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davethepak wrote:
Ahhh....the age old question of "how much do I thin my paint..."

Tragically, the best answer is "as much as you need to".

Its quite subjective - how thick is the paint you are thinning? What pressure are you spraying at? What size needle on your brush?

Proper paint thinning is an experimental thing, and one that you learn over time.

On average, I would say a 1 to 1 ratio, but again, that varies a lot.

One suggestion, is that if you mix in the airbrush cup, put the thinning agent in FIRST, and the paint in second - that way you don't have a big glob of paint deep in the innards of the brush.

best of luck!

Thanks. Yeah I didn't have much luck with thinning in the cup. So I thin on the egg parts of the pallet and transfer it to the bowl.

Right now I'm using Vallejo Game colors, and I'm running it through a .3mm nozzle. I haven't figure out what pressure it's best at. Do you have any recommendations? The airbrush said spec range was between 15-30psi. But I've seen people saying they had best luck at 10-15psi?

My suggestion on thinning is to start really really thin, test it, add more paint, test it. When you start to get splatter, you've gone too thick, thin it back down a bit.

Regarding the pressure, like other things, experiment.

On paint that is thin, with my small needle brush (.21) I use about 15 psi.

On a bigger needle brush, or thicker paint, I use more, sometimes up to 30.

Also it depends - am I trying to base coat a mini, or do some very subtle shade effects...

With airbrushing, NOTHING beats experimenting and trying different things to find your particular settings.

davethepak wrote:
Regarding the pressure, like other things, experiment.

On paint that is thin, with my small needle brush (.21) I use about 15 psi.

On a bigger needle brush, or thicker paint, I use more, sometimes up to 30.

Also it depends - am I trying to base coat a mini, or do some very subtle shade effects...

With airbrushing, NOTHING beats experimenting and trying different things to find your particular settings.

Understood, I was just hoping for a base line to start from. I feel like I'm shooting in the dark on the settings and ratios etc

There is a box that has over a dozen different products I have tried in it sitting on the paint desk. These are the 3 that I grab all the time.



For general airbrush Thinning, I use Vallejo airbrush thinner. I use it with Vallejo, P3, Army Painter, and Citadel Paints, etc.

If I need to add a little more transparency to the paint I found that Createx Wicked Colors paint reducer works great. It is crystal clear, I picked mine up at the local Hobby Lobby store. I also use this when I use a brush, and it helps the paint flow well. Works great to thin out Vallejo Model Air metallics when used with a brush. Also works good to add more transparency to the paint. Better than simple Matt Medium as it is clear and does not alter the paint color when wet as much. For a few bucks I recommend everyone pick up a bottle of this and experiment. Great Stuff!

For Cleaning my air brush I use a 25% simple green, and 75% water mix.



Dale

The best container for thinning really seems to be a disposable shot glass.... find the cheap junk store and look for plastic party shot glasses
Big pack for low price.

I also use the glass jars that attach to my siphon airbrush. Altho they werent so cheap.. just happen to be a good size and sat on my desk.

MitchellTyner wrote:
Hey guys, I'm just starting airbrushing and I was wondering how I could make some cheap thinner to use with my airbrush paints. I'm using Vallejo game color paints if that matters.

I've seen a couple things online that say use windex as it's really cheap and thins it well. Though I've also seen just as much saying not to use it as it has ammonia in it, and to use the clear automotive ones that doesn't have ammonia or pigments.

I've also seen some youtube vids where they used water, glazes, and liquid glycerin? also windex with liquid glycerin? but I have no clue where to get the stuff as I thought that was the dangerous stuff in dynamite lol.

anyway some tips and tricks would be awesome thanks!!!

Sorry I'm late to the party here. I did a couple of video showing the process of thinning paint. The first uses glass cleaner. The second uses Liquitex Airbrush Medium.

well I got some airbrush medium and it made all the difference in the paint being laid down.

One question for you guys... is red just a really thin color as it is? I mean I put just a little bit to thin it up and it was like spraying out red water. that was at a 25% medium, 75% paint.

You can buy professional thinners. But as alluded too by others water is what I use. I have a pipette so it makes it easier to gauge.