Tutorial: How to decant spray can paint for airbrushing.

I love Tamiya's TS-42. It's a step in between Alclad's aluminium and magnesium, a beautiful metallic light grey.
This presents a problem for me as it is very difficult to find tamiya lacquers domestically due to import laws and spray cans are much too imprecise. The simple solution is to get the paint out of the can, Here's how to do it:


What you need:

Hobby knife
Tape
Drinking Straw
Spray can
Empty bottle
Filter mask 




Cut a short length of straw using your hobby knife.



Tape the straw over the spray nozzle.


Remove any pets from the room, The vapors from decanting paint are extremely toxic.


Spray. Fill your empty bottle about halfway and let it sit uncovered for 12-24 hours. During this time the propellant will be bubbling out of the paint.


Done. You should always wear a filter mask when working with lacquer sprays. Look for a NIOSH certified mask, the cheap dust cover/sickness masks are not enough.

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