Shaking Paints

[Guest]

Ian M mentioned on another post about ensuring paint or varnish is well shaken.

Vallejo is very difficult to shake up before use & you cannot stir. One of the few disadvantages of Vallejo. Model being thicker is more difficult than Model Air.

Any one got any good ideas for a shaker. Like the B & Q paint shaker but mini. Thought of Her in Doors but do not think she will play ball !

Laurie

[Ian M]

I have no secret machine for shaking the Vallejo bottles, other than a little routine.

paints that have stood still a while, as you well know, settle out: all the good stuff falls to the bottom and all the runny stuff heads for the top.

I find the colours that I will be needing and lay them down. This makes them settle out to the side of the bottle. Half the job is now done. Then its make sure the lid is on and shake the living daylights out of them. It also helps to bang them against your other hand from time to time as it will loosen any stubborn stick bits from the sides of the bottle.

I will confess that at times if there are a load of different colours in the scheme, I do tend to get a bit of a flair up of the old tendinitis.

Paint that is in tinlets is much easier. Buy some high grade ball bearings about 5mm. Clean them to get every last milligram of grease off them and pop on in each tin.

Then take a length of piano wire, about 2mm. Soften the end in a flame. WHEN COLD wrap it around a tin sized bit of dowel to form a holder for the tin. Drill a hole in the work top. (do not do this bit if you build at the kitchen/dining table). Give the tin a quick shake to get things moving then pop it in the holder. Put the end of the wire in the hole and give it a knock to start it swinging. The to and fro motion will get the ball bearing moving and the paint will mix its self.... If it slows down, just give it a push and get back to reading the forum.

Ian M (master of Heath Robinson engineering).

[colin m]

If I know what paint I'll be using soon, sometimes I've put them in the car, loose in a box and just let them roll around as I drive around.

[BarryW]

I turn the Vallejo bottle upside down, give it a couple of hard knocks onto the top of the workbench then a just 'shake, rattle and roll!'.....

never had a problem even with the thick Model Colour paints where you cannot 'sense' them being mixed up.

[Gern]

Hi Laurie. I bought one of these for my paints - although not from the US. You'll need to start off your thicker paints by hand, but once you've 'loosened' the mixture a bit by hand, this seems to finish off the mixing quite nicely.

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Dave

PS I'll try and find my supplier's name, but it was some time ago so you might be quicker looking yourself.

[Guest]

Ian M: "do not do this bit if you build at the kitchen/dining table"

Love it haha.

I had some 34 matt white Humbrol the other day which I found near impossible to mix. The settled part of the tin seemed like it had almost started to congeal and stuck to my 'skewer' (which I use to mix the paints if shaking isn't quite enough). Nightmare. You're probably going to tell me it's very common now lol, I'm still new to modelling =)

[Guest]

Thanks for all your replies.

Dave thanks for that. Put into search Dental Vibrators. A good collection very very varied & seem to go a touch beyond dental work. I wonder !!!!!!!!!!!! would they work.

Laurie

[Guest]

4" round vibrator..........thought i had clicked on one my wifes "favourites links" then