discussion New to me, but perhaps unknown to others

[Guest]

Just getting back into the swing of kit bashing and rekindling an old hobby, so...paint aggaitor (that you would add to bottles that dont have them)
I have a fair few AV paints and found that they tend to settle to the bottom after a while! After purchasing a paint set from hataka (from this site) I noticed it had a rattle! So got some aggaitors from MIG.
I also have similar size bb's (I do airsoft) just wondering if anyone else has done what I'm thinking......and any other comments/ideas as the cost of the MIG aggaitors compared to the bb's is huge?
There are no silly answers lolView attachment 394059View attachment 394059

 

[Guest]

Should explain....
Remington.... 1500 ..... £13
MIG ....... 60 ........ £5
Just for comparison

 

[SimonT]

The BB's are just disposable plated steel, not high grade stainless - I suspect they will rust in your paint

 

[Mini Me]

I believe that the BB's are copper plated so rust may not be an issue.

 

[SimonT]

might be worth leaving a few in water to see what happens

 

[Ian M]

Just Google Stainless steel baring balls.... ()
5mm 200 balls .... £10 Should last a while.

 

[rtfoe]

I find stirring paint with a cocktail stick very therapeutic. :smiling2:

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Tim Marlow]

I have used Mig actuators extensively, but stopped because after a little while because I found that the pigment or bottle PVC in some Vallejo paints actually reacts with the Stainless BBS from Mig. Some paints are absolutely fine, but some of the earth pigments in particular appear to promote rust on the the stainless steel, which manifests as a rust stain on the PV C bottle. This doesn’t impact brush painting so much, but could be an issue with airbrushing. I suspect this is due to chlorine leaching from the pigment or catalysing a reaction between the PVC and the stainless steel. Stainless steel is quite unreactive in most situations, but can be easily rouged by free chlorine. It’s a particular bugbear in pharmaceutical manufacture whereby reactors are routinely repolished and passivated to minimise batch contamination.
If you go this route you will be better advised to use glass beads as your shakers. Copper is pretty reactive, so copper coated BB pellets may well react, or be porous enough to allow the mild steel to rust, which will quickly disrupt the copper coating and ruin your paint.

 

[Dave Ward]

I get mine from Amazon - 6mm ball bearings - I make it a routine, whenever I buy any new paints, to slip a bb in! Also, it may be just a fad of mine, but I store my paints lying down ( All acrylics in the dropper bottles ). I can't say I've ever had any problems with rust, after about 5 years of doing this. ( maybe I just don't notice it )
Dave

 

[KarlW]

I use glass beads, no rust.

 

[Guest]

I’ll repeat my experience of using glass paint bottles with these inside (the old Revell airbrush-ready enamels): you may end up with a bottle shattering in your hand as you shake it. Happened to me twice, luckily without cutting myself on the shards. The first time you think it’s a fluke, the second you realise it wasn’t, so I began fishing the agitators out of the bottles before using them, and stirring with a stick instead.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Just to clarify, this is the issue I am referring to.

it’s not extensive, and it’s by far the exception. The vast majority of my VJ paint is absolutely fine. I’ve never dissected one to really investigate the phenomenon, but it appears that iron from the SSBB has migrated into the polythene and oxidised. It has no effect on brush painting, but might cause flakes that could block an airbrush nozzle. I no longer add them to the bottles, but that’s because I found a used whirlymix vortex mixer (Lab mixer) in one of my old loft boxes and use that to mix paint rather than shaking by hand.

 

[KarlW]

Just to clarify, this is the issue I am referring to.

it’s not extensive, and it’s by far the exception. The vast majority of my VJ paint is absolutely fine. I’ve never dissected one to really investigate the phenomenon, but it appears that iron from the SSBB has migrated into the polythene and oxidised. It has no effect on brush painting, but might cause flakes that could block an airbrush nozzle. I no longer add them to the bottles, but that’s because I found a used whirlymix vortex mixer (Lab mixer) in one of my old loft boxes and use that to mix paint rather than shaking by hand.

That's why I switched to glass beads, had the same thing happen in some GW paints, SS isn't impervious to corrosion and comes in different grades.

Jakkos point about glass bottles makes it more interesting that AlClad comes with agitators........

 

[stillp]

I've had 'stainless' ball bearings react with Hataka acrylic and Vallejo Model Air. I wouldn't risk using ordinary BBs.

Pete

 

[Jim R]

I drop one of these into dropper bottle paints like Vallejo. Stainless and seem to mix the paint better than ball bearings.

 

[stona]

I use glass beads, no rust.

Me too, but only in varnishes and things like that. Paints (enamels) I usually stir.

 

[dalej2014]

New to the forum, so browsing old threads.

Just a thought - would "lead" shot for fishing do the same job? Reasonably cheap, and safe in water/liquid. Also, softer than steel ball bearings, so less likely to damage bottles and so forth... This kind of thing:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anchor-Tac...pot&qid=1628069964&s=sports&sr=1-1&th=1&psc=1

 

[Tim Marlow]

New to the forum, so browsing old threads.

Just a thought - would "lead" shot for fishing do the same job? Reasonably cheap, and safe in water/liquid. Also, softer than steel ball bearings, so less likely to damage bottles and so forth... This kind of thing:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anchor-Tac...pot&qid=1628069964&s=sports&sr=1-1&th=1&psc=1

Probably not with acrylic paint. Lead reacts with PVA glue to form lead acetate, and acrylic paint is pretty much PVA glue with pigment and flow improvers…..
I have also found that stainless steel reacts with some colours, but not all. I have concluded that the steel is reacting with the paint pigment, not the paint binder or solvent. Stainless steel reacts badly with anything producing free chlorine (dump some in dilute bleach and watch it go orange!), so it could be that some pigments evolve free chlorine over time and react. I’ve stopped using them as a result. The best non reactive mixers are probably glass beads…..

Edit: looking at the link again, that stuff is lead free, so not knowing what it’s made from I don’t know……

 

[dalej2014]

Probably not with acrylic paint. Lead reacts with PVA glue to form lead acetate, and acrylic paint is pretty much PVA glue with pigment and flow improvers…..
I have also found that stainless steel reacts with some colours, but not all. I have concluded that the steel is reacting with the paint pigment, not the paint binder or solvent. Stainless steel reacts badly with anything producing free chlorine (dump some in dilute bleach and watch it go orange!), so it could be that some pigments evolve free chlorine over time and react. I’ve stopped using them as a result. The best non reactive mixers are probably glass beads…..

Edit: looking at the link again, that stuff is lead free, so not knowing what it’s made from I don’t know……

Ah yes. Good point. Off to the arts and crafts shop then... Cheers.

 

[Gern]

I drop one of these into dropper bottle paints like Vallejo. Stainless and seem to mix the paint better than ball bearings.

I've used these for about three years and I've not seen any issues with staining in any of my Vallejo paints. I also think the irregular shape is likely to be better at breaking up any thick clumps than a smooth sphere - but that's only an idea.