Thining Floquil paint

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi All,

I recently moved to the USA to live temporarily and am now looking for a product to use to thin my Floquil paints.

I have just been to “Home Depot” and there were a lot of materials but it was not clear to me a product that would be good to use to thin my paints.

I hope that you can help me out and recommend a brand of thinners!

Dan

2

http://www.testors.com/category/133504/Floquil

Floquil Enamels - Floquil makes a thinner

Floquil Acrylics - Water

3

Well, okay, that would be the party line answer. But I think the question really would be “is there a commonly available thinner that will thin Floquil (or Scalecoat for that matter) without having to pay an exorbitant amount for the name brand product?”, or which I can use if I happen to run out over the weekend.

4
  • If you have solvent based Floquit paints - Use lacquer thinner(you can get it at Home Depot or even Walmart).
  • If you are using acrylic Polly Scale paint, use water(I use distilled water).

In either case, thin the paint to the consistancy of 2% milk. Floquil paints vary from color to color. Some are just about ‘air brush ready’ out of the bottle - Some need to be thinned.

Jim

5

I’ll second Jim’s suggestion of lacquer thinner for Floquil, and it also works for Scalecoat (but not Scalecoat II), SMP Accupaint, Testors Model Masters and Dulcote and Glosscote, and Humbrol enamels. It’s also useful for cleaning brushes and airbrushes, stripping paint from all-metal models, and as a solvent cement for styrene.

I buy it by the gallon, then decant it into smaller containers appropriate to the end use.

Wayne

6

Thanks for that info. Any hints on a similar substitute for ScaleCoat II?

7

Spot on! That is exactely what I’m after. Thanks for interpreting correctly.

8

Thanks Jim and Wayne… I’ll get a container of lacquer Thinner tomorrow!

Thanks to everyone else who has replied. I appreciate your comments.

Dan

9

Sorry, but I’ve never used Scalecoat II. Supposedly it’s for use on plastics, so I had always assumed that it was water-based. I’ve never had problems using any of the paints which I mentioned on plastic, so never had a need to try Scalecoat II.

Wayne

10

I’ve used laquer thinner with Scalecoat II for 15 years and haven’t had a problem with it. I’ve painted plastic kits and Westerfield kits and Sunshine kits without any problems. All my motive power has been painted with Scalcoat II thinned with laquer thinner. What is suppose to be the problem?

11

I don’t believe that anyone indicated that there was a problem using lacquer thinner with Scalecoat II. The original question was what thinners could be used instead of the expensive little bottle type.

12

I use Floquil solvent-type paints exclusively, and ever since the government made them change the formula of the paint , I have mixed my own thinner. I am very old-school in my approach to this sort of thing, so I went down to the local Ace Hardware store and picked up quart cans of xylene and toluene (brand names Xylol and Toluol). I mix them about 50-50 (precision not necessary). This is approximately what Floquil’s own thinner, Dio-sol, used to be, before they were bought out by Testors.

Just so the PC folks don’t get too excited, be sure to use adequate ventilation when spraying with this mixture, as with any volatile petrochemical.

And if you can’t find any of this stuff, good old mineral spirits are reputed to do an adequate job.

Oh, and for a liquid cement for styrene, I use MEK (methyl ethyl ketone). Cheaper by far than the Testors stuff, even though it is exactly the same thing.

13

The big difference between Scalecoat I and II isn’t so much the paint, but rather the thinner that makes it plastic compatable. Scalecoat I thinner “might” craze plastics, where-as Scalecoat II thinner is plastic safe. Scalecoat II thinner also takes considerably longer to dry.

I’ve used Scalecoat I thinner in Scalecoat II paint which greatly improved the drying time. That said, in a pinch, I’ve also used lacquer thinners in both just fine although it did produce a slightly less glossy finish.

Mark.

14

Dear All, I am a little remiss in not following up on this sooner. Thanks for all of the advice. I got a one-quart container of lacquer thinner from Home Depot.

I am very pleased with this product… it thins the paint very well and leaves a nice dull surface. Best of all, it was only about $7!

Excellent advice, thank you to all.

Dan

15

i can get thiner at lowes but i saw to many difrent cans. is it the same thing as minral spirits?

16

DJO – look for the metal cans that are gallon-sized.

Last time I was there, they had “Mineral Spirits” and “Lacquer Thinner” in the gallon cans (Literally, that’s all they said). Most everything else that was “brand named” was simply the same stuff in smaller cans (sometimes more expensive)

17

They are not the same. Mineral spirits is a petroleum distillate, while lacquer thinner is a blend of solvents. There is a chart showing different solvent uses here: http://www.recochem.com/us/files/downloads/SOLVENT_brochure_USA.pdf