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So...I've read before about using rubbing alcohol as a thinner for airbrushing. I tried some over the weekend with a GW paint and it worked alright...didn't look like it quite mixed all the way but it sprayed fine. However, yesterday I used some to thin a cheap acrylic craft paint, the type you find at hobby lobby. It got a little gloppy, so I mixed it really well with a brush...like mixed the heck out of it and it looked ok. When I poured it into the airbrush cup it seemed to separate...almost like oil and water, but no rainbow. After a little bit of spraying it got really gloppy and plugged up the brush, I found a little rubbery nub of paint in the tip that was causing the blockage and afterwards was able to spray the same paint just fine thinned with distilled water. Now I'm using....I think 91% iso alcohol, if that matters...is this the wrong kind? Did I do something wrong?

Alcohol is best used to clean the airbrush after each color change. There are far better mediums to thin your paint. You can make your own (like flow aid + water) or buy one (like the vallejo staff).

I would not suggest using alcohol as an airbrush medium. Consider how volatile isoprpyl alcohol is. It's going to evaporate quickly and it's generally used to clean paint from tools. You're already seeing two problems, and one is tip dry. That rubbery nub is caused by your paint drying quickly as it's atomized. This will cause flow and splatter problems.

I would suggest, as Capamaru already has, finding a better recipe for medium (there are articles floating around dakka) or optimally buying a proper medium. I swear by Liquitex Airbrush Medium at the moment. 12 dollars for a bottle that will last me through hundreds of models.

I would also suggest investing in some airbrush specific paint or some higher quality paints to airbrush with. Part of the tip dry and flow problems are coming from the cheap craft paint. Paints made for airbrushing generally have finer ground pigments to pass more easily through the tip and spread evenly. This also helps with the many thin coats you should be applying as you brush. I swap between a number of airbrush paints (cheap Createx and slightly more expensive Vallejo Model Air) and I mix down a few brush paints with success (Citadel, Vallejo game Color, Reaper). The different paints have different mix ratios due to the different pigments/formulas. Some of the Citadel stuff I wouldn't recommend for this, namely the Base/Foundation paints.

IPA(isopropyl alcohol/rubbing alcohol) is a good thinner for paints like Tamiya, whose own thinner is a mx of IPA and drying retarder. Vallejo and craft paints do, indeed get gloopy with alcohol.

Below is a chart I found floating on the web a while ago, while annoyingly leaving the Vallejo brands blank gives a nice little rundown of thinners and ratios for airbrushing.

If you're looking for airbrushing craft paints, take a look here .

Thanks for all the replies! I will look into some actual airbrush medium as well as the VMA paints. I've been wanting to check them out, but can't get them locally so I need to decide what project I'm going to tackle first before ordering my colors. So far I'm still getting a feel for the brush and just trying stuff out on practice or scrap models and parts.

The only reason I was using the craft paints is I like to keep certain colors of them handy for bases and terrain...hate to use the more pricey miniature paints for that! But seeing as the airbrush is a new world for me, I'm learning!

Liquitex airbrush thinner will blow you away. Buy it, you will love it. Just a bit of info for you, Liquitex INVENTED the acrylic paint.

I use Minitaire airbrush paints with hardly any thinner, but do use alcohol to thin it just a tad in the airbrush cup. I tried water and wasn't happy with it at all... the small amount of alcohol I use seems to work fine.

I use Vallejo Airbrush thinner for my acrylics. Works well with their paints as well.