Which Paint Thinner for What Kind of Paint

[FRRYKid]

I brush paint so I can't say anything about airbrushes, but in my experience for cleaning brushes I have found the following. For SCII ordinary lacquer thinner works very well for me. As to all the acrylics that I use (Polly S/Polly Scale, Humbrol, Tamiya, Model Master), I clean my brushes this way: Bathe them in distilled water to get a vast majority of the paint out. I then put them in a bath of blue glass cleaner (I just buy the refill bottle) for a period of time. (The time depends on when I get back to it. Sometimes I have to repeat the cleaner but not very often.) I them rinse the brushes in clean distilled water and then let them dry.

I have also thinned the paints with regular distilled water. (I have also brought back paints on the edge of going dry with that same distilled water.)

[Dave553]

Scalecoat II can be thinned with Testors thinner. Old school Floquil can be thinned with lacquer thinner

[Deane Johnson]

I been using several different acrylics (Model Flex, Vallejo, Testors) and I have discovered they are not all the same composition.  They react to various thinners differently.  The advice above to use the manufacturers thinner is something my experience fully supports.

[ricktrains4824]

For acrylics, I use mostly Modleflex and craft store acrylics.

I thin both using a mixture of distilled water and Golden acrylic airbrush medium. The acrylic airbrush medium keeps the acrylic mix correct. This promotes better adhesion. (Distilled water only it seems to not stick quite right.)

My other trick, is the distilled water is made "wet" by adding a drop or two of Liquitex Flow Aid (Made for things like this.) to the distilled water. (It’s like 1 part to 50 water...)

I cut the airbrush medium 1/5 with the "wet" distilled water before adding to the paint. The Modleflex does not take much thinning, but the craft store acrylics take a ton of thinning before use.

Never had any issue with this formula. (And it's way cheaper than buying "brand name" thinner.)

Just never mistake drinking water, or tap water, for distilled water.... You will get "spots" from anything other than distilled water... Don't ask me how I know.... 

[peahrens]

SeeYou190

I ALWAYS use the thinner that the manufacturer makes for the paint line.

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Water can be OK for clean-up, but "water soluable" is not the same as "thin with water". I won't risk hours and hours of assembly work to save $1.00 on paint thinner.

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-Kevin

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I have not done a lot of airbrush painting, mainly acrylics such as Model Master.  I also subscribe to using the manufacturer's recommended thinner for the paint thinning.   This is partly due to seeing a YouTube video where the fellow demonstrated some noticeable undesired effects with certain paints and certain thinners.  So I don't go generic for all acrylics.  I would be ok with someone's recommendation on a specific alternate as indicated here for a certain paint if they had enough experience with it.

For cleaning, I had some difficulty cleaning my Paasche VL.  I do not airbrush a lot, so I like to clean the brush completely each time.  I was finding it difficult to get the tip guard and tip clean easily.  So I picked up on the use of Windex, which certainly for me facilitates the cleaning. 

When done spraying, I place the tip guard and paint cup in some Windex to keep that paint loose.I then spray & backflush with one jar of Windex, then spray again with a 2nd jar of clean WIndex.  Then spray some denatured alcohol.  Then disassemble & clean the brush in warm soapy water.  Then reassemble & spray some clean alcohol through before storing.  The Windex can be used in the process, but the brush should not be stored with wet Windex, I understand, perhaps due to the packing.

[Renegade1c]

RR_Mel

Kevin

 

I started using True-Color paints a long time ago, just after I retired in 2007.  They say it is airbrush ready and it is.  However I always thin all paints for my airbrush.  Early on they didn’t list a TCP thinner so I called them and ask what to use to thin it. There response was Acetone and I’ve been using it ever since.  To me the TCP paint is the best paint I’ve ever used and the Acetone works great for thinning.  They do sell TCP thinner now.

 

 

Mel

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

 

I have had no luck airbrushing true color paints straight from the bottle like I did Floquil. I have always had to thin the TCP with Acetone to get them to run smoothly through the airbrush.

[RR_Mel]

Kevin

 

I started using True-Color paints a long time ago, just after I retired in 2007.  They say it is airbrush ready and it is.  However I always thin all paints for my airbrush.  Early on they didn’t list a TCP thinner so I called them and ask what to use to thin it. There response was Acetone and I’ve been using it ever since.  To me the TCP paint is the best paint I’ve ever used and the Acetone works great for thinning.  They do sell TCP thinner now.

 

 

Mel

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

[SeeYou190]

BigDaddy

Don't they all say use our thinner only?

.

No. However, I see no reason to take any chances. Scalecote 2 paint uses Scalecote 2 thinner. Testors paint uses Testors thinner. Humbrol paint uses Humbrol thinner.

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I ran out of Floquil thinner years ago. I have been using Testors thinner with my Floquil paints with good results.

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Could they all be thinned with Mineral Spirits? Probably. I just choose the path most likely to lead to acceptable results.

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-Kevin

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[BigDaddy]

SeeYou190

I ALWAYS use the thinner that the manufacturer makes for the paint line. .

Don't they all say use our thinner only?

Trainman440

PS What should I use for mission model paint(in particular)? I heard its a solvent based arcrylic.

 

They say do not mix with enamel or lacquer thinners.

https://www.missionmodelsus.com/pages/tips-and-tricks-faq

Aside from recommending their own thinner, they say it can be thinned with distilled water.  They recommend against Windex, and other brand thinners, specifically Tamiya and Valejo.  No mention one way or the other about alcohol.

Trainman440

PPS I've read some older forums, people generally say they use "alcohol". Does that mean isopropyl or denatured?  Thanks!

Save your money and use 70% isopropyl, if you decide to use alcohol.   Denatured contains methanol, which is toxic.

[SeeYou190]

I ALWAYS use the thinner that the manufacturer makes for the paint line.

.

Water can be OK for clean-up, but "water soluable" is not the same as "thin with water". I won't risk hours and hours of assembly work to save $1.00 on paint thinner.

.

-Kevin

.

[RR_Mel]

I have had very good luck using Tamiya X029A Acrylic thinner.  It works much better than distilled water and alcohol.

 

For True-Color Paint They told me many years ago to use Acetone and I always have, it works perfect for thinning and cleanup.

 

Mel

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

 

[Trainman440]

Hi! What kind of thinner do you use for arcrylic paints? How about thinners for enamel? I generally use Model Master and trucolor paints. 

PS What should I use for mission model paint(in particular)? I heard its a solvent based arcrylic. 

PPS I've read some older forums, people generally say they use "alcohol". Does that mean isopropyl or denatured? 

Thanks!

Charles