Floquil 'retarder'

I may be wrong but I thought that slowing the drying time
(consequently, a need for retarder) is important for
airbrushing acrylic paints and not enamels. Am I
making any sense here?

A long time ago I'd been airbrushing plenty of Humbrol
paints and I'd never had problems with them drying too
fast or leveling out poorly (they should have been thinned
just right, though). I would just experiment with this
retarder and see if it makes things noticeably better.

Cheers,

Serge

I'm *experimenting*, but thought I'd ask for other people's experiences.

Generally, I still have some orange-peel problems with enamels and am wondering if this might help the situation a bit. Also, I like paints to stay fairly wet when I'm brush painting because this give some time to blend and touch-up areas as you go along.

What do you use as a retarder for acrylic paints?

M.

I see. I have no experience with airbrushing gloss Humbrol
enamels: I've used only matts and metallics. In both cases
I've been quite happy with the results (but, of course, my
standards and yours can be different), even despite the
fact that I've used some crappy airbrush and compressor
that barely worked (lived in Russia at that time, where
quality modeling tools were non-existent).

I found some info on a similar product (Gunze retarder for
Mr. Color) which you can check out here:
http://www.moschini.org/modelshop/scripts/productbrowser.asp?PartNumber=T105
I checked "Great Models" inventory (they seem to have pretty
much everything), and they only carry this Gunze retarder and
Floquil -- the one that you have.

Regarding acrylics, I have a retarder for Createx paints which I
want to experiment with (haven't used it yet). I was not able to
find "dedicated" retarders for Gunze or Testors acrylics that I
use (I've written some posts about this here). If this Createx
retarder appeares to be something generic, i.e. something that
more or less works with any acrylic paint, then I'm in luck and
I'll let everyone know about this. If not... hopefully acryl nozzles
for my Aztec 4709 will do the trick without any retarder.

I have to confess, I'm completely confused here. AFA I know,
retarders are helpful for acrylic paints because they dry very
fast and can clog your airbrush during painting. Enamels dry
slower and don't do this. However, retarders for enamels do
exist and are sold in stores, while acrylic retarders are nowhere
to be found. Does this make any sense?

Serge

I think you are making sense Serge. After doing more searches on the Floquil retarder, it seems that the reason it exists is primarily to go with their line of paints. Apparently, they dry very quickly (even though they are enamels) and this causes significant problems when you are trying to airbrush their colors. Most of the posts I found recommended mixining the retarder with their thinner so that you could shoot their paints without gumming up their airbrush and/or getting a rough surface finish.
I don't have *alot* of problems with enamels, other than the usual orange-peel effect. I bought some acrylic retarder as well (found some at an art supply store), but it is a general brand (Liquitex, I think?) and I have no idea how it will work with the GS or Tamiya paints. Time to experiment...

You are right though. You'd think that retarder would be easily available for the acrylic paints, but I guess it's not as big of a problem or concern to others as it is to us.

M.

Until the last few years, the issue of retarder for acrylics did not come up, because relatively few modelers were airbrushing acrylics. Ten years ago, there was Tamiya and Polly S. Polly S was meant for handbrushing, and so was thick and slow-drying. Tamiya was designed to be airbrushed, but usually does not dry in the tip. The newer lines of acrylics, such as Testor's Acryl and Polly Scale, dry much faster. Many of us kept a wet Q-tip handy to clean the gunk off the nozzle.

I also have try test stores model master acrylic paints. When I went rush on the paint it would dry after the first stroke of the brush and when I would put another coat I'll paint on that area of hey that I had brushed on would be raised underneath the second coat. Hey such as tamiya would blend in with the paint that I already had applied. And you need some way to slow down the drying time with testors acrylic paint.

Retarders are also useful for lacquers, because of their fast drying time. It is possible that retarders would help smooth orange peel on enamels, but it is better to develop airbrushing technique to prevent orange peel than using a bandaid like retarder. First, retarders are usually not needed with enamels, second there is no guarantee that retarder will eliminate the problem.

Try experimenting with thinning mixtures, pressures, and distance from airbrush to surface.  Getting these factors right should eliminate orange peel.

LOLOLOLOL!!! Posting on a 13 year old thread.....

Floquil used to be laquer thats why there was a retarder in there line. They have been enamels for a long time so no need for a retarder.And

 

Bill