I bought a bottle of Mr. Color Tire Black. What do I use to clean the brushes after use? Also, what can I thin it with for airbrushing and what to clean the airbrush with after? Probably dumb questions but I’m old school and have ever only used enamels. Thanks for your input!
Mr Color is a lacquer based product.
It’s best to thin it with the proprietary Mr Color thinner or Tamiya Lacquer thinner (yellow cap), but for cleanup (both brushes and airbrush), generic lacquer thinner will be cheaper.
Greetings,
I am a little confused. I really like the Gunze tire black acrylic which has been hard to find. I found some at Lucky Model and Sprue Brothers (last bottle in inventory). Both were listed in the Gunze acrylic catagory. I just got my Sprue Brothers bottle and it was Mr. Color, H77 marked on the bottle as tire black. I am still waiting for the Lucky Model order which has been shipped. The Sprue Brothers bottle color looks more gray than the acrylic Gunze tire black I have been using. I am on my last bottle. Did Sprue Brothers make a mistake in listing it as an acrylic when it is not? I would prefer acrylic and I sure hope that my Lucky Model order is the right one.
Thanks,
cbreeze
If you received a bottle of Aqueous Hobby Color H77 Tire Black, you have the alcohol based acrylic version. Mr Color Tire Black (lacquer) is (C) 137.
The aqueous acrylic (alcohol based) line have a “H” prefix on the paint code, Mr Color does not have a prefix. (I have sometimes seen them referenced with a “C” prefix on some retailers’ listings.)
Phil,
Thand for that bit of info. I don’t believe I have ever worked with the alcohol based acrylic. Can you please tell me what you can use to thin it with? My first guess would be alcohol. However, the color is definitely different than the straight acrylic. The Alcohol is much grayer, not sure if I would use it for a tire color.
Cbreeze
I do not use Gunze products anymore, but have in the past. The aqueous Mr Color can be thinned with iso alchohol. Although acrylics can be cleaned with water, I found that you should not add it as a thinner. I recommend using the brands thinner for the best results and experiment with the consistency on a scrap piece of styrene. If have used mixtures of 50/50 to 80/20, depending on what type of work (And pressure) using. The problem with Gunze paints is that they do require a lot of thinning that can shorten the life once in the paint cup and dry too quickly not adhering to the model correctly. I think Mr Color makes a levening thinner that helps extend the paint.
As to the Tire Black color, it is lighter then just flat black and nothing to do with the solvent used. Tires lighten into a grayish color after time. If you are painting a model that just came out of the showroom/factory, plain black should suffice. If you model a subject that shows age, a lighter black looks good. I have used Polly Scales railroad color 'Grimy Black" for tires. It is very similar to My Colors Tire Black. You can always mix in black/white to get the shade you want.
I think I may have confused you by referring to the Aqueous Hobby Color line of paints as “alcohol based” acrylic. The H77 is the same paint as you will have used before. I called it alcohol based because that’s what it is (actually alcohol and water). I’m not sure when it happened, some time in the last 12 months or so, but there’s also been a change in labelling and that may have thrown you too. The old labelling was blue, red and yellow on white and the new labelliing is just pale blue on white. If this is what you have, it’s the same paint. The Mr Color lacquer based paint has a dark blue label and is clearly marked “Mr Color”.
Though it says on the label that it can be thinned with water, as mentioned above, you will get better results with the Aqueous Hobby Color thinner, Tamiya X-20A acrylic thinner, Mr Color (lacquer) thinner, Tamiya Lacquer thinner, Isopropyl alcohol or denatured alcohol (yes, lots of thinner options)
On the other hand the Mr Color variety should be thinned with Mr Color or Tamiya lacquer thinner (not sure about generic lacquer thinnres). - the alcohols (and water) won’t mix with the paint.
Thanks everyone for your help here.
Cbreeze