Paint thinner ratio

Usually, when I get a new bottle of Tamiya paint I open it immediately and fill the bottle with thinner and that usually is a good consistency. When you open the new bottle there is about 1/2 inch of space. I find filling that void in a new bottle gives the paint a very good consistency. This is a good rule of thumb and it is much easier than measuring out thinner and paint ratios. Tamiya paint isn't the thickest to begin with so this amount of thinner is good for brushing and spraying. I usually thin a litte more to spray final coats to avoid orange peel.

The usual recommendation is that the thinned paint should be the thickness of milk. I have found that between 1/3 and 1/2 thinner for Tamiya works well for flat colors, and a similar range seems to work with Gunze. However, your airbrush and compressor combination, or the fineness of spray you are using, may work better with more or less thinner than the above. Best is to start with 2 parts paint to one thinner, test it in the airbrush, and adjust as needed.

QUOTE: Originally posted by nwilliams Usually, when I get a new bottle of Tamiya paint I open it immediately and fill the bottle with thinner and that usually is a good consistency. When you open the new bottle there is about 1/2 inch of space. I find filling that void in a new bottle gives the paint a very good consistency. This is a good rule of thumb and it is much easier than measuring out thinner and paint ratios.

I read somewhere in FSM that mixing paint and thinner in the bottle makes the paint "go bad" immediately. Can you share your experiences on this as I too mix them in the bottle as opposed to this suggestion?

the ratio should be 1/3, so you have the quality of coffee cream or milk

Yeah, that´s right!!! Milk is the answer!!

Got milk? Seiously, the milk-thickness proprtions cited earlier are correct, especially for acrylics. -Ed

I spray with a ratio of 2 parts thinner to 1 part paint like jcarlberg wrote earlier.

Thanks guys!! You've been very helpful!!