Different types of solvent - Please help!

As far as I know, lacquer thinner will clean up brushes/airbrush for both enamels and acrylics; the problem is that it's pretty nasty stuff... my philosophy on chemicals is to use the least harmful thing that will still do the job, which is why I stick to mineral spirits and isopropyl alcohol.

I'm a bit surprised that you can get Tamiya's thinner, but can't get the other stuff.

Follow I-beam's advice of looking in drugstores and hardware stores. Drug store will probably have the rubbing alcohol; hardware store will probably have mineral spirits and lacquer thinner. If you can't find a hardware store, I would also recommend trying paint stores, artist supply stores, and as a last resort, auto-body painters (I think they use lacquer thinner for their paints)

Hope this helps.

my 2 cents -
i think Turpenoid is just a brandname for odorless Turpentine.
(which is why it is popular w/ modelers)

i do not think Tamiya's Acrylic thinner will work w/ enamel paints (any brand)

OK, I understand now

FWIW, I don't know what's in Tamiya thinner but I have a strong suspicion that it has at least some type of IPA in it because of the smell. That would mean it probably won't work for enamels or oils. If the Humbrol paint is enamel then I would try a test with it in a separate container with turpentine and paint on a scrap piece of plastic. Maybe you can test a couple drops of the Tamiya thinner with the Humbrol paint on a piece of aluminium and see how that works too.

If you have a chance to get some Lacquer thinner sometime get it. I use it with all solvent paint and don't have any problems. Do you have any hardware stores or drugstores? You can get stuff at these places.

Hello CKfredickson and I-beam,

Thanks for your input. The main reason why I ask is because from where I come from, it is very difficult to get all those solvents I have listed. The only solvent available locally is the Tamiya thinner. I had to search high and low for turpentine, which I am using for my wash. But I came across an article saying that turpenoid is a better choice but I don't think I can find it here either.

Looks like I won't be able to get white / mineral spirit here also.

Anyway, thanks guys.

I've never used the items cited in 1,2, and 4, so I can't help you there.

3. Mineral spirit vs. white spirit - I've seen these terms used pretty much interchangably, along with the term paint thinner. They're a mixture of chemicals which changes slightly from brand to brand (you'll also notice that some are advertised as low odor/no odor). The MSDS should tell you the actual contents; here's a link to one: http://www.growerscoop.com/files/Regular%20Mineral%20Spirits.pdf . Uses - cleaning brushes and airbrush after using enamel paints.

5. Alcohol vs. Isopropyl alcohol - From a chemistry standpoint, anything with an -OH group hanging off of the molecule is an alcohol. Isopropyl alcohol is propane with the -OH attached to the middle carbon atom, and is usually sold in pharmacies diluted to about 70% (rubbbing alcohol). Denatured alcohol is basically ethanol with some benzene, and is available in most hardware stores. Uses - I've heard of people using them to thin/clean up after use of acrylic paints; haven't had a whole lot of success with IPA; never tried denatured alcohol.

6. Thinner - pretty much anything that makes paint thinner/less viscous. For acrylic paints, you can use technically use water, though I've heard of others using IPA, denatured alcohol, and brand-specific thinners (i.e. Tamiya X-20). For enamel paints, you can use mineral spirits or a brand-specific (i.e. Testors). For lacquer paints, use lacquer thinner.

wkchoong,
The manufacturers of all this stuff are required by law to give you the MSDS's if you request them. The MSDS's have lots of info that will answer your questions. I requested some MSDS's from Testors and they sent them to me free of charge. They didn't have to send them free. It was a nice gesture and I use lots of Testors/Floquil/ModelMaster products.

Sorry I don't have an answer for your Humbrol question. Maybe send them an email about it.

Since no one is willing to help, I hope I can get some answers for this. Can I use the thinner for Tamiya acrylics to thin Humbrol enamels? If not, what solvent can I use? Is ethanol a good solvent to use?

Thank you in advance.

Gip, oh, Gip...

I was going to try to take a stab at answering, but realized that I can't spend the 2 or 3 hours on the Internet needed to track down all the answers...sorry.

Enjoy your modeling...

I think this is a question for Gip.
Gip where are you brother?

Mike