SPA Modeler

Yeah, that was your first mistake. ALWAYS have a cup or two of coffee first in the morning before attempting a decanting procedure. ROFL!

Here's what I do. Find a small glass jar. (Baby food glass jars or similar are perfect) Remove the cover and set aside. Tape the top opening with wide painter tape (tape in one direction, the other opposite - like a cross) and wrap tape around the lip edges to hold tape covering the opening.

Now make a small slit of a hole for the tube to decant from the rattle can. Spray as much as you can or need. Let it sit for 5 minutes. This will help de-gas the decanted paint.

Carefully remove the tape. You may still see tiny bubbles once the tape is off. Then I stir the decanted paint with a coffee stirrer or sprue stick. That will help release more gas in the paint.

Now put the cover back on the jar & let it sit for another 5 -15 minutes before airbrushing.

Always worked for me.

Thanks for laughing with me, Tom. If anyone has a right to laugh at me, you sure do. (and Duke, and John.......)

And for the additional tips.

I'd like to think I remember this incident and not repeat it. We'll see how that works out.

Yep I’ve seen that paint explosion before, laughing with you bro

I’ve done lots of decanting and experimenting. A number of things the gang listed above i do. I really liked the small red straw from the wd40 can idea…where are those things tho, dang i lose them all the time lol
i use 3ml pipets for transferring paint and thinner routinely so I just cut about 4” off those and spray the paint either into a paint bottle I’ve cleaned out or right into the largest airbrush cup i have. In both cases i add about 25% mr color leveling thinner, mix with the tip of the pipet and spray away. I give it about 5 minutes to warm up to room temp. The MRCLT helps warm it up, keep that in mind, since it was already room temp. I don’t worry about the gas bubbles. You’re aerating the paint in the airbrush remember so the gas bubbles only affect putting a lid on it and storing it…and that brings us back to the content that got me responding to this post

Thanks for the ideas, and for laughing with me.

I like the 3ml pipette idea.

I've had good results by simply spraying Tamiya spray can (AS) paints directly into my airbrush cup, adding a couple drops of Tamiya Acrylic Thinner or Mr Leveling Thinner, mixing it for a few seconds and spraying onto the model. No bottles or straw necessary and no need to de-gas.

Examples of Tamiya AS-12 Silver sprayed this way on my Tempest build...

John, your results speak for themselves, as they’re superb. But I would sure love to watch a video of your decanting method.

I had thought of spraying directly into the cup but was concerned I’ll have sprayed paint all over my hands and the floor than into the cup itself.

Ain’t got the patience nor confidence to succeed in John’s method.

That's an interesting method I'd never heard of before. And as Carlos already said, your results speak for themselves indeed.

Thanks for passing that along, John!

Give it a try! As I stated, there is nothing additional needed. I'm using an Iwata HP-C Plus which has an average sized cup on top and I've had no issue with paint flying out of the cup. I may get a little bit of paint on the finger tip pressing the spray can nozzle but it's minimal. Almost too simple of an idea for a video but if I have some time, I may do it.

My go-to workhorse airbrush is a Paasche H siphon action. I use a side cup more than the glass jar with siphon tube.