So I have the leveling thinner and use it with Tamiya paints. They sell the same thinner without the retarder for slightly less money.
Question is what would I need the straight thinner for? Is there any specific use for the thinner without retarder? Does it offer special features for cleaning or some other use? Maybe for wiping down a model before painting?
Trying to decide whether to order some or just use straight big box lacquer thinner for cleaning and other things.
Thanks!
1 Like
Hi Pete53
Mr Color Levelling Thinner and Mr Color Thinner are both lacquer thinners. Mr Color Thinner was the original thinner for Mr Color lacquers, the original paint range made by Gunze Sangyo, now known as GSI Creos. .
I use Mr Color Thinner when the Mr Color lacquer in the bottle needs to be thinned, so as not to âdisruptâ the formulation. Mr Color Levelling Thinner is used with the paint that I will be spraying, and any leftover is not returned to the bottle.
I tend to use the specific thinner for each paint in the bottle for the above reason. Presume the Tamiya you are referring to is their acrylic, in which case I would use X-20A for thinning in the bottle when necessary.
This is just what I do, and I have not had any problems.
These kinds of questions are going to get all kinds of different answers. Thats not a bad thing. Here is my takeâŚ
You can use plain old lacquer thinner from the hardware store to thin lacquer paints. It works just fine. However I only use the cheap lacquer thinner from the hardware store for cleaning my airbrush. I use better stuff for thinning paint.
Just a personal preference.
Now for the Mr Leveling thinnerâŚ
Mr Leveling Thinner is a must have in my mind. It is a great thinner for a paint and it slows down the curing process just a little bit to help paints lay down a little more evenly.
And the best part about Mr Leveling Thinner is you can use it on all sorts of different paints. I have personally used it in the followingâŚ
Tamiya X and XF Acrylic paints.
Tamiya LP Lacquer paints
Mr Hobby Lacquer paints
There was one more, but I canât remember it.
Long story short. Buy Mr Leveling Thinner and cheap lacquer thinner. Use the ceap stuff to clean your airbrush and the good stuff to paint with.
Thanks. I am going to stay with the leveling thinner for most airbrush use. Just was wondering if there was a specific need for the straight thinner that I was missing. Yea the big box lacquer thinner is fine for general cleaning.
Just a few thoughts. The big box L thinner is also great for thinning Testors enamels for airbrushingâŚ
The only use I could see for the regular Mr Thinner would be for spraying in cooler conditions than MLT is used in, for the same paints you use with MLT. In cool conditions, say under 60F you might find the MLT to be slow tacking, maybe a little runny for metallic paints where in cooler conditions the metallic fleck may want to settle out or run within the film. You might use the faster thinner for base coating as well. Base coat color is usually fast setting and dull sheen, then clear coated for the protection and high gloss.
1 Like
Yep, I also use Mr Leveling Thinner to paint, and hardware store lacquer thinner to clean. I do notice the Mr Thinner dissolves paint better than the hardware store stuff, so I will sometimes use it to pre-clean the airbrush cup if it is really grunged up.
Mr Color thinner works very well with Tamiya paints. Tamiya paints are acrylic, but their solvents are chemical - so any modeling lacquer thinner is what you want. Tamiya makes lacquer thinner and that works fine. You would not want to use this stuff on a water based acrylic like Vallejo, Lifecolor, Mission Models or - my favorite - Golden High Flow. Thinning a water based acrylic with a chemical weakens the paint - a very small amount is okay, but too much and youâre asking for trouble. For thinning a water based paint you want something like âairbrush mediumâ (made by Liquitex, Golden and Vallejo) - thatâs a liquid polymer. But if youâre using Tamiya use a brand name lacquer thinner - Iâve never understood why people will use A-20 thinner - it works, but not as well.
2 Likes
I also use Mr Leveling Thinner for the AK-Real line of paints in addition to Tamiya X and XF
The hardware store LT for cleaning and in a pinch for airbrushing the above also.
@EBergerud
Thanks so much for the water based acrylic warning. Not something I was aware of.