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Using bbs to mix paint


Stinger16

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BB's are available in steel and copper. Don't use the steel one's as they can discolor (oxidize) over time. I use the copper BB's in my Mr Color paints with no issues. The copper one's do not have enough mass to crack the bottle (at least I've never experienced that) and do a great job of agitating the paint. Some people also use lead split shot, but lead also can discolor (oxidize) over time and may have enough mass to crack the bottle.

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Simplest way I have found to mix paint is using a jigsaw, with a small "quick grip" The quick grip hold the bottle, any size and the jigsaw totally mixes the paint.  I watched this on a video a while back, and said, wow, that's so easy, I should have thought of it".  You may have to file the handle on the quck grip to allow it to fit in the jigsaw, I did on mine, but it's a perfectly working solution.  Takes about 8 seconds per bottle. 

 

Paul

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Guys, you can get a small battery-powered stirring machine at most hobby stores. Works far better than BBs and can get down into the coagulated paint at the bottom. I think they're made by Testors and others.

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I've got a Trumpeter stirrer, runs on a couple of batteries, works great on thick gloop like Mr Surfacer 500 and everything else I paint with. So that's Tamiya, Vallejo, Gunze and Life Color acrylics. I always use it when thinning paint so it mixes properly. No bbs, no messing about adapting tools, just a visit to my local model shop for a simple cheap Trumpeter mixer.

 

Regards,

 

Bruce Crosby

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And therein lies the issue with many of us... "Local hobby shop".  Since a great deal of us don't have access to such an establishment, we're forced to either order something online or make due with simple alternatives.

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Trumpeter is available on line, it's simple and easy. Another alternative, Ikea do a coffee frother which is very similar and could be easily adapted as a paint mixer. Ikea is on line and nobody in the world is very far from one of those great big yellow stores.

 

Regards,

 

Bruce Crosby

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When ordering from sealmodel a couple of months back I came across some gunze sangyo bbs. Ordered them on a whim, forget the price but it wasn't much and you get 60 of them. I've had 1 in a jar of water, 1 in neat tamiya thinners and 1 in neat mr levelling thinners for about a month now to see if they rust or suffer any ill effects, to be honest I forgot all about them and only found them the other day whilst looking for something else. No rust or any other effects noticed so will use them from now on.

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Personally, I don't want to mess with getting out a paint stirrer (of any kind mentioned above), making a mess stirring the paint up and then spending time cleaning the stirrer after use.

 

BB's let me simply drop them in the paint jar, shake it for a few minutes and I'm all set. No mess to clean up and works great.

 

Doug

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Mine, is a Craftman, and also had a bit of a tight fit.  However I just filed down the end on the quick grip, (with a Dremel) and it fits perfectly.  I have tried many different tricks over the years, but this just works and the paint is totally mixed up, no problems. 

 

Paul

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