Tombanjo Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 So I'm back in the miniature painting game after a long absence and see they have a new style paint bottle. The Vallejo style dropper bottle seems to be all the rage and I love the ability to dispense controlled small amounts of paint. I do run into the blocked nozzle and chunky paint syndrom every now and then. Ant tips or best practices for paint in these containers. How do folks mix, clean, clear and care for these paints? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backno Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 A paperclip of needle is the quickest and easiest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuesday Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 I haven't heard a lot of special instructions for keeping paints in dropper bottles happy-- one that I remember is storing them on their side to cut down on paint drying in the dropper and clogging it. If there is a blockage, don't squeeze the bottle too hard-- the top will fly off disastrously. Instead poke a sewing pin into the hole at the top to break it up, one of those with a yellow ball at the top. Other than that, I don't run into any problems with them. Every once in a while I clean out any dried paint that's built up on the inside of the lid by scraping it out with a toothpick. But I have no idea what's really 'normal' as far as taking care of paints goes. I suspect I'm actually terrible at it because I have no references. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evaine Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 The best thing I've found to unclog my bottles is a T-shaped quilter's pin. I can't claim to have come up with the idea - they used these at the speed painting contest at Gen Con. I like them because the T shape at the top is easy to grip. Here's a picture: I was able to find some at my local Michael's. You can probably also find them at a sewing shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Jack* Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 Also, with vallejo bottles, mixing can be a pain. Pull off the top and drop a metal bead or two in. They'll make mixing so much easy. Lacking beads, a few offcuts of the tab of a metal mini will work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demonn Agram Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 Also, with vallejo bottles, mixing can be a pain. Pull off the top and drop a metal bead or two in. They'll make mixing so much easy. Lacking beads, a few offcuts of the tab of a metal mini will work That's a cool trick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tombanjo Posted February 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 Thanks for the tips (no pun intended, but appreciated anyway) Appreciate the help. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRC Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Seconded. I ruined a couple paints with stainless-steel ball bearings. There's a lot of solvents and chemicals in paints and they'll manage to rush or tarnish all kinds of metals with prolonged exposure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadilon Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 I too made the mistake of trying this "trick" on a number of different Vallejo bottles. There is some rust-like discoloration on the bottom of some of the bottles where the BB came to rest, but so far I wouldn't consider any of the bottles ruined. I am keeping my eye on them though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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