Painting models with artist paints

I just finished some test strips of a product I've recently found and the results are promising. It's called GAC 200. It increases adhesion and reduces the tack of artist paints for the application to rigid and smooth surfaces. The test strips have a good finish, with no tack and the same gloss that the paints usually have. The instructions say to mix 50% to 75% into the paint, and thin with water. I tried both mixes with Golden heavy body artist acrylics thinned and sprayed through an airbrush. 10 mins. and they were dry to touch, no tack whatsoever. The 50% mix does have more opacity. My previous attempts to use Golden paints on styrene, thinned with Golden airbrush medium, left a tacky finish. I will be playing with this product more, and will try to follow this post with more info as it accumulates. If anyone decides to experiment, please read all warnings on the paints as some are not suitable for airbrushing due to health risks.

So this morning I tried a test strip of GAC 200 treated paint 75% on raw styrene with no primer. The finish dried in 10 to 20 mins. to a tough finish. after 1 hour I tried scratching the paint, and it was difficult to remove. Plenty tough for acrylics. There is a slight orange peel to the finish, and it seems a little thick. I think I will thin the paint a little more and turn up the psi to get a thinner layer. These results are very pleasing. My current choice of acrylics, Model Master, do not hold up to scratching at all without primer.

So after thinning, the new test strip (no primer), is still quite durable, although somewhat transparent. I think this is partly due to the translucence of the pigment, and the fact that I'm using heavy body acrylic paint which requires a lot of thinning. Next I believe I will try using some fluid acrylics that are more opaque in nature.

One more test strip with no primer. This time with a varying spray pattern and thinned with Golden airbrush medium in addition to water. (Ratio is approx 20/30/50 - paint/GAC 200/thinner) The finish varies from gloss where paint is thin to dull where paint is thick. The film it is very durable, scratching with some difficulty. I think the last things to work out are; how well this mixture covers details(no pooling), and what psi should it be sprayed at. I am limited to 25 psi at the moment, but am fitting a new compressor this week. Further updates to come.