Screwed up big time

[LHC]

Despite having been told not to put steel spheres (inox) into my paint jars, I did it anyway… so, this is the result.
Now I can't either pull it out or clean the frigging paint. I have at least 30 bottles this way…That's how you waste money.

 

[LHC]

Here

 

[urumomo]

Those are stainless steel ball bearings ?
Huh ?

 

[LHC]

Those are stainless steel ball bearings ?
Huh ?

yes, at least I bought it as if it were.. now every paint will come out already 'wheathered'..

 

[urumomo]

There's 100's of formulations for " stainless steel " , high chromium content austenitic steels ( will not be magnetic ) are best for that application .
You won't know if you're buying cheap somewhere .

I've always just removed the cap and stirred them but I have some I dropped some 00 lead buckshot into .
I know people like to avoid lead though .

This guy below seems to have good results with the AK ones .
He says he has about 3 years of usage with no sign of corrosion :

 

[LHC]

great tip... I've heard glass bearings also work pretty fine, but can't find it here.
I didn't go for the cheap ones, these are branded and used for air guns.. but still... (or steel?)

 

[urumomo]

Stainless will rust . it can also be ferromagnetic ( martensitic stainless steels ) despite common misconceptions .
It depends on the alloying metals and their percentages .( The magnetic property is determined by the actual phase of the iron )
Specific formulations are intended for specific environments .
I'm sure AK specified to their supplier what the intended use was and the proper stainless steel was provided .

You could always do some testing in the future on candidates for the application .
Immersion in water with a Ph of around 9 will be sufficient .
Acrylic paints are usually around 8 to 8.9 max in Ph .
Give it at least a week of immersion . Higher temperature will accelerate the test .

 

[the Baron]

... I've heard glass bearings also work pretty fine, but can't find it here.

If you have any arts & craft supply stores near you, like Michael's or HobbyLobby, they should have glass beads, as well as beads made from other material, and those will work as agitators in your paint bottles.
I just picked up a paint stirrer (Badger's model) and am playing around with that. I haven't tried it with an eyedropper bottle yet, but it works well with my craft-store brand paint jars, like Folk Art or Americana.
I use a toilet paper core to put over the jar, to help minimize spattering the paint accidentally.

A PS-if you visit an arts & crafts store for beads, you might have a look at beading wire in various gauges, too. That can be useful for scratchbuilding.

 

[urumomo]

I had to grind down the diameter of the paddle on that Badger paint stirrer to fit into the eyedropper bottles like Vallejo uses .

 

[urumomo]

You could make your own shaker balls from epoxy putty .
I don't no if they'd have enough mass for stubborn paints but you could also form the epoxy around a metal core for added mass .

 

[LHC]

If you have any arts & craft supply stores near you, like Michael's or HobbyLobby, they should have glass beads, as well as beads made from other material, and those will work as agitators in your paint bottles.
I just picked up a paint stirrer (Badger's model) and am playing around with that. I haven't tried it with an eyedropper bottle yet, but it works well with my craft-store brand paint jars, like Folk Art or Americana.
I use a toilet paper core to put over the jar, to help minimize spattering the paint accidentally.

A PS-if you visit an arts & crafts store for beads, you might have a look at beading wire in various gauges, too. That can be useful for scratchbuilding.

thank you, Baron! As I live in Brazil, I think that none of these have any branches here, but we do have nice art & craft supply stores, some are nearby, and I'll look for those glass beads. Nice idea about the beading wire, will search for it too! Have a nice weekend, sir!

 

[LHC]

You could make your own shaker balls from epoxy putty .
I don't no if they'd have enough mass for stubborn paints but you could also form the epoxy around a metal core for added mass .

I bought one of those China agitators that are intended for nail polish, it works ok with Vallejo eyedropper bottles, but nothing like a bearing.. Epoxy putty may work fine, but I'd go for the cheap ones, not Tamiya's... lol

 

[urumomo]

Aves Apoxie Sculpt is the best on the planet IMO .

 

[LHC]

I also have that DAS modelling clay, do you think it could melt on the paint?
I'm still trying to find some use for it..

 

[urumomo]

The paint won't dissolve it but that stuff effectively has no mass so it would be useless in that application .
It might swell up if left submerged in paint -- I don't have any experience with that stuff so I don't know .
Roll up a ball and after it hardens submerge it ( will it float ?! ) and see what happens to it after some time .
I'm curious but have none on hand to experiment with .

 

[Pantherman]

Here

That's shocking, feeling really sorry for you as vallejo air are not the cheapest to buy. I suppose live and learn but it's a real kick in the.........
Onwards and upwards, lesson learnt.
Pantherman

 

[LHC]

The paint won't dissolve it but that stuff effectively has no mass so it would be useless in that application .
It might swell up if left submerged in paint -- I don't have any experience with that stuff so I don't know .
Roll up a ball and after it hardens submerge it ( will it float ?! ) and see what happens to it after some time .
I'm curious but have none on hand to experiment with .

Will do it and post the result here.. it seems to be very robust and heavy after drying

 

[LHC]

That's shocking, feeling really sorry for you as vallejo air are not the cheapest to buy. I suppose live and learn but it's a real kick in the.........
Onwards and upwards, lesson learnt.
Pantherman

You got it right, my friend, with taxes and shipping, I must have spent almost US$200 on this Vallejo suitcase, and I thought it would last forever... Like you said, onwards and upwards.. making mistakes is what you learn!

 

[urumomo]

Decades ago I used an air dry clay but I think it was a specifically light weight formulation so I remember it being almost massless .
Close to papier-mâché in density .... Of course it was so long ago I may be remembering it wrong !

 

[Pantherman]

You got it right, my friend, with taxes and shipping, I must have spent almost US$200 on this Vallejo suitcase, and I thought it would last forever... Like you said, onwards and upwards.. making mistakes is what you learn!

It's good that you posted it as we can all learn from it.
Pantherman

 

[Phil57]

I too am using Vallejo paints and I never thought of using agitators. I am so sorry for your mistake but really glad you posted it here for us to learn by. I like the idea of glass agitators.

Phil

 

[LHC]

I too am using Vallejo paints and I never thought of using agitators. I am so sorry for your mistake but really glad you posted it here for us to learn by. I like the idea of glass agitators.

Phil

Although it's a controversial paint, I really like Vallejo, especially because it's water-based. They are very resistant and you can spray a lot with very little paint. I use a 0,5mm needle and thin it with tap water and one or two flow improver drops.
Mistakes happen, thankfully not all paints were affected. I'll look for those glass agitators too!

 

[Pantherman]

Although it's a controversial paint, I really like Vallejo, especially because it's water-based. They are very resistant and you can spray a lot with very little paint. I use a 0,5mm needle and thin it with tap water and one or two flow improver drops.
Mistakes happen, thankfully not all paints were affected. I'll look for those glass agitators too!

Great mind's think alike. I use almost the same set up but 0.2 needle for camo and 0.5 for priming and base coat. Started with vallejo and just like them, you sort of get used to the different viscosity as never seems to be the same from bottle to bottle.
Pantherman

 

[LHC]

Great mind's think alike. I use almost the same set up but 0.2 needle for camo and 0.5 for priming and base coat. Started with vallejo and just like them, you sort of get used to the different viscosity as never seems to be the same from bottle to bottle.
Pantherman

Exactly... and I also like that sweet smell... .. but, don't you get a lot of tip drying with a 0.2 needle? I found it hard to use even with a 0.3mm.. but as soon as I started to use a 0.5, all the problems were gone

 

[Pantherman]

Exactly... and I also like that sweet smell... .. but, don't you get a lot of tip drying with a 0.2 needle? I found it hard to use even with a 0.3mm.. but as soon as I started to use a 0.5, all the problems were gone

I tend to do small area's to limit the time I work, say turret, next day hull then deck, wheels and so on. If it starts to play up I just stop and clean down all ready for another day. It probably takes way longer than it should do but it gives me a chance to see if I need to change anything in the camo design before I carry on. Also makes the build time longer between projects so I get to enjoy it longer. Try to work on maybe doing 4 to 5 a year, also keeps the cost down!!
Pantherman