Water as thinner for Polly Scale?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hey guys, was jsut wondering: I’ve heard that you can use water to thin Polly scale paint, but I’ve never tried it. So, does water work? Thanks!

Also, does anyone know of a good, cheap paint thiner for Model Master paint?

2

Water can work but you’d probably have better luck with air brush thinner. Water tends to make the paint bubble up when shaken.

3

Hi Sawyer,

I use distilled water to thin my Polly Scale paint all the time, along with a few drops of an acrylic flow enhancer like Liquitex Flow-Aid. It works fine in a Badger 200 airbrush, although I do use an in-bottle mesh filter to keep solid bits from clogging the spray. I’ve never seen the need to buy the Polly Scale airbrush thinner, but I do use Badger’s airbrush cleaner to spray through the airbrush when changing colorrs of cleaning up after a painting session.

So long,

Andy

4

Thanks guys!

Andy, I’ve never heard of Liquitex Flow aid, might see if my LHS has some. I’m going to be using a Badger Model 250 airbrush (basic yes, but I only need even coats of paint), so I’ll probably order some of that cleaner along with paint next time I’m at my LHS. I’ll be picking up some Testor’s thinner for the Model Master, but will more than likely just use that for Model Master paint to stretch it out.

PS Andy, thanks for the last two columns on loco choices, really heloped me constructing my freelanced RR system’s loco roster (hypothetical one tohugh, lord knwos I’ll never be able to afford all the locos on it, lol)

5

I’ve had trouble lately with the polyscale thinner for airbrushes curdling the paint. I understand that it might be old product. Thanks for the flow enhancer idea,that may keep my paint from beading up instead of spreading nicely over the item being painted. Specially if I’ve thinned way down to get a dust effect. BILL

6

I have used distilled water with excellent results.

7

Water will work but all the chemicals and impurities in regular tap water will cause problems. I’ve been using acrylic model paints in my military modeling for years now and find that drugstore alcohol works as does most any of the acrylic thinners such as the ones by Tamiya or Testors. Poly Scale also offers a thinner and a plastic prep. However you won’t want to confuse those two items. Use the plastic prep to clean and degrease bare plastic. If you use water use only filtered or treated water to eliminate any impurities. Hope that helps ya out…RickM

8

Thanks rick, would regular 70% alcohol from Food Lion work? Otherwise, I can go buy some distilled water there (I can bike there from my house)

9

70% Rubbing Alcohol should work just fine. I use Model Master Acryl Thinner for my paints (mostly I because I have it lying around), but I use rubbing alcohol for making ink washes and it works very well.

Using water can also add significantly to the drying time of your paint.

10

You’ll probably have better luck finding Liquitex products at a craft store like Micheals or Hobby Lobby than the LHS.

11

Good responses.

Just wanted to add a friendly reminder. Clean out your airbrush as soon as you are finished with your spray task. When spraying with acrylics, I prefer to flush out the airbrush with a 50/50 mix of distilled water and 70% alcohol. I also remove and wipe off the needle and aircap

[;)]

12

I use a water/alcohol 80/20 mix, Enough alcohol to break the surface tension and prevent beading, but not too much so that the paint dries too fast. Using only alcohol as a thinner will speed up drying time and can cause paint to build up on the tip faster. I use this mix with all acrylic paints, including Model Master acrylics. I keep it in a used Testors thinner bottle.

As I am a custom painter, I use a lot of water, so I bought a Brita tap filter for $22.00 and I don’t have to buy water all the time anymore and I can also fill my metal water bottle instead of polluting the landfills with all those plastic water bottles, (and those plastic water bottles also leach chemicals into the water).

13

Thanks man.

DingySP - that’ll work, there’s a Hobby Lobby about a block from my LHS

Antonio - Thanks! I’ve got a bunch of 50:50 mix of that for ballast work.

Jay - thanks, I was going to do a 3 part paint to 1 part alcohol mix (polly scale suggests that), but does the 80/20 work better?