Preferred Crank Bait Air Brush Paints?

[crusherplate]

I'm just a beginner at air brush painting and I would like to narrow down my manufactures choices for my crankbait paints. What are your top four brands???

thanks in advance

[CMARTIN269]

1 Createx

2 Createx

3 Cteatex

4 Createx

Not trying to be funny, but starting out you can't get any less trouble free than Createx.

You can experiment later with other paints but learning how to use your airbrush and getting comfortable with it is most important when starting out.

Createx is easy to use and relativley inexpensive.

[RayburnGuy]

Createx is a good choice to start out with. It's water based so it's easily cleaned up and can be thinned with water if need be. It's relatively cheap compared to some paint and it's specifically made to be shot through an airbrush. The pigment is ground finer in paints that are designed to be shot through an airbrush. Createx is actually a t-shirt paint so it needs to be heat set to achieve color fastness. Do a search on heat setting and you will find everything you need to know about how that's done.

[paskeeter]

Having no problems with Createx.

[Lure--Prof]

1 Createx

2 Createx

3 Cteatex

4 Createx

Not trying to be funny, but starting out you can't get any less trouble free than Createx.

You can experiment later with other paints but learning how to use your airbrush and getting comfortable with it is most important when starting out.

Createx is easy to use and relativley inexpensive.

Ha, that was my first thought.!

You can add Parma to that, as it is manufactured by Createx, it has the same drying & heat-setting characteristics.

If you stick with a single manufacturer, and the same paint line, you'll automatically eliminate compatibility issues. I spray all pearls, flourescents, opaques, transparents, Parma Faschanges, and Fasflips, with an Iwata Eclipse HP-BS and nearly never dilute any paints. I shake thoroughly before use, and I use a patch of pantyhose between the bottletop and the cap. Because of the needle size of the Eclipse HP-BS, its gravity feed, and the in-cap paint filter, I never clog.

[BobP]

I think Createx is very consistent in terms of viscosity and ability to shoot through various airbrushes. However, the Createx color palette is pretty "Plain Jane". Some brands like Smith Wildlife (and others) have paint designed for taxidermy fish painting and since I prefer not to custom mix paint, I use any brand as long as it is water based acrylic airbrush paint. I've had zero problems with paint brand compatibility but you do get differences in viscosity and shooting ease using a hodgepodge of brands.

[benton B]

Wildlife colors (Smith paints)

Polytranspar (WASCO)

Golden

Com-art (Iwata brand paint)

C-tex

[CL Rods]

I use AutoAir, Createx, Polytranspar, and Parma. All waterbased acrylics. I do use some solvent based HOK paints but it is rare if I would use one on crankbaits.

Some of the wildlife colors are just better in my opinion for baby bass, and some blue gill / sunfish effects.

[mark poulson]

Until you've painted for a while, I would thin any paint I used to the consistency of milk, and spray multiple light coats. Use a hair dryer to heat set each coat before you recoat.

Clean the brush between colors, and after each painting session.

Having a tupperware full of clean water, and a spray bottle with water and a couple of drops of dish washing liquid, next to your paint station, along with some clean rags, makes cleaning a lot more convenient.

I have an empty 5 gallon bucket I use for trash next to my bench, and I spray my cleaning water into it when I'm washing up.

Acetone, if your brush has teflon seals, is the cleaning fluid of last resort, when you've let the paint setup in the brush, or the needle sticks, or the nozzle is clogged.

You can soak you brush, disassembled, in a glass of acetone for ten minutes, and then reassemble it and shoot some acetone through it while you backflush, and your brush will be clean.

Just be sure to run some clean water through it after the acetone, before you paint again.

Once you get a routine, it only takes a minute to wash the brush. I seldom have to resort to acetone.