Hi all,
I ended up getting the starter set of Cel-Vinyl paints from Cartoon Colors, and they are really great. They have excellent color and coverage, but I'm running into problems with them drying in the airbrush, especially at low flow and pressure, which is where I figure I'll be doing most of my AB work (looking at what compressor to buy right now). I was wondering what is a good and cost-effective Acrylic Drying Retarder I could add to these paints to keep them from drying in the AB as quickly.
Thanks!

Hey there, I don't have an answer to your question about the retarder, but the problem is with the paint drying in the airbrush itself? How long does the cel-vinyl take to dry once its sprayed on the toy? If you don't mind me asking.

thanks,

Phil

can you thin them 50/50 with water for airbrush?

The paints thin no problem with water, and they dry extremely quickly on the model if applied in a thin enough coat. My problem is that since I am brand-new to airbrushing, I work slowly, and spend alot of time in between shots thinking about what I'm doing and what to do next, so the brush has alot of idle time as I'm working. The paint ends up drying around the needle from sitting there for a minute while I see where I'm at progress-wise.

Keep a large cup of water around, this way after you spray you can dunk the entire head of the brush into the water, well, hold it like a gun, and put the barrel in past the cup then spray the trigger. It will clean out the brush quickly. You way want to make a water airbrush cleaner mix.

You would have to as they are the texture of a thick thick milk and wont flow without water. I think josh would be good to ask, but for sure a 50/50 mis of water is good to get started. You could probably thin them more.

I have used a different brand of thinner and it made them flow even better than water for me.

I've been spraying cel vinyl for a while now. To much water and pressure can cause blow outs, and there are some problems with tip dry. I haven't tried thinning it with anything except water, though Lash has me curious, and I'm going to try a few more thinning options.

The longer you have your cel vinyl stored you will find it necessary to strain the paint before you airbrush. Chunks

Thanks for the tips... chunks don't sound too good tho. I bought the 46 piece starter in 4oz. figuring it'd last me a good long time. Hope they don't go bad too fast...

Brush painted a whole bunch tonight, and it really is some great paint. Thins awesomely, has phenomenal coverage, and dries smooth and flat. I like it alot.

Thanks for the tip on keeping the brush clean LASH... I'm planning on buying a compressor next week, maybe I'll grab one of those self-contained cleaning stations that give you a place to blast into.