Paint and thinner for airbrushing - how do you do it?

Jim - Jack pretty much summed it up.  If you try out Vallejo use their "thinner", Model Air is pre-thinned for airbrushing but their thinner is actually a retarded and adhesion agent all in one.  It's about $4 for a bottle but I've used one as much as a year before it was running out, and Vallejo is ALL I use if I can help it.  You'd have to order it from coloradominiatures.com or spruebrothers.com because although color of Eagles has the Vallejo made paint they don't carry the "thinner"... 

MM Acryl is good if you can find it locally, I still recommend trying the Vallejo though.  MM can be thinned with their own thinner, or Tamiya acrylic thinner.   You can't thin Vallejo with either of those.  vallejo is a water based versus solvent based acrylic.  It "curdles: when you put anything like the MM or Tamiya thinner in it.

On retarders, Liquitex and golden both make a retarder that works well with Vallejo, just a drop will do it!  They also both make airbrush mediums that are flow aids and look and work suspiciously like the Vallejo "thinner"... Jack got me thinking in an email on the subject so I am testing out the theory and will post what I think on their airbrush mediums instead of Vallejo branded stuff.  Back to the retarder, whatever brand of acrylic you settle with the retarded will work.. so it won't hurt to get some.  Some needle lube or glycerin from the pharmacy (I found it at Walgreens in the cospetic section) work well for it.  It helps precent the acrylic from sticking to the tip as well as making it a little smoother int he action when you pull back on the trigger.

There is still a small amount of tip dry with Vallejo, less with their thinner... all I do is when the spray pattern starts changing I just give it a quick spurt with the trigger pulled back pretty far and it clears it.  I also try to keep a qtip with water on it nearby for stubborn spots...

Good luck to you and don't be afraid to ask questions!!  There's actually more than a few here who either use Vallejo full time or at least use it so there'll be plenty of people to answer!

-edit-

you can pick up the Goldens and Liquitex products at somewhere like Hobby Lobby or Michaels where the tube acrylics are...

Thanks Jack & Tom for all the great info. 

With my memory, I'm going to have to print all this stuff out LOL.

You guys make it sound less scary giving acrylics a try, especially with the correct formula's to use.

So Vallejo Model Air paint and Vallejo thinner/retarder is what I need to start with. 

BUT... I shall wait to hear about Liquitex and Golden.

Thanks again!

Jim - if the airbrush mediums work as I feel they are so far then you wouldn't even need the Vallejo thinner... just the medium and the retarder, and those come in bigger bottles so would be more cost effective.

I plan on trying them on a 1/72 Bf-109 I am about to start painting on.  It wouldn't be a big loss if it doesn't work out, especially because I got it for 3 dollars at the hobby Lobby 50% off sale last time..

Oh yeah.. speaking of correct formulas... the Vallejo and other branded come in plastic squeeze bottles with an eyedropper style head.  you just put in 1 drop of thinner for every 3 drops of paint and it paints good every time!!!  the only time I've varied is doing things like Luftwaffe mottle... I add a drop of distilled water for every 10 of paint along with the thinner in the usual ratio.

there is no paint loss with Vallejo which is one thing I like a lot!

tho9900 wrote:

Jim - if the airbrush mediums work as I feel they are so far then you wouldn't even need the Vallejo thinner... just the medium and the retarder, and those come in bigger bottles so would be more cost effective.

So far, I can't tell any difference in Vallejo's thinner and Goldens Airbrush Medium. They even look the same and feel the same.

Someone like Tom is going to be better at spotting the details of the difference, but I've tried thinning with 100% Goldens, then 100% Vallejo, and then a little of one or the other and some distilled water.  I can't say the exact amounts.. (see top of thread for my measuring system! LOL)

Seems like the Goldens was somewhere in the $13-$15 range for 473ml, and Vallejo thinner is $3.60 for 32ml, so that's a plus also.

This tip about Goldens orignated with MusicCity (Scott).. either on his website or somewhere in a post here. I had gotten it based on his info, so great tip, Scott!!

Thanks again guys

With all this info seems like you're going to have me make the transition from enamels to acrylics as smooth as possible. 

I really appreciate the help. 

jhande wrote:

I know the wife would be happy, not having all those smells in the house LOL.

My wife said the same thing. She doesn't like the smell of the paints, either.

Oh, you meant the paints.... oh.... wait, I misunderstood.

I highly recommend one of those small battery-powered paint mixers. I've got one made by Badger, but Micro Mark also makes one. They can make the difference between night and day.