dawgvet Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Just starting to build a little bit again. I have a bunch of old Model Master paints that I’d like to use with my new Badger airbrush. What is the best thing to thin these enamels with to paint small parts? I assume lacquer thinner shouldn’t be used with enamels? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Can-Con Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Lacquer thinner is all I've ever used to thin down Testors paint for airbrushing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 10 minutes ago, Can-Con said: Lacquer thinner is all I've ever used to thin down Testors paint for airbrushing. I agree. My opinion is that lacquer thinner works the best for thinning enamel. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bills72sj Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 I just painted these last week. i used two different colors of Testors metallic blue enamel mixed together. Then filled the just emptied bottles of with hardware store lacquer thinner. (To extract every last bit of color) All of it was dumped into a larger clean/new jar. This yielded 1 full fluid ounce of thinned paint. It was prayed at 20 psi through a 0.5mm airbrush. The spoon is bare plastic with no primer whatsoever. The sleeper is over Future (used to seal the masking to prevent bleed under). The gloss is amazing. I may likely not clear coat it. Though I am going to be patient and let it cure for quite a few days before handling. The fact that it is Testors enamel means, it will be pretty tough one it does cure fully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bainford Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Another vote for inexpensive hardware store lacquer thinner. Spray with good ventilation, and preferably a good, half-mask respirator fitted with cartridges for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug 1061 Posted May 20, 2022 Share Posted May 20, 2022 Enamel reducer works well also. And for the super cheap route mineral spirits will work. I painted the top on this Skyliner mixing 3 or 4 different Testors colors and thinned with $2/gallon(at the time) mineral spirits. Polishes up pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dpate Posted May 20, 2022 Share Posted May 20, 2022 I would only use cheap store bought lacquer thinner for cleaning airbrushes etc. I would use higher quality thinner like Mr hobby leveling thinner or even tamiya's lacquer thinner, but that's just me though. If you use the cheap stuff from big box store and it works good for you than great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Sikora II Posted May 20, 2022 Share Posted May 20, 2022 I've had my best results with Testors Model Master Airbrush thinner. It works great with any Testors enamels I've tried it with, along with vintage Pactra 'Namel. Not sure if it's still available from Testors, but a few years ago you could get it at Hobby Lobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engine 51 Posted May 21, 2022 Share Posted May 21, 2022 Another vote for thinning enamel with lacquer thinner. Have always had very good results with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.