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Thinner ratio needed to spray Tru-Color brushable paint

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  • Member since
    April 2002
  • From: Frankfort, Indiana
  • 420 posts
Thinner ratio needed to spray Tru-Color brushable paint
Posted by Morpar on Saturday, March 18, 2023 1:42 PM

I had one of "those" moments the other day and picked up a 2 ounce bottle of Tru-Color paint for the concrete colored floor for my roundhouse. When I started spraying the paint it just wasn't flowing like it should, so I looked up the part number and discovered I had bought the brushable version of the paint and not the ready to spray. Does anyone have a rough ratio of how much to thin this paint to make it spray well? It sticks in my head when I was using Scalecoat 2 I would thin it to about 2:1, but it's been quite a while.

Good Luck, Morpar

  • Member since
    January 2004
  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Saturday, March 18, 2023 2:41 PM

It looks like I have only a couple 1 oz. bottles of tru-color, but there's no indication on the label about the ratio of thinner (acetone) required.
If you can't find the needed info, I'd suggest adding a small amount of thinner, then test to see how much it changes what goes through your airbrush...it's better to add less, as you can always go back and add a little more, but if you add too much thinner, the problem will be worse.
I usually make a reasonably good guess on most types of paint, but if you over-thin it, it will be difficult to correct.

With the weather we've had at the beginning of this year, I've done very little airbrushing (my paint shop is in a 185 year old structure, roughly a 100' behind our house) as the projects are so small that I'd rather save them until I have enough to make the painting session worth-while.

Wayne

  • Member since
    September 2014
  • From: 10,430’ (3,179 m)
  • 2,277 posts
Posted by jjdamnit on Sunday, March 19, 2023 11:54 AM

Hello All,

I have read that the proper consistency for airbrush paint is, "Like skimmed milk." I never could figure out the viscosity of skimmed milk.

Begin with a known quantity of thinner, then add the undiluted paint in a measurable way; eye dropper- -counting the drops; kitchen measuring spoon, or any method that you can record the ratio for future reference.

If you begin with paint first and then dilute it by trial and error, you run the risk of clogging the airbrush with too thick a mixture.

By beginning with the thinner and then adding the paint by trial and error the probability of clogging the airbrush is reduced.

You can keep notes on how much paint to thinner and reproduce your results with similar materials.

Hope this helps.

"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"

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