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I need help with thinning paints for my airbrush? How do you all do it? So far I'm using a syringe to try and measure the paint/thinner but so far it's proving to a little hit and miss? Has anyone got any tips on how to do this accurately?

What kind of paint are you using? If you plan on doing a lot of airbrushing, I recommend Vallejo Model Air paint. It is specifically designed for using in an airbrush and usually requires no thinning (if I fill the the pot with a lot of paint, I'll drop a little thinner in there for good measure). Also, what are you using to thin with?

Best advice I could give is mix in clear plastic cups before charging the airbrush with the mixture.

That way you always see what you are doing, and you get to know what is right for whatever you are doing.

Most folks talk about using 'skim milk' as a goal for consistency... I would also recommend a proper thinner, like Vallejo Thinner or Liquitex Airbrush Medium - they make a huge difference.

Hi, I to use the vallejo model air and find it can be used straight from the bottle but when i am painting at low pressure 20-15psi i get build up on the nozzle which cause splattering. I find adding about 5 drops of tamiya acrylic thinner to about 20 drops of paint helps.
I have also used methylated spirits as a thinner but some paint colurs dont like it, for example the scarlet red is fine but the field green tends to congeal.

My experience tells me that you dont really need to be precise with thinners as long as you dont go over board and you allow for the paint consistency achieved when applying the paint i.e. watch the paint go on and how it behaves, drying quick? building up and running etc.
I use plastic pasteur pipettes.
I also tend to mix directly in the paint reservoir and mix with a small brush as i am only really using small volumes of paitn at this stage.

I've found a formula that I stick to and seems to work well for my non-model air paints. (My collection of model air is growing)

First off you've got to use thinner, water will not cut it. The very very nice man at Everything Airbrush explained it all to me.

Anyway, this is how I do it. Squirt some paint in the bottom of a cut off plastic cup. Then drop the thinner on top of it. Add one drop at a time until you've covered the paint underneath.

Now take a large WET brush and mix. Pour it in and spray it on

However...I have found that can be over kill on certain paints, yellow for example, but 9 times out of 10 that works well for me.

It's not an exact science. You'll have to aim for a consistency like skim milk. But every color has different properties and has to be thinned accordingly. I recommend using Vallejo Thinner, which works beautifully for me.

Rule of thumb: If you think you have thinned it enough - thin it some more.

Cheers,


IK-Painter

ScootyPuffJunior wrote:What kind of paint are you using? If you plan on doing a lot of airbrushing, I recommend Vallejo Model Air paint. It is specifically designed for using in an airbrush and usually requires no thinning (if I fill the the pot with a lot of paint, I'll drop a little thinner in there for good measure). Also, what are you using to thin with?

I'm using Tamiya paints straight from the pot, they seem to be fantastic for airbrushing. I'm trying to thin down some of the new GW paint range, so far unsuccessfully but I've managed to get some Tamiya X20-a thinner, and some Testors universal acrylic thinner.

I use vallejo model air most of the time.

GW paints definitely have to be thinned to work.

I use Tamiya Acrylic thinner for all my GW paints and have good results. As said above, it's not an exact science. Every color from every manufacturer is different. You need to go for a consistency similar to milk, not water (consistency of water is way too thin).

For GW paints I usually begin with a 50/50 mix paint/thinner as a starting point and add paint or thinner as needed to get the consistency right.

I shoot normally between 20-30 psi and I'm using a Badger 150


BTW, I also alway thin my Tamiya paints and P3 paints as well using the same Tamiya Acrylic Thinner (X-20?)