The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

Hey folks.
I read on another forum that distilled water works for thinning acrylics to use in an Airbrush.
I bought some of this:
http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/ ... p-water-1l;

I haven't tried it yet as I've not had time since getting home but would anyone give me some advice on if it works and how to use it i.e what ratio to use and things.

I ask here as I trust everyone here more than just some random forum.

Plain water works too, although for all I know distilled may work even better.....
Ratio of paint to thinner is largely down to taste; the needle size in your airbrush will play a part, the paint manufacturer, temperature and even the colour can affect things. 50/50 is for me a good starting point, then adjust to suit circumstances.......

I agree with Iggie, I used tap water for years at a 50:50 ratio and apply in thin coats.

I used Vallejo Model Air - no thinning required

Be very wary of what type of paint you're using. Some acrylics are alcohol-based and some are water-based. Tamiya is alcohol-based paint and doesn't like being thinned with water very much Don't ask me how I found out!!). Water based paints include Humbrol, Revell Aqua (bit of a give away ), Vallejo and Mr Hobby Aqueous (another give away). It's important to check first or you end up with a mess or a clogged airbrush. Personally, I always try to use the manufacturers recommended thinners but do, from time to time, use just water or plain isopropanol.

iggie wrote:.....
Ratio of paint to thinner is largely down to taste.......

I think there are warnings on the bottle about that

I have found that Xtracrylic Thinner seems to work with virtually all the acrylic paints I generally use - Xtracrylic, Tamiya, Revell etc.

Eric Mc wrote:I have found that Xtracrylic Thinner seems to work with virtually all the acrylic paints I generally use - Xtracrylic, Tamiya, Revell etc.

Did you try it with Humbrol Acrylics, too? I´m curious to know, cause some buddies and I are about to place an order at
hen antz...

Anything work well with Citadel paints?

Muttzley wrote:Anything work well with Citadel paints?

I always used water.

I don't use Humbrol acrylics so can't say much about them.

I guess I´ll try distilled water, next time.
Quality of tab water varies a lot: isn´t the so-called "hardness" of the water important, when it comes to mixing acrylics?

Where I live, there´s some lime in the tab water, when a puddle of tab water dries up, you can see a white residue after.
In some regions in Germany, there´s so much lime in the water, that the thin residue looks more like a crust!
(Since another hobby of mine is aquaria, where the hardness of the water plays an important role, this thing came to my mind.)

Hi Crashpilot, I’ve visited Celle every year for the last 31 years (and got married to a pretty local girl in the beautiful Rathaus), but the water in that region is much softer than where I live in Derbyshire. Here it is really hard so you’re not too badly off.
Anyway, personally I always use Tamiya X-20A to thin their paints at a ratio of 75% paint to 25% thinner, and I thin Mr. color GX lacquer 50/50 with Mr. Color Thinner for very pleasing results.

Bill_B wrote:Hi Crashpilot, I’ve visited Celle every year for the last 31 years (and got married to a pretty local girl in the beautiful Rathaus), but the water in that region is much softer than where I live in Derbyshire. Here it is really hard so you’re not too badly off.
Anyway, personally I always use Tamiya X-20A to thin their paints at a ratio of 75% paint to 25% thinner, and I thin Mr. color GX lacquer 50/50 with Mr. Color Thinner for very pleasing results.

Oh, wow, sometimes the world seems to be a small place !
You´re one RA guy, aren´t you