Three questions for those of you who airbrush acrylic paint

[Monty]

1) I've seen a number of you recommend Windex as a reducer. Does the blue dye in it ever affect lighter shades of paint (white, yellow etc)? This might sound like a silly question on the surface, but I've never used a reducer in any other paint system that wasn't clear.

2) Others of you have recommended 70% rubbing alcohol as a reducer. I've noticed my local pharmacies also have a 91% solution. Would this work as well? Any reason not to use it?

3) What's the best clear to use with acrylic paints?

[Mike Kucaba]

I don't recommend Windex. I'd use windshield washer fluid,the blue tint doesn't affect anything. For Tamiya paints,I'd only use their thinner. I only use the pharmaceutical alcohols for cleaning the AB. For thinning and spraying,I use denatured alcohol(except for Tamiya). Tamiya has the clear of choice for me,also Future. I also use some retarders and flow aids by Liquitex for spraying and brushing acrylics.

[vintagestang]

I thin acrylic paint with water. Works pretty well.

[zenrat]

I clean the Airbrush with water after spraying Acrylic. It also works pretty well.

[Monty]

I clean the Airbrush with water after spraying Acrylic. It also works pretty well.

Interesting. Some of the advice that I've read over the last couple years suggests that you should finish off by spraying lacquer thinner through the gun. Apparently acrylics can adhere like crazy, so you need to use the strongest means possible to keep them from drying inside the gun.

[sbk]

Interesting. Some of the advice that I've read over the last couple years suggests that you should finish off by spraying lacquer thinner through the gun. Apparently acrylics can adhere like crazy, so you need to use the strongest means possible to keep them from drying inside the gun.

Artist's acrylics like Liquitex & craft acrylics like Folk Art are softer, & clean up easier than Testors Acryl or Tamiya. I don't know what Testor's Acryl formula is, but it is tough stuff. I once painted a car with Acryl metallic blue, & then used Dupont clear lacquer on top of that. No problems at all. I've been curious about trying Acryl as a barrier coat to protect plastic from lacquer, but never fully tested it.

If the paint hasn't dried too much in the cup, then I use water for cleanup, but most times, I'll use lacquer thinner to remove any of it that has dried.

As far as your original question, I use water for thinning craft acrylics, & use Acryl thinner for thinning Acryl. I've tried denatured alchohol with craft paint & Tamiya acrylics & it worked well for Tamiya, but did nothing special for craft paints.

[zenrat]

If the paint hasn't dried too much in the cup, then I use water for cleanup,

Should have said that. Leave it too long and it's GP thinners to clean up (sprayed through followed by a bath & the cleaning brushes)

I have only ever sprayed Tamiya & Mr Color Acrylics so can't comment on clean up with any other brands.

[Monty]

Should have said that. Leave it too long and it's GP thinners to clean up (sprayed through followed by a bath & the cleaning brushes)

I have only ever sprayed Tamiya & Mr Color Acrylics so can't comment on clean up with any other brands.

Gunze-Sangyo (Mr Color) made several acrylic paint shades that I really liked, but they withdrew all their aqueous acrylics from the US a couple years ago. At the time Gosfords Hobbies in NSW was carrying the entire line, so I was able to stock up on all my favorites. The paint was very reasonably priced, as was the shipping to the US. (Just checked - they're no longer carrying them )

[kurth]

I use the thinner from the company that makes the paint, I find it works the best. One time I did use lacquer thinner with tamiya gloss paints and it worked pretty well. I have used 91%, and 70% isopropyl alcohol, tap water, distilled water, even water with a tiny drop of soap in it, but it just looses something, like making the paint dry too fast once it hits the plastic.

I use Windex to clean the bottles/colorcup/needles. I generally prefer enamel and lacquer, but I will use Tamiya semi gloss black when painting parts, because some how I ended up with several bottles of it and, to my eye it is the "just right" semigloss finish. the other Tamiya color I use a lot is the metallic gray, it comes in handy in places where silver or aluminum paint just is not quite right. If you stick with the Thinner the company sells you just can not go wrong. You can make any of the others work well, but I am sure they spent a lot of time to develop the correct thinner.

Experiment and see what works for you.

[Pete J.]

For those using the Tamiya acrylics, if you look on their web site, they suggest that you can thin them with lacquer thinner for faster drying and a harder finish. I've used lacquer thinner for years and it is a good way to go.