Tamiya Acrylics....Who thins and who shoots out of the bottle?

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

Ok I know some colors might require thinning and others dont, but who thins them and who doesn’t?

For the most part I shoot mine out of the bottle, but I have run into some problems when painting some colors I have to thin, I guess I have yet to find that “magic” ratio…my current failing ratio is 3 parts paint to 1 part thinner(Alcohol)…

So whats your “magic” thinning ratio?

Thanks,
Chris

2

Hi Chris,
50% paint - 50% thinner here, using Tamiya’s thinner. Air pressure around 15PSI and build the coat in thin layers. I’ll use even more thinner and less pressure for really thin lines and fine close-up work. I like the fact that at these ratios the paint has a certain transparency about it which lends itself to shading etc, it also seems more forgiving with regard to overspray and softer edges. To overcome the transparency just build the layers.

Cheers…Snowy.

3

im with snowy, ive never been able to paint a smooth finish unless ive thinned to atleast 60%thinner and 40% paint. like snowy says, the trick for me is 6 to 7 thin coats. ive never even attempted to spray tamiya acrylic straight from the bottle. i also reccomend buying tamiya thinner. use it just for thinning purposes and the 250ml bottle will last for a long, long time. i clean my airbrush with 50% distilled water/ 50% mm acryl solvent. sometimes i use straight dollar store brand windex with amonia to clean with.

4

Ahhhhhhh thanks folks, Im so used to using enamels that this thinning acrylic crap is giving me a headache not to mention some bad finishes!