Here's some real basic info on airbrush paints for doing true fire flames, etc.:
I don't go into paints a lot on videos because they change so much over time and I hate to be telling someone about a paint on a DVD that is not so good anymore or is out-of-production.
First off, in general I talk about candy colors. Candies are very transparent paints. They are like ink. If you see a bottle of true candy color paint, it will appear to be black no matter what the color is. You might see a bit of a tinge of the paint color around the edges.
Candies do not really reflect light so much as they refract light. The light on a candy color paint goes through the paint and hits the background -- usually white or silver -- which bounces the light back through the candy paint, giving it the color.
You might find various ranges of transparency available in a paint line -- everything from "Opaque" to "Semi-opaque" to "Transparent" to "Candy". Additionally there are often you can mix clear in with a color to make it more transparent. Sometimes a line like Auto-Air have an actual "Transparent Base" that you need to mix with their candies and you can use it to increase the transparency of a given paint color.
That said though, for practicing nothing beats good old water-based airbrush paints like Createx and Auto-Air which are really the same production company.
These water-based paints are easy to work with for hours on end anywhere because there are no fumes. They are also what you want to use on indoor art murals in homes, restaurants, bars, etc because of the lack of fumes.
Fumes from other solvent-based based (urethane, enamel , lacquer, ...) can linger for days and often permeant carpets, drapes, etc. releasing their oder for quite some time. Some people -- with smaller and more delicate noses than mine -- claim the smell never goes away. So water-based paints for indoor work is nearly essential.
Water-base paints harden just like water-base house paints.
Now, the water-based paints have some drawbacks. For one there colors are not as good as other paints and two they tend to fade in direct sunlight.
For paint jobs on cars, motorcycles boats, etc you need solvent-based airbrushing paints. Urethane are generally preferred these days. Airbrush paints are thin enough to easy pass through and aerate through a small airbrush needle/nozzle. Some regular car paints -- for use with an large air gun -- can be thinned and work just fine in an airbrush and it is definitely something to think about and try out from time to time. Sometimes you find a brand and series of car paints that you like or that offer certain qualities that you like.
All that said, the Xotic brand of airbrushing paints are pretty popular these days. They are what I actually use most of the time but there are other brands that are just as good. They are solvent-based and are supposedly some kind of urethane. Since you don't catalyze them, I am really not sure how they can be urethane but the important thing is that the work great.
You can buy paints online though I do not recommend trying to but from the Xotic Colours website as they have been a real pill for some people. eBay and other sites have people selling various paints. You might also check out your local paint and body supply shop. A lot of times they will carry various airbrush paints.
I absolutely do NOT recommend House of Kolor (HOK). House of Kolor is a brand that has changed a lot over the years. It started off as a mom and pop brand for years and was highly prized. That reputation may carry over to today but now HOK is just part of the Valspar paint conglomerate and they behave like part of a giant corporate monolith. Believe me, this can be a problem for you. Also they have changed the formula significantly from the original and it is not as good as the old stuff on which their reputation was based.
Clear coating is important as well. I tend to like a good quality, highly flexible catalyzed clear coat. I would say the best right now is Dupont "Concept" clear. There are comparable and less expensive counter-parts to Concept. Check with your local paint and body shop for their recommendations.
Do a real good prep cleaning finishing with a tack cloth and then fog on one coat of clear. Again, just a fog coat. Wait about ten to fifteen minute and hit it with a good flow coat. You can do subsequent flow coats every ten or fifteen minutes after that as well. A few good flow coats will give you a great clear.
You may you have a lot of overspray roughness -- perhaps orange-peel look. This is almost inevitable when airbrushing -- especially true fire flames. No sweat. Let hard for a day and then wet sand with a fine paper -- 400, 600,...
You don't have to go nuts wet sanding and you definitely don't want to accidentally sand through to the actual artwork. Just knock it down a good bit and re-prep and re-clear -- starting with the fog coat again. That should do it but if it still looks a little rough wait a day and re-do one more time.
Really most of the expense of doing paint jobs is the original surface prep work and the finish clearing work. You can almost do the artwork for free as fun as it is.
Just be sure not to use something like lacquer clear. Lacquer is way to brittle and need to be buffed anyway. Overtime the non-flexible characteristic of lacquer clear will lead to spider-webbing cracks especially on today's thinner and more flexible car bodies and component pieces.
Let me know if you have any more questions. Thanks and have fun
Chuck Bauman
E-Mail crb1177@yahoo.com
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