Lacquer thinner for airbrushing enamels?

[kurth]

Thanks Dave G.  I think I have had at some point the california compliant stuff and it really smelled like acetone. So this is a case of "Know your materials" and ensure you get the right stuff. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

27 minutes ago, kurth said:

Thanks Dave G.  I think I have had at some point the california compliant stuff and it really smelled like acetone. So this is a case of "Know your materials" and ensure you get the right stuff. 

The stuff in the blue can smells like acetone too.

That’s what I use for thinning enamel.

 

 

 

Steve

[Dave G.]

22 hours ago, kurth said:

Thanks Dave G.  I think I have had at some point the california compliant stuff and it really smelled like acetone. So this is a case of "Know your materials" and ensure you get the right stuff. 

Ya, My medium dry doesn't smell like acetone, or cetainly not pure acetone. Nor like automotive lacquer thinner either. It doesn't smell like Mr Leveling thinner, nor Testors enamel reducer, or odorless mineral spirits. Yet all of those smell of petroleum solvent. My wifes fingernail polish remover is 100% acetone. just thinking, If someone likes using acetone they might as well get that, it's all of $3.50 or so a pint at Walmart for the Onyx brand.

Point of interest: I do believe if you look up the msds sheets on each of the Klean Strip products I listed, you will find the difference. The medium dry may even have some acetone in it, but also toluene or tolunol, maybe xylene and methanol. Those are all common in actual lacquer thinner. In various quantities as well. The real automotive hot lacquer thinner, has more specialized sub sets of stuff, usually low or no acetone.

[peteski]

1 hour ago, Dave G. said:

My wifes fingernail polish remover is 100% acetone. just thinking, If someone likes using acetone they might as well get that, it's all of $3.50 or so a pint at Walmart for the Onyx brand.

Be careful with that. Nail polish removers can have skin conditioners mixed with the acetone. Instead of trying to be a tightwad, just get some "real" acetone from the HW store. It's not *THAT* expensive. But I would not recommend using straight acetone to thin (or reduce) paint which will be applied to a plastic model (with or without primer applied first). Also, acetone evaporates very fast - could be too fast for the paint to level properly.

[Pierre_tec]

It’s exactly what the old man Donn Yost used to recommend with great success. Still miss that man and his advices

[StevenGuthmiller]

55 minutes ago, peteski said:

Be careful with that. Nail polish removers can have skin conditioners mixed with the acetone. Instead of trying to be a tightwad, just get some "real" acetone from the HW store. It's not *THAT* expensive. But I would not recommend using straight acetone to thin (or reduce) paint which will be applied to a plastic model (with or without primer applied first). Also, acetone evaporates very fast - could be too fast for the paint to level properly.

Agreed.

Nail polish remover is undoubtedly diluted.

I used to use it for removing paint from kit bodies when I was a kid.

Do that with straight acetone and you’ll end up with a plastic puddle.

 

 

 

Steve

[Dave G.]

8 hours ago, peteski said:

Be careful with that. Nail polish removers can have skin conditioners mixed with the acetone. Instead of trying to be a tightwad, just get some "real" acetone from the HW store. It's not *THAT* expensive. But I would not recommend using straight acetone to thin (or reduce) paint which will be applied to a plastic model (with or without primer applied first). Also, acetone evaporates very fast - could be too fast for the paint to level properly.

Good point. I thought of that but where it says 100% acetone on the label, I was thinking it may work. Today in looking at the ingredients on the new bottle of Onyx 100% Acetone she bought for her nails,  it lists: Acetone, Denatonium Benzoate. Here is what Google search brings up for the DB in nail polish remover:

The Denatonium Benzoate is added because we unfortunately live in a world where it's not enough to put "do not drink" on a bottle of acetone. The DB is added to make it unpalatable so someone won't drink it and poison themselves (acetone by itself has no taste).

Well anyway, that aside, I think I've pretty well documented by now that I use lacquer thinner personally, the medium dry in enamels. And exactly which one. Course, that's assuming I'm using enamels at all, because I'm as likely to be using Createx and such, or for that matter Tamiya LP, or acrylic. I use Mr Leveling Thinner in Tamiya, as I find better leveling and gloss for the gloss paints, over HWS LT.

Edited January 3 by Dave G.

[Dave G.]

7 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Agreed.

Nail polish remover is undoubtedly diluted.

I used to use it for removing paint from kit bodies when I was a kid.

Do that with straight acetone and you’ll end up with a plastic puddle.

 

 

 

Steve

I remember, Steve, back around 1960 ( I would have been 10 in April that year), painting a 58 Buick. Well the paint was flat, not gloss, which I discovered as it dried. And to an almost ten year old, this was horrifying to me. Then, My mother seeing how devastated I was, tried to remove it with her nail polish remover and cotton balls.  It completely decimated one side of the body, now half the details smeared into oblivion, totally etched what was not completely melted, with fibers of cotton stuck in the now hardening plastic. So not all nail polish removers are created equally, apparently. I remember this event well, it's one of those stand out moments in one's model life, lol ! I have no clue what was in that nail polish remover but it was fast acting for sure.

That reminds me, I should build and finish a 58 Buick some day. Probably the ugliest 50's Buick made.

[Bills72sj]

100% acetone is great for removing dried paint from your airbrush or other metallic objects. I would be fearful to get it on any styrene surface.