Paint -thinner Compatibility

Sometimes it helps to use a dedicated thinner. I stopped using mineral spirits from the paint store after they gummed up several bottles of airbrush-ready paint I was holding for second coats and touch-ups. Happened in just a day, so I now use Model Master Airbrush thinner for their paints, because it doesn't cost that much more in the quantities I use, and it seems to give better flow and adhesion than brush cleaner. It's hotter than mineral spirits, but not as hot as lacquer thinner. I mainly use lacquer thinner to clean the airbrush between enamel colors and before putting it up for the day.

something I've learned over my years of modeling experience is this:
Thinner is thinner. Testors Brush Cleaner works as good as Testors Airbrush thinner. Mineral Spirits is exactly the same as both. One chemical/molecule difference won't make a darn difference. Enamels get thinned with "thinner", and acrylics get thinned w/ clean water, either distilled or faucet water shows no difference. Thin on! It makes your paint last longer!(Especially when you brush paint, like me!)

I forgot about using Floquil RR colors, Ray. paint that sucker and spend the extra bucks you saved on that next kit! :) -Ed

I'm with keyworth---I use Pactra, Model Master, Humbrol, and Floquil paints and
use nothing but laquer thinner. It will rejuvenize old, thick paints and, when used
with an airbrush the paint bonds better and dries faster. I also clean my airbrushes with it. I have an old Badger 150 and a Pasche double action.
I've been doing it this way with my airbrushes for 12 years now and haven't had a bit of problem. Another plus is that laquer thinner is less than $10 per gallon.
To mix it, I use the TLAR method (That Looks About Right) and have no problems
with crazing of the plastic. Just use it in a well ventilated area unless you want to lose some brain cells and laugh about it.

im not from asia but tamiya enamals are better than model master ones and gunze sangyo acrylics are almost as good as tamiya but requires stirring. if u mean the laquor ones, i dont know

Thanks for the replies. They sure are a good help. Anybody here from Asia that is familiar with Tamiya enamels? How about the hard-to-find Gunze Sangyo line?

Good old laquer thinner works well with Model Mater enamels, Testors basic enamels, and Humbrol. Haven't used Tamiya's. Hope this helps.

I've been able to use Tamiya's acrylic thinner on some other brand acrylics with varying success. It's been a while, though, since I used acrylics in general and I can't recall what brands it worked with. Tamiya's acrylic thinner has a high alcohol content and should be fairly safe with most acrylics. I'd make a few tests on scrap pieces before you put paint on a model.

I've never used Tamiya's enamels and am not familiar with them at all. However, I have been able to use Testors and Floquil/Aeromaster thinners interchangeably, as well as a REAL old jar of Pactra 'Namel Thinner. I had no problems of any sort swapping thinners but, again, I'd make a test or two.

Generally, even though I have experimented, many times successfully, I still subscribe to the idea that you should stick to the manufacturers' recommended thinners. But don't let that prevent you from a little experimentation!

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