For UK members looking for IPA as thinners

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I don't know about the UK but in the colonies we have Windshield Wiper Fluid which is a light blue color. this make excellent thinner for acrylic paints and contains isopropyl alcohol. the blue color will not affect even a while color. Drug or pharmacy stores should also carry Rubbing Alcohol which is 70% isopropyl alcohol. Lastly hardware stores should carry isopropy as a degreaser or use Denatured Alcohol which is ethyl alcohol with some methyl alcohol added
 
i have been scouring the forums for tips about spraying with tamiya paints and terry amongst others seemed to think it was hard to come by here, possible due to the health and safety fairies

I'm a newbie so no idea
 
The are NO safety concerns for spraying any acrylic paint unless you plan on putting the airbrush up your nose. enamels and lacquers require venting and the solvents are flammable. i airbrush with Tamiya acrylic paints and also model master from testors all the time. I occationally use lacquer but just buy a spray can rather and fuss with the actual paint and solvent.
if the UK has the windshield washer liquid try it it works great and its cheap $.99 per gallon here in the US and rubbing alcohol should be available in any pharmacy
 
Nope! Iso used to be readily available from most Chemists (pharmacies) in the UK, but ask for it now, and you get horrified looks ! (that's if the drongo behind the sales desk knows what the stuff is in the first place!)
I'm guessing it's all to do with solvent abuse, druggies, alchoholics etc, where it's thought these people will drink the stuff!
Some of the laws, or at least sales restrictions, in the UK are pretty tight, even though the particular item itself may not be restricted or illegal in any way. For example, the sales of most adhesives to anyone under the age of 18 (16 in some cases) is prohibited, as a precaution against solvent abuse. All very laudable, but a pain in the a** sometimes!
I managed to get a litre of Iso sent to me from Lewis, who uses it in his work, and it is available from 'specialist' outlets - just not through the local pharmacy anymore.
 
Airframes, really, that really amazes me, anyone who wants to drink iso should get a gallon free. we have the same laws/restrictions on spray adhesives/paint but isopropyl alcohol or rubbing alcohol is readily available at almost any outlet store that carries otc drugs and hardware stores or building supply outlets sell it by the gallon or 5 gallon bucket (do you have such stores in the UK?) What about the blue Windshield Washer fluid? you must do something in the winter to keep that fluid from freezing
 
I definitely agree my friend!
Yes, the windshield washer is available. I don't actually use acrylics very much, as I don't like their performance, and lack of versatility, compared to enamels, so I've never really had to bother about an appropriate thinner, until a particular job came along. But buying Iso or screen wash is definitely a better option than the Tamiya, or other manufacturers dedicated thinner, at the outrageous prices they charge!
 
airframes, exactly, I do keep a bottle of their thinner. after i run isopropyl rubbing alcohol through the airbrush i run a small amount of their thinner. I also keep some lacquer thinner for dried acrylics. For thinning acrylics I use the windshield washer fluid and i think it works great, never have had a problem with any acrylic paint brand. since i work indoors and do not have a spray hood i don't use enamels as a spray. If I absolutely have to spray a lacquer i'll get the spray can and go into the garage
 
I have to work indoors also, but I guess I'm used to the fumes and potential health hazards after nearly 50 years ! Also, no longer having a wife/partner, I don't get any hassle - it's my place, my paint, and no one to interfere !!
 

Try to use Isopropyl with a content in the high ninties as it workes mush better. The Tamiya thinners etc are all 97% and the other 3% is a retarderto slow the drying down. I have used denatured alcohol and it does work well on flat paints, ie, most of tamiya's range, but it does make gloss coats semi-gloss paint flater than normal. Plus it accelerates the drying time so it makes brush painting harder. The longer the paint takes to dry the more it levels out and the less the brush stokes are noticable. To get the best results on large area's like wings fuselages your going to have to bit the bullet and learn how to use an airbrush. I started by using cheap acrylic craft paint and scrap cardboard.

Hope this helps and for a fiver buy a gallon of the 99.9% iso, it should do you almost a life time.
Cheers Switcha
 
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I tend to agree with Airframes , i do not like acrylics much sometimes use the leather colour as the higher particle size in acrylics makes the leather look plush, warmaster aka games workshop snakebite leather...

my preference is Humbrols which i thin with white spirit, cheaper than thinners works well,
smells like a hippy camp... but it works well,

advice if using to thin humbrol enamel use sparingly many new enamels do not need thinning

although a tip i learnt .
Brush painting, pre dip in spirit, wipe off excess on tissue then paint , prevents the brush getting clogged too quick and does not thing the texture

Additional.
does anyone know if the formulation for Humbrol 65 Duck egg blue has changed in the last 15 years
reason is that i had to add a little grey to my pot as it was very "in your face " and looked way too bright for under colours

pot age 1995 ish tho humbols stand the test of time really well still have some i bought when a kid Im 34 now
 
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Corvinus, here in the US white spirit is Stoddard's solvent or in hardware stores as Mineral Spirits it is a petroleum distillate derived from paraffins. Stoddard was a dry cleaner and developed this substance as a dry cleaning fluid. Art/craft stores sell a further refined variety that is odorless as artists use this to replace turpentine
 
Corvinus, Humbrol has changed a lot in the last three or four years!!
Since the demise of the company, and the closure of the original Humber Oil Company factory at Marfleet, Hull, the paints are now made elsewhere, on behalf of Hornby, the current owners of Airfix and the Humbrol brand name.
There's a thread here somewhere covering this, and my moans and groans about the poor quality, and inconsistency, of the current range of Humbrol paints. Not only will the shade of the paint have changed, but it's very likely that any two tins will not be the same shade, or dry matt, or satin or whatever. And that's if the paint lasts for more than a month or two once the tin has been opened!
I've used these paints for almost fifty years, and still have a couple of tins of the 'Authenticolour' range, which have been out of production for around 25 years, probably longer, and still work wonderfully. However, I now have to replace the 'new' stuff long before the tin is 75% used, as it just does not keep. But, as I can't get a good alternative locally, I'll have to soldier on with the current cr*p !!
 
Airframes, I'm not much of an enamel user but a few things occur to me.
enamels "dry" by oxidative polymerization of the alkyd resins and tins seal very poorly so:
1. Oxygen is getting in
2. solvents are excaping
Both can be slowed considerably by placing the tins in heavy-duty plastic zip-lock freezer bags.
In addition since the clean-air act of 2007 solvents have been eliminated or reduced. Common enamel solvents are toluene or naphtha. I don't know if you can obtain these in the UK but they can restore the enamels viscosity if it has thickened. Penetrol is also excellent to improve flow and leveling ability of the paint, again I do not know if this is available in the UK.
 
Thanks Mike, but none of those suggestions will help. The current product is just sub-standard garbage, from the quality of the tins, to the consistency, or lack of it, in the quality, shade, hue and finish of the paints. As I mentioned, I've been using this brand for almost 50 years, without problems, until the recent change - which, incidentally, was after legislation regarding additives etc.
Wherever it is now produced, and I suspect it's in some sweat shop in India or China, at the cheapest possible rate, it is done so under non- existent QC systems, or the producers just don't give a monkey's. It should not take a week for a paint to only partly dry, leaving a sticky film on the surface! And that's only one of a number of problems.
As mentioned, I've used the product for so long, both in modelling, and in artwork, and in large quantity, that I know (or knew) by instinct exactly how to achieve certain mixes, shades, effects, results etc - things I can still achieve with other, quality paints. With the current Humbrol product, I wonder each time I open a tin, what the result will be!
As an example of the terrible quality, I have two tins of the same colour, bought at the same time - one is like partly set gum and will not 'stir out', whilst the other is like water and pools to translucence if used. And yes, I have tried adding one to the other!
 
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