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Hello, I have primed my Eldar army white and want to basecoat it Vallejo Turquoise with an airbrush. What should I use to thin it? Vallejo Thinner, Flow Improver, water, or mixture of those? Thank you.

You can thin with water just fine, but if you have the Vallejo airbrush thinner might as well use that.

If all else fails you could test it out on some sprue or spare model first.

I have to say I've tried several things but Vallejo airbrush thinner has worked best for me.

Quasistellar wrote:
I have to say I've tried several things but Vallejo airbrush thinner has worked best for me.

What is the thinner to paint ratio?

 Davespil wrote:

Quasistellar wrote:
I have to say I've tried several things but Vallejo airbrush thinner has worked best for me.

What is the thinner to paint ratio?

Milk. This isn't science class. The consistency you want is like that of low fat milk. That might be 1 drop to x ml or 2 drops to x ml. Depends on age of paint, how thick it is, etc.

You also want to use flow improver. Thinner thins, flow improver makes for better flowout and pigment distribution.. also helps with dry-tip. I usually go 2:1 for flow improver to thinner but again, that is totally done by look and feel.. sometimes 3:1, 4:1 or more. The flow improver is "thicker" than the thinner but it also "thins" the paint. So I always start with some flow improver and then add some thinner if the paint still isn't the right consistency.

From a small Vallejo Bottle I usually do 5-10 drops of "stuff" to 1-3 drops of paint.. but paint doesn't meter out as perfectly as the flow aid and thinner so again. Its a variable thing.

 meatybtz wrote:

 Davespil wrote:

Quasistellar wrote:
I have to say I've tried several things but Vallejo airbrush thinner has worked best for me.

What is the thinner to paint ratio?

Milk. This isn't science class. The consistency you want is like that of low fat milk. That might be 1 drop to x ml or 2 drops to x ml. Depends on age of paint, how thick it is, etc.

You also want to use flow improver. Thinner thins, flow improver makes for better flowout and pigment distribution.. also helps with dry-tip. I usually go 2:1 for flow improver to thinner but again, that is totally done by look and feel.. sometimes 3:1, 4:1 or more. The flow improver is "thicker" than the thinner but it also "thins" the paint. So I always start with some flow improver and then add some thinner if the paint still isn't the right consistency.

From a small Vallejo Bottle I usually do 5-10 drops of "stuff" to 1-3 drops of paint.. but paint doesn't meter out as perfectly as the flow aid and thinner so again. Its a variable thing.

Wait, you're saying that I should use 5-10 drops of flow improver to 1-3 drops of paint? That sounds ridiculous. It'd be around 75% stuff and only 25% paint.

 Davespil wrote:

 meatybtz wrote:

 Davespil wrote:

Quasistellar wrote:
I have to say I've tried several things but Vallejo airbrush thinner has worked best for me.

What is the thinner to paint ratio?

Milk. This isn't science class. The consistency you want is like that of low fat milk. That might be 1 drop to x ml or 2 drops to x ml. Depends on age of paint, how thick it is, etc.

You also want to use flow improver. Thinner thins, flow improver makes for better flowout and pigment distribution.. also helps with dry-tip. I usually go 2:1 for flow improver to thinner but again, that is totally done by look and feel.. sometimes 3:1, 4:1 or more. The flow improver is "thicker" than the thinner but it also "thins" the paint. So I always start with some flow improver and then add some thinner if the paint still isn't the right consistency.

From a small Vallejo Bottle I usually do 5-10 drops of "stuff" to 1-3 drops of paint.. but paint doesn't meter out as perfectly as the flow aid and thinner so again. Its a variable thing.

Wait, you're saying that I should use 5-10 drops of flow improver to 1-3 drops of paint? That sounds ridiculous. It'd be around 75% stuff and only 25% paint.

Well, it's not exact. Paint doesn't meter in drops unless it is already very thin, in which case, you use less. Still that's why pigment density is important for airbrush paints.
You want it milk thin. The flow and ensures an even pigment distribution in the mix. Air brushing a paint is usually partially or very translucent the even pigment spread belys how thin it is. A proper airbrush paint later is as thin as a layer of brush glaze but the way it is laid on the model changes how opaque it appears to be.

Thick paint does not atomize well. It lays down to thick. It lays down rough and unevenly. It requires more airpressure and that limits detail work. A good airbrush can lay down a line that is as fine as a sharp pencil.

Some of us even use acrylic inks, these are best described as water thin. Their pigmentation is dense, often translucent. But you can do interesting things with them. There are times when I drop the air pressure to 5 to 8 psi.