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Thinning Tamiya Color Acrylic Paint

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  • Member since
    February 2003
Thinning Tamiya Color Acrylic Paint
Posted by Chuck Lipkin on Saturday, December 29, 2012 11:50 AM

What is a good thinner for airbrushing Tamiya Color acrylic paint? What is a good thinning ratio to use?

  • Member since
    July 2010
  • From: Dublin, Ireland
Posted by Exocet on Saturday, December 29, 2012 11:59 AM

Hi Chuck

As well as being a modeller, I am also a Coatings Chemist. You can use the Tamiya X-20A thinner which is a mixture of Isopropanol & a glycol ether solvent (the glycol ether slows down the evaporation rate of the Isopropanol). I use Isopropanol on its own, mixing two parts paint to one part thinner.

Tamiya acrylic paint does not brush well, even when thinned!

  • Member since
    October 2008
  • From: England
Posted by P mitch on Saturday, December 29, 2012 12:16 PM

Chuck

I use the Tamiya X-20A thinner in a 50/50 mix. I know people use different thinners but I always like to stick with one that the paint manufacturer makes, it saves problems all round I think

Phil

"If anybody ever tells you anything about an aeroplane which is so bloody complicated you can't understand it, take it from me: it's all balls." R J Mitchell


  • Member since
    April 2006
  • From: Denver, Colorado
Posted by waynec on Saturday, December 29, 2012 4:28 PM

i always use the acrylic thinner for the paint brand. it's just one less variable to mess with and lasts a while. as for thinning i can't help much. i put 8-10 drops per pipette tube (not filling the bulb) so the ratio is whatever, then the multi color JGPZ-V gets hit to see how the paint does and if it looks right onto the model which is primed.

every new jar of tamiya gets 3 drops of dishwashing soap and a green dot so i know. helps some but it's one stoke and wait until it dries as you will pull off paint otherwise. i am leaning more and more to MMA and not getting super anal about the color.

Никто не Забыт    (No one is Forgotten)
Ничто не Забыто  (Nothing is Forgotten)

 

  • Member since
    March 2005
  • From: Philadelphia
Posted by joeleonetti on Thursday, May 9, 2013 2:58 PM

I have better results with 91% Isopropol alcohol than the 70% formula.

"Gentlemen, we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence."
- Vince Lombardi

  • Member since
    April 2013
Posted by Drifter on Sunday, May 12, 2013 3:55 AM

I never use Acrylic, stick to enamels with thinner mix.

  • Member since
    February 2011
Posted by GreySnake on Sunday, May 12, 2013 7:13 PM

I use Tamiya's X-20A to airbrush their paints, never had luck with hardware store thinner. When I airbrush I thin down the paint till its as thin as 2% milk.

  • Member since
    December 2012
  • From: South Africa
Posted by Thwaite on Saturday, August 31, 2013 1:23 PM

I seem to get a less grainy finish using tamiya lacquer thinner than x20a. I have also had good results using isopropyl alcohol into which I mix some tamiya acrylic retarder.

On the bench: 1/32 trumpeter Douglass Dauntless ,1/48 tamiya Lancaster 

 

  • Member since
    November 2008
  • From: Central Florida
Posted by plasticjunkie on Friday, November 29, 2013 8:58 PM

Drifter

I never use Acrylic, stick to enamels with thinner mix.

 
Amen to that brother! I cannot get the hair thin lines with Acrylics as I do with enamels. But back to the question, Tamiya thinner works best.

 GIFMaker.org_jy_Ayj_O

 

 

Too many models to build, not enough time in a lifetime!!

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Monday, December 2, 2013 12:32 PM

Wow, talk about a thread bump!  Big Smile

After some experimentation, I've hit upon using Tamiya's proprietary acrylic thinner, with Tamiya's acrylics, for airbrushing or for hand-brushing.  I tried using isopropyl, but I get my best and most consistent results using Tamiya's thinner.

I've used Tamiya acrylics, along with other maker's acrylics and enamels, for many years, painting metal figures.  And I always had bad results with Tamiya acrylics, brushing by hand.  The paint would dry and clump.  I learned to thin my acrylics when hand-brushing, and that led me to thinning Tamiya.

I have read of using lacquer thinner when airbrushing Tamiya acrylics, and I want to try it, but haven't yet.

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

  • Member since
    April 2006
  • From: Denver, Colorado
Posted by waynec on Friday, December 6, 2013 10:51 AM

GreySnake

I use Tamiya's X-20A to airbrush their paints, never had luck with hardware store thinner. When I airbrush I thin down the paint till its as thin as 2% milk.

me too. doesn't cost that much more and one less variable to deal with. i thin it about half and half, certainly more than MMA and have a joseph jagdpanther i try it on first before my model,

Никто не Забыт    (No one is Forgotten)
Ничто не Забыто  (Nothing is Forgotten)

 

  • Member since
    January 2014
Posted by Silver on Saturday, January 11, 2014 2:07 AM
2 drops tamiya lq thinner - the rest X-20A
  • Member since
    January 2014
Posted by Silver on Saturday, January 11, 2014 2:20 PM
This will run through the airbrush fine .low P.S.I 19.--20 max.
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