spoonpluggergino Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 For a long time I went through all kinds of problems with my brushes clogging up all the time. I have been using in the past Illustrator base and transparent base they worked some what but always plugged my brush. as of a week ago I started using auto air 4011 flash reducer and W100 Wicked reducer. The results are unbelievable, the paint looks smooth and shiny, and most of all the time to paint the bait is cut down drastically, and no more clogs. Note this problem was mostly for Createx paint I use other brands that are much thinner than Createx and had no problem with other brands. Hopefully this will save you some problems to the beginners Gino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pholla10 Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 Agreed Gino, I recently began using the Wicked reducer and it has reduced my brush clogging to almost nothing. Wish I would have taken this advice sooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gone2long Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 After quite a bit of frustration I too went with both the 5608 Illustration base for the standard Createx line which is kinda named weird as it is listed as a solvent based reducer/extender and I got the new 4012 high performance reducer for my wicked and Auto air and the difference was night and day so go for it they will make your work more enjoyable. I would say though I don't premix a bottle as it can flash off over time and ruin the batch therfore I mix only what's needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoonpluggergino Posted August 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 It got to a point that I hated to paint , now I can' wait to paint a new bait. I love it. I am glad I posed this, I was not the only one Gino 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverotter Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 Glad I read all the info here and dakotalakes videos. I have not had one bit of trouble. Can't give enough thanks to the people in this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gone2long Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 Check out lure me in custom painted crankbaits he has some real good video's as well not many but good none the less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdeee Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 What are the ratios that you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gone2long Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 If you mean parts paint - parts reducer it's more the consistancy by looks but I usually start at 1:1 but to be honest it's more what brush I'm using than anything else I match the paint to the brush, I have 4 all set up with a different needle/nozzle combo .25mm .35mm .5mm and a .66mm and that last one I don't reduce most times and the .25mm needs allot to spray correctly the 2 middle size brushes are Eclipse's and they are very forgiving and I have to say are a joy to work with something about the design and acrylic paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrybait Posted August 31, 2014 Report Share Posted August 31, 2014 I'm still fighting the clogging and this sounds great. Without looking into it I didn't have confidence that you can use any reducer for any paint. Are they all still water based? Does Createx list which can be used where or are they all OK for all their paints. Also, I only paint one bait at a time generally and I am in a huge shop with lots of air so with these water base paints I don't wear a paint mask and I'm not shooting any laquer type paints. Does using these other reducers/extenders change that? I also hope to reduce the dreaded clogging. I'm chuckling because just last week I'm adding Illustration Base to "thin" my paint to the consistency of milk and the Illustration Base is thicker than milk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted August 31, 2014 Report Share Posted August 31, 2014 I use Auto-Air (Createx compatible) 4011 reducer, and try to achieve the consistency of skim milk. For some paints, like Folk Art metallics and Apple Barrel, its almost a 1/1 ratio, but it doesn't affect the strength of the paint. Because it is thinner, it does take more coats for full coverage, especially with my Wicked White base coat. You can get it here, but there are lots of other places that sell it: http://www.chicagoairbrushsupply.com/flashreducer.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gone2long Posted August 31, 2014 Report Share Posted August 31, 2014 I use the 5608 Illustration base for regular Createx but 4012 for Wicked and auto air, their website seems to indicate that for the regular Createx the high performance reducer is not listed but I've never tried it so I don't know if it is truly incompatible or not. I haven't had any problems yet with the 5608 I'm using an Eclipse and it sprays thicker acrylics great. As for the respirator well I would use one anyway but I can tell you that most of the reducers if not all are solvent based to some degree so I would err on the side of caution and use one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Moreau Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 These reducers work well and are easy to use. If you want to try something a little cheaper you can make your own; 3 Parts Distilled Water 1 Part Denatured Alchohol 1 Part Amonia Free window Cleaner usually found in automotive section like in walmart a few drops glycerin I have been using this for years and works well for me. Hope someone else can find it useful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrogAddict Posted January 2, 2015 Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 I just started using the wicked reducer because that's the only one I found at Hobby Lobby. I've been using it with the non wicked Createx paints, I wonder if that's alright. It seems to be working fine but what do I know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMilliken Posted January 5, 2015 Report Share Posted January 5, 2015 The Wicked500 reducer has definitely changed the way I paint. I just got into airbrushing about a month ago and like most, had visions of putting great paint jobs together right off the bat. Those dreams were shot down quickly when I realized I couldn't even get paint to shoot through the brush properly, let alone create a good paintjob. I tried thinning with a water/windex mix which helped my flow but the paint was just beading up on the baits. As soon as I tried the high performance reducer I was able to improve everything with my painting, most importantly it helped with atomization. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 5, 2015 Report Share Posted January 5, 2015 Funny how life is sometimes. I was putting a Createx transparent orange patch on the belly of some spybaits, and, because I had thinned the orange too much with my water/soap cleaning mixture, the paint went on and formed tiny beads. I liked it! It let the base white come into play, like scales, at least to me. P.S. It's time to buy another bottle of the orange, or try to make some up from the flourescent orange I have a ton of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverotter Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 x2 on the wicked and w500 reducer. by far superior to reg createx. there is no comparison between the two. wicked sprays better, don't peel off when removing masking, and and i like the colors better. also tried reducing wicked with the same method i used for reg. it don't work at all. stuff just beads up on anything you spray it on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrogAddict Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Hmm I may have to start buying more wicked colors! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverotter Posted April 4, 2015 Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 also the wicked 500 or auto air 4012 has a wait time before it really starts working. best to let it sit for 10 min after mixing. the 4011 or w100 is instant but not as good. if your just spraying a bait it dosent really matter. the w500-4012 is nice if your doing art work tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
