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Made in us
Yellin' Yoof




Houston Tx Area

I have some paints I want to keep usable and I got some older paints that need stirring.. is there some kind of acrylic paint thinner I can use to thin the paints..I heard of some kind of paint stretcher or something like that..

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Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut





Scotland

Some experts will No doubt ccomment soon but as long as they arent citadel paints you can use thinner (Not sure what type). Aparently Citadel Paints turn to sticky goo if you try anything accept water...

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Made in us
Excellent Exalted Champion of Chaos






Lake Forest, California, South Orange County

Acrylic paints should be thinned with 10:1 ratio of water:flo aid.

I use liquitex flo aid personally, but there are other brands out there.

I also add matte medium and liquitex slo dri to all of my paints when I get them. The matte medium helps reduce brush strokes in the paint, and the slo dri increases the palette working time as well as blending on the model.

"Bryan always said that if the studio ever had to mix with the manufacturing and sales part of the business it would destroy the studio. And I have to say – he wasn’t wrong there! ... It’s become the promotions department of a toy company." -- Rick Priestly
 
   
Made in us
Krielstone Bearer





Denver Colorado

this is going to sound terrible

but a drop of KY sex lube gives GW paints a nice consistency XD

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Made in us
Speedy Swiftclaw Biker






I agree with aerethan 10:1 water to flo aid. I don't add slo dri immediately, I actually use Retarder Medium from Vallejo. I only add it to the paint on the palette when I go to wet blend. But that's just me.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/03/10 01:41:37


   
Made in us
Excellent Exalted Champion of Chaos






Lake Forest, California, South Orange County

The only reason I add it to bottles is to further slow down drying. It's not necessary by any means.

But I can't express enough how useful those additives are.

"Bryan always said that if the studio ever had to mix with the manufacturing and sales part of the business it would destroy the studio. And I have to say – he wasn’t wrong there! ... It’s become the promotions department of a toy company." -- Rick Priestly
 
   
Made in us
Chalice-Wielding Sanguinary High Priest





Arlington TX, but want to be back in Seattle WA

Im no chemist, but I think you can add water to acrylic paints. Ive never added anything else. If your working with oil or enamel that would be different (obviously)

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Powerful Chaos Warrior





Portland, OR

Vallejo's Acrylic Thinner is also great. Contrary to what Perkustin says, it works fine with Citadel paints.
   
Made in gb
Monstrous Master Moulder





Essex,, England

I use water because I am cheap, always used it, and it works really well.


 
   
Made in us
Gargantuan Gargant





Binghamton, NY

aerethan wrote:The matte medium helps reduce brush strokes in the paint...
I believe that would be the flow improver, unless your matte medium is incredibly thin and thereby granting the same diluting effect as plain water would. Barring a specific thickness being purchased (you can get it in a gel, for example) to change the paint texture, matte medium is primarily used to increase transparency without losing thickness, adhesion, etc. as it is essentially paint without pigment.

In general, I've found that if the paints are at all salvageable, water is sufficient. I brought a pot of Skull White that had become a thick gel (no amount of shaking could move the stuff) back into working order just by adding water, bit by bit. If overly thick, stir. If it has a bit of flow, shaking should be sufficient. Additives are great for tailoring your paint's behavior (matte medium to drop opacity for glazes, drying retarder for wet-blending, flow improver for smoother strokes and/or making washes, etc.), but none of them are necessary. Doesn't mean they aren't worth playing around with, though.

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Made in us
Yellin' Yoof




Houston Tx Area

WELL i BOUGHT 50 GW PAINTS FOR 30ENTS EACH BUT THEY NEED STIRING i WANTED TO KEEP THEM FROM GETTING WORSE CAN i JUST ADD WATER TO THE SURFACE AMD LEAVE THEM THAT WAY TO AVOID DRYING OUT.

If you cant beat em join em...  
   
Made in us
Excellent Exalted Champion of Chaos






Lake Forest, California, South Orange County

ease off the caps lock there buzz.

And if they are that bad then You are better off replacing them.

"Bryan always said that if the studio ever had to mix with the manufacturing and sales part of the business it would destroy the studio. And I have to say – he wasn’t wrong there! ... It’s become the promotions department of a toy company." -- Rick Priestly
 
   
Made in gb
Noble of the Alter Kindred




United Kingdom

Have noticed that matt medium causes my wash medium to go off on the wet palette so would not recommend putting it it the jar of paint. (cue someone saying it will be fine! )

If it starts to get a bit thick I just add some water + flow enhancer at the ratio of 20:1, the proportions stated on the bottle.


 
   
Made in us
Excellent Exalted Champion of Chaos






Lake Forest, California, South Orange County

I don't add anything besides my flo aid mix to washes that are made by GW. Never needed a wash to be thicker, more concentrated sure.

"Bryan always said that if the studio ever had to mix with the manufacturing and sales part of the business it would destroy the studio. And I have to say – he wasn’t wrong there! ... It’s become the promotions department of a toy company." -- Rick Priestly
 
   
Made in au
Rifleman Grey Knight Venerable Dreadnought




Realm of Hobby

Personally, adding a small lead fishing sinker to each pot/eye-dropper (Vallejo) acts as an aggitator for shaking before usage. When you finish a pot, transfer the sinker to the new pot/dropper bottle.

Also, adding Jo Sonnja's Flo Medium... 1 drop per pot... helps brush strokes and prevents the visibility of brush strokes.

I also add 1 drop of drying retarder - also Jo Sonnja's - to my pallete if not already using a wet palette. Afterall, water is the best for both purposes, unless you are painting and blending over large areas or for a particular technique. Eg. Wet blending on a surface and feathering.

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Walking to shops, "i'll take a short cut through this bush", random encounter! Lizard with no legs.....
I kid Since i avoid bushlands that is
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Made in ph
Long-Range Land Speeder Pilot





First, a joke:


Bad hipster jokes aside, water is your best friend. You just need to know how much to put (don't put too much when basecoating, just put a little bit to make it smooth), and patient enough to work on multiple layers.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/03/11 21:11:44


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Made in us
Krazy Grot Kutta Driva





United States

AvatarForm wrote:Personally, adding a small lead fishing sinker to each pot/eye-dropper (Vallejo) acts as an aggitator for shaking before usage. When you finish a pot, transfer the sinker to the new pot/dropper bottle.



.22 cal steel BB's work well to.

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Made in au
Rifleman Grey Knight Venerable Dreadnought




Realm of Hobby

Vandil wrote:
AvatarForm wrote:Personally, adding a small lead fishing sinker to each pot/eye-dropper (Vallejo) acts as an aggitator for shaking before usage. When you finish a pot, transfer the sinker to the new pot/dropper bottle.



.22 cal steel BB's work well to.


Any idea what type of retailer sells these?

BB guns are illegal where I am and sinkers seemed to work for me, as well as being readily available.

MikZor wrote:
We can't help that american D&D is pretty much daily life for us (Aussies)

Walking to shops, "i'll take a short cut through this bush", random encounter! Lizard with no legs.....
I kid Since i avoid bushlands that is
But we're not that bad... are we?
 
   
 
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