Airbrush Paint Selector

How to use the paint selector

Tell the tool what you are painting on and what the finished piece has to survive, and it narrows the paint families down to the ones that will actually bond. Surface is the deciding factor: what works on primed plastic will lift off bare polyethylene, and what survives a washing machine is not what you want on a display model.

The other half of the decision is thinning. Urethanes and solvent paints need their own reducers and proper ventilation; water-based acrylics are far more forgiving to mix and clean up, which is why they suit almost everyone starting out.

Read next: Airbrush paint types compared: which to buy