"Custom aerosol spray paints" Topic

UK/ England only answers please as it's nigh on impossible to get aerosols shipped!

Is there anywhere that mixes matt aerosol paint to a sample? For example, if I took a bottle of Vallejo model colour they could mix up a can to match? I wondered if any of the DIY chain stores offered this service.

Cheers! :O)

WARNING: HIJACKING ATTEMPT IMMINENT!

Okay, I guess I'm just curious why you would bother?

Spray paints are, for minis painting, anyway, usually just a base coat over which all the detail gets painted, so, as long as the color is fairly close, why does it matter?

I have, for example, painted WW2 Germans up starting with nothing more exotic than dark gray auto body primer, and then made the look with a combination of drybrushing and washes, which I would end up putting on the minis even if the base color was exactly correct.

Add to that the fact that we now have such a plethora of spray paint colors available, and this seems like an awful lot of work and expense for little or no gain.

But, I can be educated. Enlighten me, please.

People who have this need usually invest in an airbrush. Then you can spray any number of colors and more besides.

Anyway, I would try a paint store or home improvement store. (I guess in the UK you call those DIY stores?) There are many accounts of hobbyists who need a large quantity of a hobby color (usually for game boards or other terrain); they take a paint swatch into the paint counter and have it mixed up as a quart or gallon of latex house paint. Maybe they can make an aerosol?

I agree with Inquisitor Thaken's point about needing the exact shade, but I guess it depends what you're doing.

I've not seen this anywhere – but there are lots of shades of spray paint available. The army painter range is useful, then I have seen a very large rack of spray paints in an art shop, and finally their are car ones.

Emulsion (latex) or oil house paints can be made on the spot in a DIY, home improvement, hardware, or paint store, as it only requires opening a can of base and tinting it to the deisred shade--and mixing the heck out of it.

Aerosol cans are manufactured in a factory. Think about why that is.

Allen

I'm with the inquisitor – get an airbrush, then you can spray the custom latex paints Allen describes above to your heart's content.

Note, though, that he ain't kidding about mixing the heck out of it. Unless you plan on using LOTS of a given color, or really get a thrill out of stirring paint, get a small can of it. It settles out more quickly than you might think.

Doug

We had some guy in Tennessee make up some German WW2 Feldgrau for us about 20 years ago, he worked in an automotive paint shop. I know that's no help but…
Peter

I'm more than a little ignorant on the possibilities, but wouldn't you be better off mixing up acrylic and using an airbrush to apply it?

In the "long run" you'll get more out of an airbrush than a rattle can, and there's less chance of accidentally grabbing the wrong can when you go to seal them at the end.

You pay for convenience. I've yet to have a good experience with an airbrush (fine, I'm an airbrush-phobe). Being able to order up a couple of cans of the color I need would be well worth paying through the nose.

You can buy a refillable spray can which you then compress with gas or air. I've seen it in the HOBBIES catalogue once, that could solve your problem as you just mix your own colour.

Cheers- I've actually got (and use!) an airbrush, but it would be useful to have a few cans of basic tank colours or infantry uniform base colours as for these jobs a spray can is easy, quick, consistent in colour and doesn't require cleaning. Flames of War are starting to do spray cans of basic colours useful for WW2:

link

A car paint suppliers local to me used to knock up individual aerosol cans, but its 10 years since ive used that service and im sure this particular place has closed down.

Ok not that useful an addition to the discussion, just pointing out that it was possible in the past.

Lots of folks--yea, even here on TMP--have identified which economical commercial spray paints are good matches for base colors. Just look around.

For example, Rustoleum's camouflage color "Deep Forest Green":

link

…is a good base coat for German WWII Feldgrau uniforms, if you're doing a bunch of figures. (TMPer TKindred pointed that one out a while back, I believe.)

Likewise, Krylon's camouflage colors are useful vehicle or uniform base coats, depending on what you're doing.

link

I use Khaki quite a bit.

(Note: no spray cans will actually apply camouflage patterns automatically…)

You *can* buy expensive War Paint or GW spray colors--or you can get much more paint at a much lower cost. Or not. Mr. Barnum knew what he was talking about.

Allen

Just been into a local highsteet car accessories shop for some paint for the car and they offered to get it made up, pricey at £10.00 GBP for a spray can.

you could try either of the "Belton" or "Marabu" paint ranges available from art shops. These are superior to most model spray ranges, available in a pretty vast number of colours in matt.