Using Cheap Craft Store Paint in an Airbrush

If you buy expensive acrylic paints and thin them down for use in an airbrush, or if you buy paints already thinned for airbrush-use, you can save yourself a lot of money using craft store paints (at least on certain types of projects).

Acrylic craft paints like Apple Barrel and Anita’s sell for anything from $.70 to $1.50 (in 2 ounce bottles). They are known for not being the highest-quality pigments, but are just fine for painting large areas or in situations where you aren’t going for perfection or high-detail.

These cheap paints tend to be thick and are thought of as not suitable for more refined hobby applications, and definitely not for airbrushing. But as this video shows, if you thin them down a lot (1 part paint to 1.5 parts distilled water), and apply the paint in thin coats, you can get a pretty decent result.