they will hit us with it again and again until both of us are dead of old age. But let a man remind a woman of her mistakes and all of a sudden the female is devoid of any sense of humor. In general, women, and some men, simply cannot laugh at themselves. :angry2:

Stephen

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How about setting the glass jar in a bowl of very cold water before decanting the warm paint into it?

 

Stephen, the paint doesn't come out warm; quite the opposite in fact. If you've ever used a propellant can to power an airbrush, you'll know that the surface temperature of the can drops rapidly once the propellant begins to be released. The same thing happens with paint rattle cans. The purpose of warming the can first is to delay this effect, as it significantly retards flow. By the time the paint makes it into the jar, it's actually very cold indeed, and temperature is not a factor in its volatility. In fact, you'll notice the straw get very cold as soon as you start decanting (assuming you're holding on to it, which you should be).

 

Kev

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My questions on this tip would be, how long before the paint goes off in the jar, as in dry, un-useable? If you left a jar of MM open for 30 minutes it would start to go off wouldn't it?

Also what would you thin it with, Tamiya have a lacquer thinner?

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My questions on this tip would be, how long before the paint goes off in the jar, as in dry, un-useable? If you left a jar of MM open for 30 minutes it would start to go off wouldn't it?

Also what would you thin it with, Tamiya have a lacquer thinner?

 

Once decanted, Tamiya's rattle can lacquers behave like any other paint, but they will thicken over time. I decant them into standard Gunze or Tamiya glass paint jars, so I label them and put them away with my other paints. I've thinned them with moderate success using Mr Color Thinner, and I'm sure Tamiya's own product would be at least as effective.

 

Kev

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My questions on this tip would be, how long before the paint goes off in the jar, as in dry, un-useable? If you left a jar of MM open for 30 minutes it would start to go off wouldn't it?

Also what would you thin it with, Tamiya have a lacquer thinner?

 

The reason for letting the decanted paint sit, is to allow the dissolved propellent to escape. In the spray can, there are not two distinct layers, propellent and paint, as one would suppose, but the propellent is dissolved into the paint, this is what atomizes the paint, otherwise you would just get a stream, and not a spray out of the can.

 

I know I'm playing with fire, but I have actually decanted, thru the bent straw, small amounts directly into the airbrush cup. still allowing it to sit fro a short while.

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Ah, I see from Bob's answer that I misunderstood leitch's question. The de-gassing process keeps the Tamiya paints volatile for the duration. I've actually left a jar with the lid off to de-gas overnight with no ill effect. I'm not sure I'd bother decanting other brands of spray paint though.

 

Kev

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I know this is not what was asked, but I have never understood the point behind the whole "decanting from spray can" thing.

 

I did it a couple of times, and found the result to be pretty much identical to Alclad for 10X the hassle. Just my experience, YMMV.

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I know this is not what was asked, but I have never understood the point behind the whole "decanting from spray can" thing.

 

I did it a couple of times, and found the result to be pretty much identical to Alclad for 10X the hassle. Just my experience, YMMV.

 

Bryan, it's not just about the silver or NMF colours; Tamiya's Camel Yellow makes an excellent RLM04, for example, and their Pure White is also indispensable if you build airliners. But at the end of the day, the contents of these Tamiya spray cans are among the best quality paints I've ever used - they're tough, opaque, spray beautifully and dry quickly. And if you want to use them on a small area, or don't like the slight orange-peel texture they can sometimes have when used straight out of the can, then decanting them for airbrushing is the way to go.

 

Kev

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There are a multitude of reasons for wanting or needing to decant spray paint for airbrush use, and not just Tamiya spray.

 

Krylon is an excellent, tough, acrylic lacquer, covers well, and inexpensive, but the spray is hard to control out of the can, I wouldn't even attempt to spray bare plastic out of the can, it works great thru an airbrush tho. Krylon Gloss black is a great base coat for the high-shine Alclad finishes, I also used Krylon banner red for a red-tail Tuskegee P-51, and the ultra flat black has got to be the absolute flattest black ever, if you need that sort of thing.

 

For car modellers, Testors makes a fine line of color matched automotive enamels, and lacquers, but their spray cans seem, IMHO, to be a bit short on pressure, not atomizing the paint well leaving an orange-peel effect.

 

Try it, you'll like it

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  • 4 years later...

It may sound bad, but I just take my cans of paint outside and drill a small hole right above the lip on the can. just wrap the drill with a plastic bag so you don't get paint all over it, ask me how I know. I've tried the decanting by attaching a straw and spraying into a jar, my finger gave up after a few minutes and I got paint everywhere, with drilling, all you get is a little paint on your bag around your drill, walk away till its done degassing, drill another hole, and pour it in a jar. not the safest way to do it. but it sure is easy.

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