Rustoleum spray paints for plastic

[OldEastRR]

I suppose this is the same situation as the "I always ballast" or "I never ballast" controversy. Some people can do excellent work with a certain modeling effect, some people wind up with a mess at the same thing. All depends on talent, I guess. I use a modified clay-shaping tool to make beautiful, expert, smooth-cut  contours of high-density styrofoam. A friend saw that, asked to use the tool, tried it, and returned it saying "This #$#@ thing doesn't work."

Jim Hediger never ballasted an inch of his Ohio Southern layout but it still looked pretty damn good. There's no telling who will be good at whatever aspect of railroad modeling there is (people who abhor weathering v. people who crud the C*** out of everything) so I say, best wishes to you airbrush wizards. Rustoleum sent me about 50 replacement nozzles so I'll be able to experiment with spray-can painting to my heart's content without having unused paint, can after can. I'm just a lazy SOB.

BTW, Rustoleum sells cans with a 5-setting nozzle (from fine to wide fan-spray) so maybe you can try those out. Me, if I can avoid spending hundreds of $$$ on airbrushes, replacement parts, repairs, spray booths, compressors, hoses, etc by buying paint in cans, I guess I'm just dumb.

[peteski]

BTW, Rustoleum sells cans with a 5-setting nozzle (from fine to wide fan-spray) so maybe you can try those out. Me, if I can avoid spending hundreds of $$$ on airbrushes, replacement parts, repairs, spray booths, compressors, hoses, etc by buying paint in cans, I guess I'm just dumb.

In the long run, I have to agree with your last sentence.    Have you ever tried an airbrush Al?  Probably not.  And as far as the cost goes, you greatly over estimate the cost and hassle.  But it is your hobby and you do you.  All some of us can do is explain that airbrushes are neither expensive, nor difficult or cumbersome.

I have owned my Badger 200 airbrush for over 30 years. I think it cost me around $50, and in those 30 years all I got for it were few sets of seals, and a nozzle (because I dropped it and the nozzle got damaged).  I do have a portable air compressor for my workshop, so  that was not an expense, and as I mentioned, I don't even have a paint booth, but a $30 industrial exhaust fan.  Amortized over the last 30 years that probably is less than buying a pack of chewing gum once a week. And if you happen to smoke, the airbrush is a bargain compared to what goes up in smoke. 

Anyways, have fun with the rattle cans.   

[JeffB]

BTW, Rustoleum sells cans with a 5-setting nozzle (from fine to wide fan-spray) so maybe you can try those out. Me, if I can avoid spending hundreds of $$$ on airbrushes, replacement parts, repairs, spray booths, compressors, hoses, etc by buying paint in cans, I guess I'm just dumb.

I purchased a large assortment of spray nozzles off ebay a few years back.  Most of them are useless for hobby spraying, but there were a few that were really good.

Buy an airbrush or not, up to you...  But in this day and age, you can buy a basic airbrush/compressor kit off Amazon for about $80.  Not great (professional) quality, but the reviews for them seem to be relatively good (YouTube reviews).

Purchased a California Air Tools 0.6hp compressor, a Badger "Patriot" dual action airbrush, a Paasche single action airbrush and a collapsible paint booth years ago...  Total investment about $300 give or take (at the time I purchased all of it). 

My three boys and I have been using it fairly regularly for the last 4yrs or so.  Great investment and well worth the time to re-learn to use it (did a bunch in my teen modeling days, but hadn't in about 25yrs), and to teach my boys how to use it (though they got more off YouTube tutorials!).

To each his own, but now days, usable second order (a step above hand tools) modeling tools are affordable to most modelers.  They may not be pro-quality, but they work for the intermittent use that most modelers will give them.

Jeff

[nickelplate759]

I have a couple of airbrushes (Paasche, one internal-mix double-action, one external mix), a spray booth, and a compressor (low-end "Fortress" from Harbor Freight).  I also have some rattle cans.      I use the internal-mix double-action brush most often.

I find the booth is essential for both airbrush and rattle cans - at the very least it controls the overspray.    I find rattle cans somewhat difficult to control, but for clear oversprays (flat, gloss, semi-gloss) it's my go-to.  For colors, the airbrush is easier to control, and in the long-run it's also cheaper.  That said, there's nothing wrong with a good rattle-can, but I find it's too easy to put on too much paint.
Tamiya, for example, sells good rattle cans.   Scalecoat did too.  I tried Rustoleum once (a primer) - ugh!  Spray was too coarse.


Right now I don't have a place to set up the booth and compressor and leave them set up - that makes painting a hassle, and I do it less often because of that.

[JeffB]

I find the booth is essential for both airbrush and rattle cans.    I find rattle cans somewhat difficult to control, but for clear oversprays (flat, gloss, semi-gloss) it's my go-to.  For colors, the airbrush is easier to control, and in the long-run it's also cheaper.  That said, there's nothing wrong with a good rattle-can, but I find it's too easy to put on too much paint.
Tamiya, for example, sells good rattle cans.   Scalecoat did too.  I tried Rustoleum once (a primer) - ugh!  Spray was too coarse.

Right now I don't have a place to set up the booth and compressor and leave them set up - that makes painting a hassle, and I do it less often because of that.

Used Rustoleum's "Etching Primer" on some aluminum and steel parts recently...  I prepped the aluminum parts by sanding them with 220 grit sand paper, then wiped them down with Acetone.  The steel parts were cleaned with Acetone twice.  The parts were sprayed and were left to dry for well over a week.  The paint dried, but was disappointingly easy to scrap off the metal.

Another Rustoleum primer I used wouldn't fully set when spraying on 3D printed parts.

My wife used the Rustoleum spray paint for plastic on some plastic planters, came out OK, but didn't hold up well.  Though I'm not entirely sure if she did any prep work beforehand or not.

I really like the Krylon Acrylic clear gloss and flat spray, but they're getting hard to find now.  Not sure if Krylon is even making them anymore.  But they are excellent.  Very thin layers can be sprayed on and it dries quickly.  I hope they haven't discontinued it, it's a great product!

I've had pretty good luck with Krylon primers, their nozzles seem to be reasonably good, but I'd never prime a fine detailed model with them.  I primarily use that primer for spraying/sealing cardstock/chipboard/MDF that I use for laser cutting structure bases.  Also use them for priming styrene window/door castings and other structure parts/details.

I'd say that Tamiya's rattle can primer is about the best I've ever used.  Fine spray, even coat, very controllable, great for priming just about anything.  Not tried any of the paint colors.

Had decent luck with Testor's Model Masters spray cans, but for some reason, I can't get the paint out of those to dry when applied to 3D printed parts.  The paint stays tacky forever.

Jeff