Paint mixing Quest

[urumomo]

Posting this here for what it's worth :

I've been mixing my Vallejo paints in the bottle with various stick like things ...

nothing wrong with that ... some need it more than others ,, losing a little paint to waste every time tiring ..

I know about placing a piece of shot , bearing etc in there but never remember to get something suitable when I'm somewhere that has it .

I finally bought a little one of those battery mixers , you know :



... Thinking it will be small enough to insert -O into those little Vallejo bottles

and no it isn't -- Barely .
So I ground the points off the paddle :



Fits
Works . I imagine it's efficiency is wacked . but it works .

Today at the lobby of the hobby
I saw these car weights and thought " 3 bucks " OK



Pulled the cap off a Vallejo to make sure they'd go in there ...
No lead -- good . hope not .

Get home and ---



Using my unaided eyes in the lobby of the hobby , I thought they were individual weights .
. that and the conveniently printed " round weights "
more like " indexed rod "

MORE sawing ??!! ugh .

Pretty not easy to cut . not SS hard : .. why ?



and of course the first and only one I've hacked off took off into the WhereEver Zone :


now you've wasted time on this too ;D ;D ;

Eat some bread !

Uru

 

[urumomo]

I can't believe I forgot this important part of this informative rant !

I quickly discovered that the annular space between the mixer shaft and the paddle traps paint which requires very deliberate cleaning to avoid cross contamination

so I filled it from each side of the paddle with Tamiya Liquid Surface Primer



sorry for another blurry pic , but I'm sure you get it ..

problem solved for probably a good while -
That surface primer is good stuff .

Happy Thanksgiving !
Uru

 

[texastony1946]

I use a badger mixer like yours, I used a flat file to cut down the rotating tip, Works great and fits into my Vallejo bottles.
I purchased ss balls off Amazon, they also work well.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Save your money, go to a DIY store, Home Depot, Lowes, etc, etc, get a box of galvanized hex nuts to use as agitators in your paint bottles.

Stainless Steel works, as well, as does Marine grade. Much cheaper than what some of the modeling companies are selling the SS Stir balls for. Just make sure you buy them small enough to fit through the neck of the bottle.

I just used copper coated BBs, only because that is what I have on hand.

 

[urumomo]

nuts are a good idea .

all the nuts and washers I had around here ( plenty ) were definitely contaminated and I didn't want to worry about cleaning em --- it just wasn't that pressing
I've had enough contaminated paint issues . annoying .

.... these race-car weights are perfect and I need the exercise chopping em up into what the package says they already is ;D

I'm still shocked that little paint stirrer is too big for those Vallejo bottles ....
and nuts small enough to fit are pretty light in the mass dept. . I guess you don't need much .
I wonder if the pointy corners of the nut tame the paint more better ?

I don't have much Vallejo Air , but the Vallejo Model Colors vary in viscosity / solids bigtime .
At least the ones I own .

Cheers

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

The neck of a Vallejo bottle is about 1cm or about 3/8", nut that size has plenty of mass to bounce around even in a bottle of Model Color. I usually drop 3 BBs in each bottle, and they have more than enough to agitate the paint around.

 

[Go Flight]

I went to Michaels Hobby store and got a few packs of small glass beads. Then I just dumped two beads in each bottle. My mixing problem is solved.

 

[LrdSatyr8]

I do that too... can get a big bag of beads for very little money and drop a couple in each bottle of paint. Mixing problem solved.