Best all-purpose airbrush thinner for enamels

wjbwjb29

Hey Don;

Isnt turpentine abit stinky or is there one that is oderless.

 

Bill

There is an oderless "turpentine" but I have never used it. I don't think turpentine is any worse than the 90+ percent isopropyl used for acrylics.

Don --- and others - thanks for the info. Is the 1/2 pint Testors Airbrush Thinner, the same as the black can that stikpusher talks about?

I have not had any trouble ... yet.. with the lacquer thinner in the blue can from Klean Strip(Lowes or HD?).

In fact, I decided to try that lacquer with some Floquil deck blue and it went down great! It is clear, not milky. But I will find a can of the Testors for the good stuff. All I saw was a skimpy little bottle...and I think it has evaporated some.   

Hey Don;

Isnt turpentine abit stinky or is there one that is oderless.

Bill

Jake-

While I use  hardware store turpentine or mineral spirits for cleaning airbrush, I use Testors Airbrush Thinner for the actual thinner. How do you buy the thinner?  I buy it in the half-pint cans, and using it only for thinning the paint, it goes a long ways.  I can build a number of models with one can.  Considering the price fo the models these days, the cost of the paint and thinner is a minor expense (also, consider the price of PE sets!).

Now, for cleanup, I have stopped buying anything just labeled "paint thinner". I have gotten some real crud that way. I stick now to specific "turpentine" or "mineral spirits", the former if I can get it, the latter as a backup if turpentine is unavailable.  Much "paint thinner" now is a milky stuff with lots of solids in it.

Everyone seems to have a different experience. I've gone back to using Model Master enamels for about 70% of my airbrushing work, and I use their red can thinner. Seems to mix up the best for me. I use a big ol' tin of lacquer thinner for cleanup work. But at least in my experience, mineral spirits and lacquer thinners (even the nice stuff Tamiya and Guzne sell) seem to mess with the spray characteristics in unpredictable ways.

The best thinner is the one that works best for you.  I use either lacquer thinner from Home Depot or mineral spirits for enamels.  I've had problems with Floquil and mineral spirits, but lacquer thinner works fine.  Lacquer thinner dries faster but stinks more.  Mineral spirits will cause less tip dry if you're trying to do fine work.

Don

Jake, the old black can stuff from Testors is the best. It gives the enamel paints more tooth or bite...soemthing about its' formulation. Their new red can "universal enamel thinner" is good too. But I only use that for thinning the paint I use regular hardware store bulk cans of thinner for cleaning. Thats the way I make the MM stuff last.