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Question: I thought I might drop an airgun BB (Crossman CopperHead) into the paint dropper bottles to help mixing. I am wondering though if it might eventually discolor the paint, or if this is just a bad idea in general for some unforeseen reason?

It also occurs to me that a plastic airsoft BB might be better? I think they come in varying weights.

I don't know anything about airgun BBs but I've been using stainless steel BBs in my dropper bottles for a while with no ill effect. It works incredibly well, especially in things like Secret Weapon washes in which the pigment really seems to like settling to the bottom.

Reaper puts a little pewter skull in their dropper bottles.

I have used steel bbs as far as long term discoloring I don't think so. It would be minimal even any.

Thanks guys--yeah, I was thinking maybe the copper coating might oxidize, or react with the paint somehow. Just thought I'd throw it out there before I drop a bb in to all 72 of my droppers

Modern BB's are bio-degradable so over time they might corrupt your paint.

Not true. At best they're Oxo-degradable, not Bio-degradable. Tesco pulled the same trick a while back, desribing their carrier bags as "Bio-degradable" when in fact they were Oxo-degradable.

The difference is that "Bio-degradable" plastics are made from starch and get eaten by bacteria. This takes time, but the item is completely consumed. "Oxo-Degradable" is exactly the same Polystyrene or polyEthylene, but with a degradable molecule inserted into the polymer chains.

Stick an ordinary plastic bag in a landfill and it'll still be there in 60 years. Stick a Biodegradable bag in a landfill and it will be completely gone in a year or so - less if commercially composted. Stick an "Oxo-degradable" bag in a landfill, and it will be reduced to a pile of plastic powder in a couple of months, but that pile of plastic powder will still be there in 60 years time.

Proper biodegradable plastics are still hugely expensive, and plastic BB's need to be cheap, so they're made of Oxo-degradable formulations if they are not just standard PS grades.

Most hoby stores sale glass beads, these work as well.

There are a lot of better things I could drop in, I just happen to have tons of those BB in the little milk/pour carton they come in, so I thought I'd repurpose them, and avoid spending money. It's not really the money, of course, its the joy of putting something otherwise unusable to work. At least I know I can put one in my copper color paint without worrying .

I used BBs in my paints. They rusted in my Vallejo, Reaper and GW paints. That was not a fun discovery...

This is what it looked like.

 Mak_the_Knife wrote:
I used BBs in my paints. They rusted in my Vallejo, Reaper and GW paints. That was not a fun discovery...

This is what it looked like.

Yep, I was afraid of exactly that--sorry it happened to you, and thanks for saving me from the same mistake.

No problem. Glad I could help somebody out.

I'd strongly reccomend lava beads or the like. Nice and inert!

I use chopped up pieces of the pewter sprue that metal miniatures come with.

Work great and I've never had issues with them discoloring the paint.

And...they're free!

Here are a couple discussion threads on the topic:

Paint Agitators - Make mixing paint a little bit faster - by legoburner [admin]. This is where I decided to use hematite and lava beads from. I've used both for a year or so now with no problems. Bought cheaply off ebay.
Another discussion thread which might add some more context for you.

I use splitshot lead fishing weights in my Vallejo bottles. Sofar no problems and I have a hard time seeing how the lead could interact with the mediums in acrylic paints.

I don't remember who gave me this tip, might have been Les at AwesomePaintjob but I don't really remember.

EDIT: Another thing I like with the splitshot is that the irregular shape makes it less likely to block the tip (much as the pewter skull of the reaper bottles).

One more thing to add, I bought a $4 milk frother off ebay. It's a perfect paint stirrer for stubborn paints (1 in 30 or so VGC colours absolutely need stirring). This is a good option to consider instead of, or in addtion to agitators. Youc an also use reciprocating saws or in my case an electric knife to help shake your paints. Chronic pain which shaking paint flares up has me investigate such alternatives hehe.