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KitbashAdmin- Posts : 276
Join date : 2015-01-25
Age : 54
Location : Georgia 
Thinning Paints.....
Wed Feb 17, 2021 6:29 am
Thinning paints……
Another one of those topics we see asked constantly in the groups and across the net.
I will try to make this as comprehensive as possible so it will give maximum benefit to those that read it through.
Why thin paints?
• You don’t want to obscure the detail that is built into the kit
• you want to be able to brush paint and leave minimal brush strokes
• you want to be able to airbrush and need the paint to flow properly
Most paint is too thick right from the bottle. * This is a good thing for you because thinner is cheap (for the most part) and paint is expensive. The more you have to thin, the more useable material you have to work with at the end.
*- many of the new “ready to spray lacquers” are actually ready to go without further thinning being necessary and are provided almost water thin so they do not fall into the same category as the acrylics or enamels that many use on a daily basis.
At the end of this article I will share my 3 recipes for the 3 different acrylic thinners I use on a regular basis.
Here is where my thinning theory differs from a few others I have seen.
I don’t care if you are brush painting or airbrushing, I thin to the same consistency for each.
I thin the paints down to the consistency of semi skimmed or 2% milk. Don’t know what I mean? Pour some milk into a glass and tilt the glass so the milk goes up the side of it, then set the glass down and observe where the milk was, the residual milk on the side leaves a layer or a film on the glass before it creeps back down to the bottom. This is what you are looking for with the paint.
Different paints require different amounts of thinner to get to this consistency.*
Sometimes even the same color from the same manufacturer but from different batches will need different thinning ratios in order to get to the same place. This is one of the reasons I hate to see the question “how much thinner do I add to x brand paint?”
*-even products marketed as “ready to airbrush” benefit by adding a bit more thinner to them as they have gotten the mix “close enough” to work but not optimized for top performance.
I also do not recommend pre thinning your paints before you are ready to use them. Some paints actually shorten their shelf life when thinners are added to them. Mix enough paint to complete the job at hand, if you have somewhere to store the pre thinned paint and plan to use it within the near future ( you have a build that you will need the same color on multiple occasions while you are assembling ) then feel free to make a “batch” to cover the amount you intend to use.
Also Please don’t jump on the Tamiya band wagon telling you to add thinner to the inner lip of the bottle. I cover why that is not a good idea here ( https://kitbashkorner.forumotion.com/t123-how-i-use-tamiya-paint )
The 2 things I use most often when I am mixing paints would be graduated plastic disposable pipettes and disposable shot glasses.
The graduated pipettes help measure out the amount of thinner and paint you are using so you can get a visual feel of how much material you are adding at any one time. I keep a clean one near each bottle of thinner I have and those are used just for those thinners. A new one comes out for each different paint I mix unless its just a very small amount I am thinning.
Lets start with the times we need smaller amounts of paints and work our way up from there. Use your pipette to add a couple drops of paint into your shot glass ( or mixing area of choice ) now depending on your type of paint, you will start adding thinner to the paint drop by drop until it reaches your target consistency. ( semi skimmed/2% milk ) add a couple drops, mix, inspect, repeat until it is thinned enough to use properly.
You will find that when you hit that sweet spot in the thinning process, you can use a decent paint brush and apply the paint to an area and it will level itself and fill in any left behind brush strokes. You may also find that thinning your paints will require you to use multiple coats of paint to obtain opaque coverage in some cases. This is totally normal when painting and just make sure that before you apply a second coat, the first one has had sufficient time so you are not reintroducing brush strokes into the soft paint. ( normally a couple minutes between coats is plenty )
Likewise, if you are airbrushing, when you hit the right viscosity, the paint will spray smoother and lay down better on the surface. Keep in mind that the goal should never be one coat coverage. Everything I paint, is done by building up coverage with multiple lighter coats to the paint is as thin as possible, preserving detail, while still providing the desired finish.
A couple examples of what I would call a decent starting point when thinning paints.
1/1= parts paint/parts thinner
Vallejo:
• Model color line- 3/3 so for every 3 drops of paint you add 3 drops of thinner, inspect and adjust as needed
• Model air line- 3/1 for every 3 drops of paint you add 1 drops of thinner, inspect and adjust as needed
Revell aqua color I would start with a 1/1 mix and adjust from there to begin with.
Tamiya/Mr Color I would start with a minimum of 1/1 and by the time I am finished it is normally closer to 2/3 mix before it is the right consistency.
Apple Barrel craft paint I would start with a 1/1 mix
I know this seems like it is confusing to some of you, but it is dead easy once you get out of your own head and realize that nothing you do is irreversible. If you end up thinning something too much, add a bit more paint to the mix to bring it back. Didn’t thin it enough? Add more thinner.
The key thing to take away from this is you have the same target viscosity with each and every enamel or acrylic you will use. As long as you thin to that same viscosity (semi-skimmed/2% milk) you can either brush or airbrush whatever you want.
The same exact standards are applied to enamel paints as well. Does not matter if we are talking about the old square bottle testors enamels, the now defunct model master line , humbrol color or the newer improved mcw enamels. Thin them with either enamel thinner or ( my preference ) cheap hardware store lacquer/cellulose thinner. The addition of lacquer thinner speeds the drying time of most lacquers so they don’t require weeks to cure after being painted.
Now for the 3 acrylic thinners I use most frequently.
the main ingredients you will need to make all 3 would be Water ( filtered is fine or bottled if you don't have a filter)
Isopropyl Alcohol
Flow Improver helps break the surface tension of the paints being thinned so they flow more easily
and Retarder increases the drying time of acrylics giving them more time to self level and provide a better finish
and for the craft paint, the addition of Pledge multi surface floor polish to make the finish more durable
X20a clone (Revised)..use with Tamiya, Mr Color Aqueous paints
• 1 liter 99% isopropyl alcohol
• 2 liters filtered or bottled water
• 30ml (shot glass) of flow improver
• 30ml (shot glass) retarder
add all the ingredients into a clean gallon jug and combine thoroughly . Dispense into smaller bottles for ease of use.
Vallejo Thinner
• 1 liter filtered/bottled water
• 30ml (shot glass) flow improver
• 30ml (shot glass) retarder
as before, add all items into one container, mix well and dispense into smaller bottles for ease of use. Helps prevent tip dry when airbrushing and also helps to become self leveling when brush painting.
Craft Paint Thinner
• 1 liter filtered/bottled water
• 1 bottle pledge multi surface floor polish
• 30ml (shot glass) flow improver
combine all items into a gallon jug and mix well, dispense into smaller bottles for ease of use. The introduction of the floor polish helps make the finish more durable and aids in self leveling.
Those 3 thinners will cover any type of acrylic paint you want to thin.
Make sure you do not try to use the x20a thinner in anything other than Tamiya or Mr Color Aqueous paints as they are solvent/alcohol based where as a majority of the other acrylics are water based and will work optimally with the Vallejo thinner above.
Keep in mind, NOBODY can tell you a fool proof ratio to thin YOUR paints properly. Even the same brand can have differences batch to batch. Its up to you to gain that experience by actually learning the process.
Another one of those topics we see asked constantly in the groups and across the net.
I will try to make this as comprehensive as possible so it will give maximum benefit to those that read it through.
Why thin paints?
• You don’t want to obscure the detail that is built into the kit
• you want to be able to brush paint and leave minimal brush strokes
• you want to be able to airbrush and need the paint to flow properly
Most paint is too thick right from the bottle. * This is a good thing for you because thinner is cheap (for the most part) and paint is expensive. The more you have to thin, the more useable material you have to work with at the end.
*- many of the new “ready to spray lacquers” are actually ready to go without further thinning being necessary and are provided almost water thin so they do not fall into the same category as the acrylics or enamels that many use on a daily basis.
At the end of this article I will share my 3 recipes for the 3 different acrylic thinners I use on a regular basis.
Here is where my thinning theory differs from a few others I have seen.
I don’t care if you are brush painting or airbrushing, I thin to the same consistency for each.
I thin the paints down to the consistency of semi skimmed or 2% milk. Don’t know what I mean? Pour some milk into a glass and tilt the glass so the milk goes up the side of it, then set the glass down and observe where the milk was, the residual milk on the side leaves a layer or a film on the glass before it creeps back down to the bottom. This is what you are looking for with the paint.
Different paints require different amounts of thinner to get to this consistency.*
Sometimes even the same color from the same manufacturer but from different batches will need different thinning ratios in order to get to the same place. This is one of the reasons I hate to see the question “how much thinner do I add to x brand paint?”
*-even products marketed as “ready to airbrush” benefit by adding a bit more thinner to them as they have gotten the mix “close enough” to work but not optimized for top performance.
I also do not recommend pre thinning your paints before you are ready to use them. Some paints actually shorten their shelf life when thinners are added to them. Mix enough paint to complete the job at hand, if you have somewhere to store the pre thinned paint and plan to use it within the near future ( you have a build that you will need the same color on multiple occasions while you are assembling ) then feel free to make a “batch” to cover the amount you intend to use.
Also Please don’t jump on the Tamiya band wagon telling you to add thinner to the inner lip of the bottle. I cover why that is not a good idea here ( https://kitbashkorner.forumotion.com/t123-how-i-use-tamiya-paint )
The 2 things I use most often when I am mixing paints would be graduated plastic disposable pipettes and disposable shot glasses.
The graduated pipettes help measure out the amount of thinner and paint you are using so you can get a visual feel of how much material you are adding at any one time. I keep a clean one near each bottle of thinner I have and those are used just for those thinners. A new one comes out for each different paint I mix unless its just a very small amount I am thinning.
Lets start with the times we need smaller amounts of paints and work our way up from there. Use your pipette to add a couple drops of paint into your shot glass ( or mixing area of choice ) now depending on your type of paint, you will start adding thinner to the paint drop by drop until it reaches your target consistency. ( semi skimmed/2% milk ) add a couple drops, mix, inspect, repeat until it is thinned enough to use properly.
You will find that when you hit that sweet spot in the thinning process, you can use a decent paint brush and apply the paint to an area and it will level itself and fill in any left behind brush strokes. You may also find that thinning your paints will require you to use multiple coats of paint to obtain opaque coverage in some cases. This is totally normal when painting and just make sure that before you apply a second coat, the first one has had sufficient time so you are not reintroducing brush strokes into the soft paint. ( normally a couple minutes between coats is plenty )
Likewise, if you are airbrushing, when you hit the right viscosity, the paint will spray smoother and lay down better on the surface. Keep in mind that the goal should never be one coat coverage. Everything I paint, is done by building up coverage with multiple lighter coats to the paint is as thin as possible, preserving detail, while still providing the desired finish.
A couple examples of what I would call a decent starting point when thinning paints.
1/1= parts paint/parts thinner
Vallejo:
• Model color line- 3/3 so for every 3 drops of paint you add 3 drops of thinner, inspect and adjust as needed
• Model air line- 3/1 for every 3 drops of paint you add 1 drops of thinner, inspect and adjust as needed
Revell aqua color I would start with a 1/1 mix and adjust from there to begin with.
Tamiya/Mr Color I would start with a minimum of 1/1 and by the time I am finished it is normally closer to 2/3 mix before it is the right consistency.
Apple Barrel craft paint I would start with a 1/1 mix
I know this seems like it is confusing to some of you, but it is dead easy once you get out of your own head and realize that nothing you do is irreversible. If you end up thinning something too much, add a bit more paint to the mix to bring it back. Didn’t thin it enough? Add more thinner.
The key thing to take away from this is you have the same target viscosity with each and every enamel or acrylic you will use. As long as you thin to that same viscosity (semi-skimmed/2% milk) you can either brush or airbrush whatever you want.
The same exact standards are applied to enamel paints as well. Does not matter if we are talking about the old square bottle testors enamels, the now defunct model master line , humbrol color or the newer improved mcw enamels. Thin them with either enamel thinner or ( my preference ) cheap hardware store lacquer/cellulose thinner. The addition of lacquer thinner speeds the drying time of most lacquers so they don’t require weeks to cure after being painted.
Now for the 3 acrylic thinners I use most frequently.
the main ingredients you will need to make all 3 would be Water ( filtered is fine or bottled if you don't have a filter)
Isopropyl Alcohol
Flow Improver helps break the surface tension of the paints being thinned so they flow more easily
and Retarder increases the drying time of acrylics giving them more time to self level and provide a better finish
and for the craft paint, the addition of Pledge multi surface floor polish to make the finish more durable
X20a clone (Revised)..use with Tamiya, Mr Color Aqueous paints
• 1 liter 99% isopropyl alcohol
• 2 liters filtered or bottled water
• 30ml (shot glass) of flow improver
• 30ml (shot glass) retarder
add all the ingredients into a clean gallon jug and combine thoroughly . Dispense into smaller bottles for ease of use.
Vallejo Thinner
• 1 liter filtered/bottled water
• 30ml (shot glass) flow improver
• 30ml (shot glass) retarder
as before, add all items into one container, mix well and dispense into smaller bottles for ease of use. Helps prevent tip dry when airbrushing and also helps to become self leveling when brush painting.
Craft Paint Thinner
• 1 liter filtered/bottled water
• 1 bottle pledge multi surface floor polish
• 30ml (shot glass) flow improver
combine all items into a gallon jug and mix well, dispense into smaller bottles for ease of use. The introduction of the floor polish helps make the finish more durable and aids in self leveling.
Those 3 thinners will cover any type of acrylic paint you want to thin.
Make sure you do not try to use the x20a thinner in anything other than Tamiya or Mr Color Aqueous paints as they are solvent/alcohol based where as a majority of the other acrylics are water based and will work optimally with the Vallejo thinner above.
Keep in mind, NOBODY can tell you a fool proof ratio to thin YOUR paints properly. Even the same brand can have differences batch to batch. Its up to you to gain that experience by actually learning the process.
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