No more tip dry! Seriously! Plus other reviews

General Discussion
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Hello, I’m Scott and I have a problem with tip dry and vellejo acrylics.

I little background, I only paint acrylics, mostly Vallejo but also Gaahleri Kaleido metalics (which I love). I don’t enjoy cleaning my paints with anything other than water so Tamya, as good as they are, is out.

If any of you have experienced tip dry when painting with any acrylics, you know how frustrating it can be.

I recently came across this video on YouTube ( I Finally Found the BEST Airbrush Thinner) where the poster claimed he had found the perfect solution and did a very thorough test. If you want to skip to the end to just see his winner you can, but it is worth watching the entire thing in case, as happened to me, he tests your thinner setup and then makes it look like crap.

I ordered a bottle of his favorite product, Atom Thinner/cleaner with retarder and tonight I tested it. He was right! I painted for 10 min straight without cleaning my tip at all! In fact, I refilled the paint cup 4 times and still never had the issue. Not only that, but it was also the smoothest I’ve ever had grey primer go down, ever!

I tried different ratios and settled on about 30/70 for primer though he says use 2 drops paint and 10 drops thinner, which seems really thin to me. That was for a game air paint, so you will want to test for yourselves. I’ll probably try his ratio when painting with colors rather than primer, though Atom says 30% thinner is good.

I also used my brand new Gaaleria Aventus airbrush which I can say is the best I’ve used so far (I have been through several). I can add more info on this airbrush if anyone is interested.

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My one complaint is the bottle doesn’t have a drip top so you have to transfer it to another smaller bottle to control the flow. That seemed to be an oversite on Atom’s part, especially for something that costs north of $20 for the large, 500ml bottle. The 60ml bottle is only about $5.

So, in conclusion, if you want tip dry to be a thing of the past…Give it a try, I know I won’t go back to what I was using.

My only regret is, I wish I had purchased more than one bottle as the shipping from sprue brothers was a little high.

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Great to hear you found the thinner that works for you, Scott!
I am using the AK 3rdGen thinner, purely because I use their paints - works very well for me. When using Vallejo, I always put one or two drops of their Retarder into the color cup, which helps a lot against tip drying. Vallejo also does a Flow Improver, but I have no idea what it does and how it works. However, if the Atom thinner works for you - stay with it!
Have you thought about using a pipette to get the thinner out of the bottle, drop by drop into your mixing jar and the rest back into the bottle? Works great for me. I even remove the dropper tip from my 3rdGen thinner bottle, the pipette does it a lot nicer.
I completely share your enthusiasm for the Gaahleri airbrush - I never want to miss my Mobius again!

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That’s strange I’ve just ordered a bottle but the 20ml version.
I was ordering an Eduard Spitfire and some Atom paints when I found it under thinners.
I’ll order a bigger bottle if it works.
Cheers

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I’m going to have to give this stuff a try. I have been pretty happy spraying Vallejo Game and Model air paints, and cleaning the tip occasionally, and dealing with occasional issues… until I was forced to go back to Tamiya acrylics recently for a specific color. WOW – I forgot how nice and easy those spray, forever, with no issues at all. If I could get Vallejos to spray like that I’d be exstatic.

Oh, btw, I got a pack of these on Amazon and use them for various cleaners, thinners, CA glue accelerator, etc. Label with masking tape.

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I like Vallejo paints but you have to use quite a few drops of flow improver to stop dry tip.
There model colour range are the best for brush painting but model air needs a lot of patience with airbrush.
I tried chipping fluid on a model Panzer that I painted a few years ago and the results were awful,the paint was coming off like bits of thin rubber.
Best stick with Tamiya acrylics for any chipping method.
I can’t wait to use the Atom paints as I’ve seen good results on YouTube on how well they go down.
I also highly recommend VMS primers they are the dogs doodahs.

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Good info,got to find a comfort zone.when I use Vallejo,I always add the flow improver,i never get dry tip,I also use Mr Leveling Thinner with Tamiya and AK Real, again,no dry tip

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Hi, yes, my goto for Vallego was a combination of thinner/flow enhancer and retarder that was recommended to me which worked okay. That guy on the you tube even tested it with mixed results.

I should revise my post to be about Vallejo paints probably as others, like you, might not have the issues I was having.

And it is funny you would mention the pipette method as it is how got the thinner out of the bottle last night. I just don’t love that technique as much as having it readly available straight out of a bottle. I have transferred some to the bottles I purchased a while ago for this exact kind of usage. The one on the left is better for precise control, the right for faster delivery.

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That is funny timing! I hope it works as well for you as it did for me.

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I think you will get your wish with the Vallejo paints. In that video, he sprays for 4 min straight with no sputter, spitting or tip dry.

As for your bottle suggestions, you are spot on, I just got in the same stuff and moved this thinner over and life is good!

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Thank you for that, based on how well this thinner works, I’m inclined to take your suggestions to heart. As my stock of Vallego paints get used up (I have about 50 of them) ill give atom a try.

I started with Vallejo when I got back into modeling because they were easily getable on Amazon and my local hobby shop but I don’t love them.

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There is no need to change your post, Scott, it is really good as it is. What works great for one people does not automatically mean it works for others good as well - and vice versa, of course. Temperature, humidity, personal preferences, setup and all sort of things have effects.
Sure I tested the 3rdGen thinner with my Vallejo paints and it works fantastic. But I do not want to get rid of the Vallejo thinner, I use it up. When empty, I will follow your recommendation and get a bottle of Atom thinner. Although, 3rdGen and Atom paints are quite similar and I expect very less - if any - difference in their thinners as well.
Your bottles are a great idea, but I stick to my method - it just works for me.