Caps are one of the most overlooked parts of spray painting — but they're also one of the most powerful. The right cap can open up your work, make a crisp outline, or give you a gradated fade that looks like it took hours. The wrong cap can ruin a can of paint. Here's what you need to know.
Fat Caps — The Workhorse
Fat caps are the go-to for fills, backgrounds, and fast coverage. They throw a wide spray pattern (typically 10–15cm at arm's length) and use paint fast. Great for covering large areas quickly.
New York Fat Cap (NY Fat): The classic. Reliable, wide spray, slightly rounded pattern. Works on most standard valves. If you're just starting out, this is the one to grab first.
Hardcore Fat / MTN Fat Cap: Designed to work with MTN Hardcore's high-pressure valve. Gives you a wide, even throw without splatter. This is what most Hardcore users default to for fills.
Super Fat / Astro Fat: Even wider coverage. Use these for sky fills, quick background coverage, and large fills where time matters more than edge control.
Skinny Caps — Lines and Detail
Skinny caps are for outlines, 3D, arrows, and anywhere you need a tight, controlled line. The trade-off is slower coverage and more arm movement required.
Skinny Pro / Female Skinny: Fine line output, ideal for clean outlines on letters. At arm's length you're looking at a 2–3cm line. Takes practice to keep consistent, but the results are clean.
Pink Dot / Cream Skinny: Slightly wider than a female skinny, less pressure required. Good middle ground between outline and detail work.
Needle Caps (Red Needle, Black Needle): Ultra-fine. For tiny detail, stencil edges, and intricate line work. Almost like spray-painting with a marker tip. Takes a steady hand and slow movement.
Specialty Caps
Calligraphy Cap: Throws a rectangular spray pattern. Rotated, you can go wide or narrow. Useful for 3D effects, flares, and soft backgrounds. A firm favourite for style writers who want that dimension.
Frogger / Hybrid Caps: Square-pattern output with soft edges. Versatile for 3D and shading when you want a feathered, gradated look without blending manually.
Infrared / Soft Cap: Soft, diffuse spray with feathered edges. These are your highlight and fade caps — run them on low-pressure cans for smooth colour transitions.
Night Quill Caps
If you've seen the Night Quill caps on our site, these are specifically designed for the Night Quill cap system — a specialty valve designed for flare-style spraying with large output and dramatic pressure variation. Not interchangeable with standard caps.
A Note on Compatibility
Not all caps work on all cans. Most European spray paint (MTN, Montana, Molotow) uses a Euro/female valve. Most American sprays use a male valve. MTN Hardcore and MTN 94 use a Euro valve — the majority of the caps we stock work straight out of the box on these.
If a cap feels tight or won't seat properly, check your valve type before forcing it. Buying a multi-cap sampler pack is the best way to find what suits your style — experiment on cardboard before committing on a wall.
Quick Reference
- Fast fills, backgrounds: Hardcore Fat, NY Fat, Astro Fat
- Clean outlines: Skinny Pro, Female Skinny
- Fine detail, stencils: Needle caps
- Fades and highlights: Infrared, Soft cap, Frogger
- 3D and style effects: Calligraphy, Frogger
- Sky fills, quick coverage: Super Fat, Ghetto Blaster
We stock a full range of caps at Cartel Paint Supplies — shipped nationwide from Tauranga. If you're not sure what to grab, hit us up and we'll sort you out.