Hi, just getting back to building Campbell wood kits and will be using Floquil Enamals. Was wondering what everyone is using these days to substitute for Dio-Sol. Can you use turpentine or any off the shelf thinners?
Thanks for the advice
lacquer thinner or enamel reducer. Either works.
Laquer thinner works for me too. But don’t mix more than you will use in a day or two. Thinning with laquer thinner and/or mixing new Floquil paint with some purchased years ago produces a sludge after time, not like in the 1970s when a thinned mixture of various colors would last for years
50% Lacquer thinner and 50% Acetone worked well for me, but I think I probably could have gotten by with 30% on the Acetone in retrospect.
I must be living in a bubble (actually I know that I am) out here in the Northwoods.
I have to assume from the tone of this thread that Dio Sol is no longer available !!??!! I bought a qt. size can many a year ago and still have a goodly portion of it.
Regarding the sludge issue: I can attest to the fact that I was able to just that with mineral sprits and Testers enamel. It was a bad thing and a hard lesson learned. For the most part, I now only use the products of the same manufacturer when ever mixing and / or thinning.
I realize you’re paint wood kits, but for those painting plastic, you definitly need to prime any raw plastic before painting with a substitute thinner. Diosol allowed the Floequil to dry so fast there was never any reaction with the plastic. The slower drying can allow the plastic to craize. I had this happen even with the newer Floequil thinner.
Floquil makes a substitute for Diosol now. Forget the name.
It works no better than Virginian’s mix or even straight laquer thinner.
I never considered Floquil and/or Diosol to be plastic compatible. I always used a primer or Barrier with any plastic. The Acetone is faster than laquer thinner.
Lacquer thinner works fine as a thinner, not only for Floquil, but also Scalecoat, Dull- and Glosscote, Testors ModelMasters, Humbrol, Pactra, and SMP Accupaint. It’s also an excellent (and cheap) cement for styrene, and good for thinning or cleaning-up contact cement.
Wayne