I just bought some of this stuff in the square bottle (not in a rattle can) at the LHS and have never used it before. So a few quick questions to those who have:
Can I thin it with generic hardware store lacquer thinner, as opposed to Tamiya’s own lacquer thinner as they recommend on the label?
After thinning can I airbrush it normally and clean my airbrush with lacquer thinner?
How long after airbrushing this stuff on should I let it dry and cure before I airbrush on a base color coat of Tamiya Acrylic or Polly Scale acrylic?
You can thin it with generic lacquer thinner, but I’ve found that you can also thin it with denatured alcohol (ie. ethyl alcohol - it doesn’t respond to isopropyl).
I’ve airbrushed it using Tamiya lacquer thinner and cleaned up afterwards with denatured alcohol, no problem.
Most importantly, if you mess something up, it can be cleaned off your model with denatured alcohol without any risk of a stronger solvent melting it. [:D]
Yep, not terribly scientific. These days I tend to thin by feel/look.
Hopefully your denatured alcohol is like what we have here in Australia (methylated spirits). You can thin this stuff out an awful long way and have it still stick.
stikpusher: How was your experience with the Tamiya primer? I have been tempted to order some. DId you end up thinning it with the denatured alcohol? How was the cleanup of the airbrush when you were done?
I thinned and cleaned up with generic brand hardware store Lacquer Thinner. I think I thinned it about a 1/1 ratio of thinner to primer and had no issues with my airbrush spraying or clean up. I did not try the denatured alcohol for thinning, but I know that I will have more opportunity in the future to do so. I cant say if I like it more than Humbrol primer aside from packaging. I am gonna try Mr Surfacer next in the same manner since I have a jar of that too…
I much prefer to apply any primer from my airbrush rather than a rattle can due to superior control I can get in thinning and in application.
But I say go for it if you are thinking about it buying some Tamiya Surface Primer in the square bottle. The stuff is a great primer on plastic and PE. Excellent adhesion.
OK, sounds good to me Tarn. But a heads up in advance is that I will be using Ace Hardware’s own generic Lacquer Thinner, with the short fat round bottle of Mr.Surfacer 1000.
Well today I tried out Airbrushing Mr Surfacer 1000 thinned with Ace Hardware store generic lacquer thinner. I used an external mix siphon fed single action Paasche cheapo airbrush in case of any mishaps. I did not want to clog my good airbrush. The first batch I thinned at a ratio of 6 parts Mr Surfacer to 5 parts Lacquer Thinner(48 to 40). That airbrushed quite well. The next batch I thinned down just a tad more for a 1 to 1 ratio of Mr Surfacer to Lacquer Thinner. Again no problems noted. I just primed some styrene figures so I can not at this time comment on adhesion to any other type of surface such as resin or brass photo etch. But I am very pleased with the initial result. Adhesion to styrene is excellent, and the finish is not quite so grainy as Humbrol’s Enamel primer. I will give it overnite to dry, harden, and cure then report back on resistance to scratching.
I have no idea…[:(DD] My compressor has no regulator with a pressure guage. It is an old basic noname compressor that I have had since about early 1989 that I bought at an art supply store. But it still is putting along after all these years.