Paint shakers / vortex mixers

[pugwash]

I am looking for a mixer or shaker for my acrylics made by Vallejo. I have both kinds, brush and airbrush and as I have been building kits have brush painted them. However when it comes to weathering I will be wanting to use airbrushes on buildings and rolling stock, I find the look more natural than dry brushing etc. The two airbrushes I have are fitted with 0.5mm needles which was fine for G, but I also bought the parts to change them to 0.3mm which will be better for HO.
Now the (truly) sticky bit, from previous experience I know these paints settle out and shaking the bottles by hand was literally a pain after a while, plus the mixing of the pigment and carrier left something to be desired. Consequently I took a look around and found a good review of various mixers but of course in America, so I went to the old standby of Amazon.de who had quite a range but with prices from € 40 to € 120.
So before the credit card takes more of a beating I would like to know if anyone has experience of these machines (good or bad), any positive or negative points to watch out for plus, if possible, any recommendations.
Thanks.

 

[The Shed]

A quick read of this article may be of help in deciding which may be best suited to yourself.... and your credit card!

 

[pugwash]

A quick read of this article may be of help in deciding which may be best suited to yourself.... and your credit card!

Er, yes. That is the American review that I kicked off with then looked at a european supplier as we have 240v
Like I said Amazon have different models from el-cheapo to eye-wateringly expensive. Normally I would plump for something midrange but reading the customer reviews some of the cheaper ones are as good as more expensive items. I don't think I need a top of the range model as it will probably only be in use from time to time, unlike the author of the American review who is a pro model / miniature painter.

 

[JimmyB]

Years ago I bought a cheap (£5.00) electric cocktail stirrer from a Swedish flat pack furniture shop. The end came off, and I reshaped the end, and it works great, even in those squeeze bottle paint pots:

 

[dunnyrail]

Jimmy is on the right line here, a piece of bent wire in a mini drill works just as well. But use a controllable drill with a slow speed!

 

[pugwash]

Hmm, he says, looking at the toolbox where the Dremel is kept. I would have to buy a piece of piano wire though as wire coathangers seem to have been superceded.
Anyway I am still more in favour of the vortex machines (but ones with a speed control) as the paint gets mixed in the bottle. This would give me the advantage of doing several paints in one go with no spillage or cleaning up - I'm a messy so-and-so, just ask SWMBO

 

[David1226]

It's hard work stirring all that paint, you could end up lacquered.

David

 

[pugwash]

It's hard work stirring all that paint, you could end up lacquered.

David

Yes, and if the colour is an off-white I would be cream lacquered.

 

[Captain Flack]

If you have access to a 3d printer, have a look at paint mixers on Thingiverse. There are loads of ideas.

 

[pugwash]

I think the cost of a 3D printer would outweigh that of a mixer, thus incurring feminine wrath

 

[Captain Flack]

I didn't say "buy " a printer, I asked if he had access to one!

 

[pugwash]

I didn't say "buy " a printer, I asked if he had access to one!

Sadly not a hope, and I wouldn't know how to download the right file then set up the printer.

 

[maxi-model]

Probably as important as well mixed paint, with the correct thinners, is some form of paint strainer. If you don't already. Take a look on eBay, many suitable and reusable miniature types are available on there. If you are like me you will have paints of various vintages, no matter how well stirred some tiny particles may remain, ready to clog your your chosen delivery method. I use a handy reusable funnel stype strainer supplied with my Sata brand "airbrush" for the purpose. Served me well for over 20 years. Max

 

[pugwash]

I always (since early teens) used Humbrol enamel tinlets, despite some being well past their use by date I carried on buying the same until I was about 40. That is when I got the café garden and promptly turned a quarter of it into a G scale railway. When I came to use the paints most were perfectly solidified lumps at the bottom of the tinlet and even the newer ones weren't far behind so I took the lot to the recycling and went for acrylics instead. After a few tries I have finally picked Vallejo which, although on the expensive side, give me the results I want. So far I have only used their brush on paints but recently invested in a bunch of Vallejo Air which, as the name suggests, are meant for airbrush use, but being cautious I also bought the Vallejo liquids to make the paint flow better through even the most obstinate airbrush plus their own make airbrush cleaner. I have two airbrushes, not expensive but with bottom feed from fairly large jars, like I said this was fine for G scale models but I am looking at the Iwata Eclipse BS with a 0.3mm needle and a relatiively small gravity fed paint cup for my HO layout(s) - please don't mention the 's' to SWMBO. The boards arrive next week for the HO layout which should keep me occupied for some time, but there are some HOe and a HO rack railway items (okay, whole trains and track plus infrastructure) lying around for the future... if she lets me live that long.

 

[maxi-model]

Still swear by my old basic Badger (and clone) bottom feed "airbrush". Ideal for most work on large scales. My Sata was bought for volume work, for my old resin slot car production business (see icon for product example ). Max

Sata top, Badger bottom (as in bottom feed air brush, not a badger's botton........or anything else your minds might inadvertently come up with)

 

[pugwash]

Interesting, the Sata looks like the modern airbrushes meant for sandblasting. The old Badger is also interesting as it uses the compressed air from the pistol to blow over the paint nozzle creating a partial vacuum / vortex which mixed paint with the air and drew paint up from the jar, it thus only needed a single action trigger to control the air flow. This is rare today (apart from really cheap entry level models) as most use a double action trigger pushing down to increase airflow and back to increase the quantity of paint. Mel (YB281) convinced me to buy a cheap single action airbrush with a supply of air from a can, I used it possibly all of a week then bought a kit of a compressor with two double action airbrushes - these are the ones I still have and mentioned previously are fed paint from underneath in large glass jars. Given the size of the model being painted and the quantity of paint required these are not suitable for HO, I suspect I could pour a whole bottle of Vallejo paint into one of the jars and it still wouldn't be enough to make the airbrush work properly.

 

[JimmyB]

I have an early Humbrol air brush that looks just like the badger, used it for many years in my younger days.