I just bought this trio of products and am ready to try them out. After applying the Mr Surfacer with a paint brush, what do I use to clean the brush? Acetone?
I have cleaned mine with ISO Alchol,works for me.
Thanks, Tojo!!! I already put your suggestion to work.
Strange, I have tried alcohol, but it had no effect on Mr. Surfacer. I use lacquer thinner which does work. I have read about people using alcohol to clean up excess Mr. Surfacer on joints, but could never get this to work. I wonder what I am missing? (BTW, I used denatured alcohol from the hardware store, not the rubbing kind in the medicine cabinet.)
What’s the %? I suspect folks are using 91%. I usually clean my brushes with lacquer as well, but you have to be careful with synthetic brushes because you can damage them.
My guess would be you are using the wrong kind of alcohol. Tojo uses what he calls “ISO alcohol.” I assume this means the medicine cabinet kind; i.e. isopropyl alcohol (as opposed to isobutyl alcohol, or isoamyl alcohol, etc).
What you get in a “denatured alcohol” is a bit of a crap shoot. It could be mostly ethanol with a a few poisons added, or it could be 100% methanol.
Thats the stuff regular 91% drug store alcohol,as far as cleaning up seams,I usually soak a Q-tip and work it until it comes off.
I can agree that lacquer thinner works as that is what I have used to date.
Going to give the ISO go now though. Any alternative to not opening up the jar of lacquer thinner is a good thing IMO.
Huh, interesting guys. I labored under the impression that the medcine cabinet stuff was watered down, and the hardware stuff was the 100% real deal. I didn’t think the type of alcohol was different. I’ll give rubbing alcohol a try; it will sure make cleanup much easier on a model than lacquer thinner!
I have seen 94% in stores, but either 91 or 94 doesn’t contain much water. It is actually hard to get much dryer than mid 90s percent. I think isopropyl mixes well with water. Even though methanol doesn’t mix that well, it does seem to grab water from the air.
I thought I should chime in. I’m using 70% rubbing alcohol from the grocery store and it seems to do a fine job cleaning the brush and removing excess Mr Surfacer from the model. However, dried Mr Surfacer 500 on the model needs some rubbing to removed.
Try gin or vodka.
I use LT, which removes everything from the AB and my hand brushes, even dry acrylic.
I’ve surrendered and use only old brushes for Mr Surfacer, I just cant get them completely clean and I love the product but I haven’t tried ISO Alcohol. Yet…
Terry
I use lacquer thinner to clean the brushes I use to apply Mr. Surfacer. I have never used acetone to clean any of my brushes. I use natural hair brushes, and I’d think the acetone is just a tad harsher to use. But then, lacquer thinner is, too. But if you’re using synthetic brushes, acetone might dissolve the bristles.
I dip the brush in a little jar of lacquer thinner, tapping it against the sides. The surfacer dissolves right away. I take the brush out and drag it across a piece of paper towel. I repeat this, till I can’t see any more surfacer come off the brush in the liquid, and till it drags clean on the paper towel Then I rub my finger on my nose to pick up some skin oil and apply it to the brush, to help preserve the bristles. There are commercial preservatives you can buy, too. I know a French figure painter who uses olive oil. Upshot is, natural brushes are made from hair, and hair has a natural coating of oil, which helps preserve the fiber. The solvents we use to clean brushes remove oil, so we want to replace it and help extend the life of the brush.
Thank you, Baron. Lacquer Thinner was another thing I was going to try.
I use Tamiya Lacquer Thinner (same stuff I dilute dullcote and glosscote with before airbrushing) - works like a charm. I’ve even used it to clean brushes with dried Mr. Surfacer in it and it worked on that too.
Isopropyl alcohol (aka Rubbing alcohol) works with Mr Surfacer, but denatured alcohol doesn’t.
Conversely, Denatured alcohol works with Tamiya Liquid Surface Primer, but Isopropyl doesn’t.