PDF version ...

Yes, MRH Subscribers can download a PDF version free from here:
http://mrhmag.com/subscribers-only/painting/acrylics

We are working on an ePub / Kindle version, but that probably won't be available until mid-July.

Cheat Sheets

Where are the Cheat Sheets?  I can' t find them and the link in the painting guide doesn't work.

Thanks.

Cheat sheets

The link in the book does work but you need to be signed in already.

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/subscribers-only/painting/acrylics/cheat-sheets

The cheat sheet is simply all the tips and warnings compiled onto one sheet (downloadable PDF). We've not done that yet ... but it should be out within the next week.

MRH Acrylic Painting Guide

Joe, my heartfelt THANK YOU! for your Acrylic Painting Guide.

I am transitioning from Floquil, but had not painted for a long time, and realized I had to go with acrylics. I was recently given a new airbrush, and wanted to begin painting, decorating, and weathering a significant backlog of scratchbuilt and kitbashed HO models. I was completely at sea with respect to acrylics.

1) the considerations in choosing the appropriate paint – manufacturer, brand, line, etc.

2) working with acrylics – mixing, thinning, cleaning, storing, etc.

3) using acrylic paints – painting acrylics with an airbrush and brushes

Your guide covered my issues, questions, and concerns. The links were particularly helpful. Thank you again, Joe. Your Guide was very timely, and seems like you wrote it especially for me. Wow!

Kindest regards, Hugh Ellis

P.S. I model CNR and CN. There is a line of acrylic paints called Proto-Paint produced by Rapido Trains. How do they compare with the "big three" you covered in the Guide? Thx, H

Proto-paint?

Nut sizes for paint bottles

Joe,

Thanks for your efforts and hard work in making this valuable information available.

There is a discrepancy between the nut sizes you recommend in the text of the guide and the sizes shown on the boxes in the photo on page 24.

The "correct" sizes are #6-32, #12-24 and 5/16-18, if the boxes shown are what you actually used.

Thanks,

Rob Morrison

Butyl Cellosolve

In the "Guide to acrylic painting" it says:

"Butyl cellosolve: Butyl cellosolve (2-Butoxyethanol) is an organic colorless liquid with a sweet, ether-like odor. As an inexpensive solvent of low toxicity, it is used in many home and industrial products. It is approved by the FDA as a food additive, defoamer, and stabilizer and for packaging, transporting, or holding food.".

However, there is a warning on the bottle, quote:

"Butyl Cellosolve is poisonous and flammable. Butyl Cellosolve vapors can be toxic by inhalation."  etc.

The chemical associations and other industry groups have gotten it taken off the low-toxicity list. It appears that some animal testing has shown that the amount of this stuff required to cause illness and/or cancer would be a much higher quantity than is likely to be inhaled by people under normal circumstances. 

If you use it for airbrushing purposes, you should use a good spray booth that exhausts to the outside where people cannot breathe it before it dissipates.

Be careful of anything that is sprayed into the air you breathe. 

Best of luck,

Rob Morrison

Definitely pay attention to the Nut Size

I did not and a 7/16" hex nut is not going to fit into a Vallejo bottle:

It needs to be a #12 hex nut which happens to take a 7/16" wrench.