I’m wondering what would be the best thinner for acrylic craft paints - and I don’t think it’s water, since I’ve tried that when attempting to airbrush Polly Scale acrylics - I could never get adequate coverage without the paint drying so slowly and running all over the place…
Model Master make’s Acryl diluant/thinner.
I use alcohol.
I use tap water.
I’ve ben using craft paints for over a decade, and plain old water works great. Of course, I’ve never airbrushed the stuff; I use Polly Scale for that (thinned with windshield washer fluid).
Well, I tried regular rubbing alcohol from Walgreen’s and it seemed to make the paint… for lack of a more descriptive word… “oily”. What do you think of denatured alcohol?
Really?! I wonder if that would work with craft acrylics?
Use either PolyScale’s or Modelflex thinners or you can use an 80/20 water/70% Isopropl alcohol mix of your own. You should only add 10-20% thinner to the paint. To spray, it should have the consistency of whole milk. Get a bottle of Modelflex paint if you can, it’s airbrush-ready, you can then use it to help you judge the PolyScale/thinner mix.
It sounds to me like you’re either getting too much paint on the model or adding too much thinner. You can’t cover in one coat. If you’re airbrushing, then you have to expect to apply at least 3 light coats. The darker the surface you’re painting and the lighter the colors, the more light coats it will take to cover. Do not try to cover it in 1 or 2 coats, it won’t work.
I would recommend you first prime the model with a medium gray, it’ll make it easier to get a more even coverage with the color coats. You can airbrush the gray or use a spray can (gray auto primer or krylon flat gray), but again, light coats. Spray on a couple of light passes, let dry, repeat until you have full coverage. Then do the same thing with your colors. With acylics you should only have to wait about 10 minutes for the paint to dry to the touch, (it takes 24 hrs to harden), then apply the next coat and so on. You do need to have some patience, painting is something that can’t be rushed.
That’s because “rubbing alcohol” contains glycerine (Also known as Glycerol). An oil/lubricant. A lot of cosmetic products have it (or silicone oil). Otherwise the alcohol would dry out your skin. It’s also the glycerine part of nitro-glycerine.
I’ve used methyl hydrate (methanol) for thinning paint, and it works well. Denatured alcohol is only ethanol that has been poisoned so you shouldn’t drink it. If you can get it cheaply, it’ll work.
Water will also work.
Tap water. I found craft paint is only good for scenery. (plaster, wood, ect.) There’s a lot of type of plastic that it won’t stick to very well.
I used washer fluid with grey craft acrylic paint last night. Thinned the paint well and, to my surprise, did not seem to alter the color of the paint. It didn’t cover well, but I chalk that up to the first time using a new airbrush (went to an internal mix double action from an external mix single–definitely a learning curve there!).
In the case of poor coverage, I’m sure it’s because I’m accustomed to getting one-coat coverage from Floquil, and so I rush it and then just get frustrated because either it runs and dries poorly, or I don’t add enough thinner and it clogs the tip. Thanks for the good suggestions!
Good to know! As another member put it, rubbing alcohol may not be the way to go. I do have some denatured alcohol left and will try that. If I don’t have good success with it, I’ll give windshield washer solution a try! Thanks!
I tried the exact same thing in my airbrush the other night . Sprayed some unsealed plaster walls and WOW! Did they look BAD! Didn’t cover worth a crap. Kind of beaded up on the surface. [%-)] I don’t know if it was the washer fluid mix or what? I used the same home brew that I thin my Polly S with. I think I’ll stick with plain water with the craft paint next time.
I am airbrush challenged so I am probably the last person who should offer advice unless you want to know how not to do it. People who are much more proficient than me have said craft paints do not work well in an airbrush. Something about the courseness of the pigments used in them. I love using craft paints in all types of scenery and structures but I brush paint them. All efforts to use them with an airbrush have failed miserably. I’m determined to learn how to airbrush this year but I have decided my next effort will be with the more expensive hobby paints, such as Floquil.
It didn’t bead up like yours did. I couldn’t get an even color spray. When it did spray, it was a good layer of paint. It was just intermittent. That’s why I think it was “airbrush operator error”.
This thread came at an opportune time. I was about to airbrush some acrylic craft paint and was wondering what to thin it with. After reading all the posts, I decided to thin it with distilled water. I thinned it a lot because I was using it as a wash over some rockwork. I had no trouble spraying it with my Aztec double-action brush. I set the pressure at 25 psi and sprayed it at full air and paint on the trigger. The airbrush and the bottle cleaned up very nicely afterwards with plain water.
Regarding using windshield washer fluid, wouldn’t that just be a mixture of water and alcohol anyway? At least up here it is, where the winter formula stays liquid to 40 below. I would think that even the summer formula is a mixture of water and alcohol. Also, it would have a little detergent in it to assist in the cleaning process. Wouldn’t that affect the paint and even the airbrush? Just thinking out loud.
I just looked up a MSDS for windshield washer fluid, now this might be different depending on the brand or it’s purpose (ie -40º weather vs summertime), but the only “hazardous ingredient” listed was methanol (at 200PPM).
I would assume then, that windshield washer fluid is simply alcohol dissolved in water.
Windex.
acrylic = water. However I do occasionally use alcohol.
ah something I know a lot about. Paint. I use all kinds of paint.
without really boring you I can just tell you that craft paint won’t airbrush well no matter how you thin it. The typical solvents are water, alcohol and pollyscale makes an airbrush specific (although I’ve only used it with polly acys).
basically craft paint is full of cheap fillers. something like model master paint is molecularly engineered to be thinner. In short the paint molecules are smaller and closer together. When you thin the paint the molecular bond is stretched. If you thin the paint too much the bond simply doesn’t hold. (ie watery wash) Your best bet is to break down and use the acy paint made for airbursh.
sorry to be the bearer of bad news but perhaps I’ve saved your airbursh?
DanZ