Hi Guys,
Is there an approx guide as to how much paint to use to cover a particular area.

IE: to do the camouflage on a 1/48 scale spitfire requires. X mls green,Y mls brown Z mls blue.

I realise that every modeler is different but as a rough guide so I'm not using to little or wasting to much paint.

Cheers guys

Chris

Chris,
No one really likes to throw out extra thinned out paint, but it's just part of how we air brush models. I use to mix up and thin out way too much paint. I always started with a 3/4 full cup for my old Paasche H, and always had plenty of left over paint. Then I switched techniques, which really has worked even better with my Iwata M-1 with a small top bowl. Max paint I will mix and thin for a full top or bottom is:

24 drops of paint
22 drops of the appropriate thinning medium
2 drops of Windsor & Newton Flow Enhancer

For a camo paint scheme I go with 12-18 drops of paint. I always have excess left, but not a lot.

Clear coats are another issue. I still need to use a 3/4 bowl for my H, and sometimes a 2nd bowl to do the job.

Joel

I have glued the picture of a ruler to my airbrush can and covered it with transparent tape.

This gives me a very good assessment of the amount of thinned paint I start with, and how much is left afterwards. Altough I have no clue how many milliliters I use per square centimeter of surface, I have gotten this way a very good feeling of the amount of paint to mix.

Further, I never throw away thinned paint. For common colors I usually have a few parts of other planes ready that are (partly) painted with the leftover paint of the prime paint job.

Otherwise, I have never had any problem putting thinned paint (humbrol with humbrol thinner or acryl thinned with water) back in the original paint jar.

Not knowing how much to use is why I like to use paint that is already pre-thinned for airbrush use such as Vallejo Model Air. That way when I beginning to run out of paint, I simply ad a little more to get the job done.

Joel,Chris,Drab slab.

Thanks guys for the replies.

Chris

I use an old teaspoon for my mixing vessel. (the spoon kind, not the measuring kind) and I usually fill it half way. I pour right out of the bottle and I only use one tiny pour.


I have an old glass jar that my leftover paint goes into when I'm done airbrushing the colour. In 15 years or so, I've only filled it about 1/3 of the way. (It's slightly larger than a popcan).


You're more likely to throw out paint left in their jars than anything. You'll lose far more paint that way - so you might as well have tried to put it through the airbrush.