Hints and Tips...

HHaase · 7 February 2009, 11:47 PM

Here's a good one that I keep having to force myself to use, dealing with jars of paint.

From the first time you open one.... never, never, never, never shake them to mix the paint. I find it results in inconsistant mixing, particularly with the lesser used colors, and splashes paint on the inside of the lid which causes them to get stuck on the jar.

Instead, I try to always stir the paint all the way down the the bottom, usually with scrap pieces of wood or old q-tips with the heads chopped off. More commonly used colors of course take less stirring as the pigments settle less.

When I remember to do this, the paint maintains the same quality all the way through the whole jar and the lids never get stuck.

stringbags4ever2 · 7 April 2009, 07:12 PM

Another modeler whom I correspond with almst daily via e-mail told me that I was living in the dark ages because I stirred my jars of paint with (gasp) toothpicks! I bit the bullet and ordered the MicroMark paint stirrer. Powered by two AA batteries, it mixes paint in about 6 seconds. I start at the bottom of the jar and work my way to just below the surface and allow the mixer to scrape the sides of the jars. It produced consistent colors first time, every time. Now, I only use my toothpicks to hold things like wheels and props. Best 13 bucks I ever invested. I highly recommend the product to all. It may look chintzy, but it works as advertised.