Pollyscale is driving me NUTS!!

I love Polly Scale. Here are my recommendations:

Thin to the consistency of 2% milk. That means anything from 10% reducer (thinner to those outside the paint industry ) and up. Pour some 2% milk into a glass and swirl it—note how it looks as it drains back into the bottom—that's what you are looking for. A little too thin, with acrylics, is better than not thin enough.

Get some acrylic retarder from an artist's supply store. About 1 drop in a airbrush cup's worth of paint is all you need. The stuff has to be stirred forever to disperse in the paint, by the way. But it will largely eliminate the tip dry problem.

Thin only with distilled water. Tamiya thinner is alcohol, and Polly Scale is not compatible with alcohol.

I primarily use Tamiya acrylics as primer and for hand painting, because they are thicker. If Polly Scale had basic colors (red, green, blue, yellow, etc.) and was a little thicker, I'd use nothing else. Once you get the knack, you'll see what other's rave about. 

Ditto on Ross's post (I am refusing to use the ditto emoticon as it is spelled wrong!)! Make sure you use distilled water (available in the grocery stork in gallon jugs. I think the last one I bought was on sale for $0.99) as regular water has lots of unwanted extras, like calcium. Good for the teeth and bones, bad for the airbrush! 

I note that he and I are just about the only ones that hand brushes with Tamiya!

Sorry to hear you're having problems..... I don't have any advice unfortunately.

I shoot it straight from the bottle, no thinning or anything most of the time. About 17 psi. If I do thin it, it's to shoot on very thin, misted coats, and I use alchohol. (In the AB, not in me..... LOL)

I did have horrible tip dry with PS and my Paasche VL. Switched to using my Aztek 470 exclusively, and never had a problem since. Don't know what difference it made. 

Triarius wrote:

Pour some 2% milk into a glass and swirl it—note how it looks as it drains back into the bottom—that's what you are looking for.

I've gauged the thinning (I'm a machinist by trade, Ross  ) of my paint like that for years.....nice to see I'm not the only one, although I never knew quite how to describe it. Never went much for numbers to determine ratios as much as how it actually 'looked' in the bottle prior to airbrushing.

I thin with a 50/50 mixture of distilled water and ISO propel alcohol and then add a drop of flow aid enhancer.

I also saw a article where the author thins his with a 50/50 mixture of Polly S and Polly S gloss clear.  I tried it and had varied results.

I mainly use Pollyscle paints and they are great paints. Though they are getting on the expensive side. Anyway I use distilled water to thin, I used to use alcohol but had problems with tip drying more than I did with distilled water. I thin to the constistency of 2% milk like someone else has already said. I also add a drop Golden flow aid from time to time. I have also heard of people puting in a drop of dishwashing soap as well, but I have never have tried this myself yet.

Still most of the time I still have a problem with tip drying. To me it just comes with using acrylics because I have it with all the acrylics that I use. I just keep a moist Q-tip near by to wipe off the tip. Practice with them for a little while and you will find a formula that works for you.

By the way I also use Tamiya paints to brush paint from time to time.