thinning tamiya paints

Hi Jeff,

The general consensus is that the best thinner for tamiya paints is their own proprietary thinner.

Now having said that, their thinner seems to be primarily isopropyl alcohol plus a retarder. Many members here who use Tamiya acryics thin with isopropyl.

I have used methylated spirits, which is essentially ethyl alcohol, fairly successfully. (more than likely, you have a bottle under your kitchen sink) I'd have to say that if you use metho, retarder is essential as it evaporates very quickly. Acrylic retarder may be found at most artists' supplies stores and a bottle will last you for many years.

I use Tamiya thinner.  I don't know about availabilty in the UK, but on this side of the pond, I can get a large square bottle (I don't recall how many ml) of the suff for about 7US.  Although it sounds expensive, considering how much is in the bottle, by the time I use it up, the cost of the thinner would be mostly insignificant compared to the cost of the myriad bottles of paint that had been thinned with it.  For cleaning, I use generic 70% Iso-alcohol which goes for a couple a bucks a quart.

Andy 

I use 90% (or higher) isopropyl alcohol, usually with an acrylic retarder. Ethyl alchohol is not completely compatible with some Tamiya formulations (if you mix and spray immediately you are usually okay) and really needs the retarder.

The important thing to remember is that you must mix the retarder with the reducer (thinner) before adding it to the paint. I have a bottle of isopropyl already doctored with retarder that I use for reducing (thinning) Tamiya for airbrushing. 

Hello Jeff,

I've tried few different ways to thin Tamiya paints and I found Tamiya thinner tends to work better for me for Tamiya paints.  I guess you just have to try different methods with different formulation to see what you like and what works for you. 

Triarius wrote:

I use 90% (or higher) isopropyl alcohol, usually with an acrylic retarder. Ethyl alchohol is not completely compatible with some Tamiya formulations (if you mix and spray immediately you are usually okay) and really needs the retarder. The important thing to remember is that you must mix the retarder with the reducer (thinner) before adding it to the paint. I have a bottle of isopropyl already doctored with retarder that I use for reducing (thinning) Tamiya for airbrushing.

Ross,

I have never had a problem with mixing ethyl alcohol with Tamiya paints without a retarder and neither has my friend Greg (Plasticmod992) who turned me onto this thinner.  

It has been awhile since I did the compatibility testing. They may have been reformulated, or it may just be that some of the colors I chose to test were less compatible. Also note that I said "not completely compatible…if you mix and spray immediately you are usually okay…"

The testing I did was for short and long term compatibility. As a former paint technologist, I consider long term compatibility to be the final criteria.

I may do a quick short term test on a new bottle just out of curiosity, but I'm extremely busy right now.

ABARNE wrote:

I use Tamiya thinner.  I don't know about availabilty in the UK, but on this side of the pond, I can get a large square bottle (I don't recall how many ml) of the suff for about 7US.  Although it sounds expensive, considering how much is in the bottle, by the time I use it up, the cost of the thinner would be mostly insignificant compared to the cost of the myriad bottles of paint that had been thinned with it.  For cleaning, I use generic 70% Iso-alcohol which goes for a couple a bucks a quart. Andy

Ditto for me.

cheers guys, i'll try out some alcohol at the weekend, have to get to my local art shop for some retarder. i'll tell you how i go along. once again cheers

jeff

Triarius wrote:

if you mix and spray immediately you are usually okay…"

I always mix and spray immediately.

Whatever your thinner of choice, with Tamiya paint, I find it's essential to make sure it's thoroughly mixed. This means stirring well - putting paint in your mixing jar, adding thinner to it and just swishing it around a bit just isn't enough.

It's especially important when you thin as much as I do, often two to four parts (or more) thinner to one part paint. The pigments in Tamiya's flat colours seem to be quite "heavy" and settle quickly when mixed this thinly. The metallic flakes in their metallic colours also settle very quickly too. When painting large areas of a single colour, sometimes it can necessary to dump the contents of the paint cup back into the mix jar and stir.

tellis wrote:

Jeff, thanks for posting the question. I have a similar situation. I am serving in Afghanistan and Customs will not allow thinner through the mail system. I rec'd a few small kits and an acrylic paint set from a hobby club. I found ethyl alcohol in the exchange and will try it.

Tellis, it didn't occur to me until your post, but it is possible to use distilled water as a cosolvent with the ethyl alcohol to slow evaporaton time. You'll have to do a little experimenting, but a starting point would be 1 part water to 3 parts alcohol, assuming a 100 percent alcohol (or as close as you can get to that, which is probably Everclear) I also just remembered that some denatured alcohols contain a fair amount of water. Next time someone says I've forgotten more about paint than they'll ever know, it will be true.