forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com
WW1 Aircraft Modeling => WW1 Aircraft Information/Questions => Topic started by: hrcoleman66 on February 21, 2021, 02:44:32 PM
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For those that use Valejo Air acrylics, what do you use to thin for airbrushing (I know, you shouldn't need to)?
What do you use to clean your airbrush afterwards? My go to, alcohol based airbrush cleaner stuff just makes the paint congeal and I end up having to disassemble the airbrush and do a full strip and clean.
Thanks in advance.
Hugh
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Hi Hugh
For Vallejo paints I use their own cleaner and thinner and maybe a drop or two of flow aid if I’m feeling particularly decadent.
Gary
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Standard Thinners (cellulose thinners, lacquer thinners) will clean just about anything out of your airbrush. I buy mine cheap in big cans off eBay. Watch the fumes though!
Sandy
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Hi Hugh ,
You can use tap water to thin or their own line of thinner . Some of the shades don't need thinning while others will need thinning down a bit . Flow improver will help with tip dry and you only need a drop or two .
Lacquer thinner will GUM the paint up inside the airbrush and makes one hell of a mess to clean up afterwards . Soap and water will get your airbrush clean or their airbrush cleaner .
Not sure how alcohol will react with the paint , never tried .
Alexis
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I was just watching https://youtu.be/fNU55qMSRP0 (https://youtu.be/fNU55qMSRP0).
Regards,
Paul
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Alchool and chemical thinner will transform Vallejo paint into a sort of gum.
Use water and a microscopic drop of dish washing soap for thinning the colors or their own thinner.
If you use airbrush, wash the airbrush with water and soap and spray water back and forth (close the nozzle with your finger until the water and soam makes bubbles in the pot) before using the paint.
If the paint has dried or become like gum, use any degreasing soap (those containing ammonia) to wash it.
er me
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Thanks everyone!
I'll try the water with the drop of Dishwashing Liquid (I've read others suggesting windex).
Yes, Denatured Alcohol (Which I use to clean up my Tamiya and Gunze acrylics and also to thin them, although this has once gotten me into trouble (Many years ago I preshaded a Tamiya ME262 with black over all the panel lines which then bled through the top coats) immediately causes the Valejo paint to congeal and harden.
Cheers,
Hugh
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Hugh,
I use Vallejo Model Color paints but what I have come up with would work for Air as well. I clean my airbrush with the Vallejo airbrush cleaner. Mix it 50/50 with water as they recommend. It also works as a thinner. I've also tried a bunch of other formulas and concoctions from the interwebs; a myriad of chemicals in small amounts added to water such as glycol, glycerin, washer fluid, retarder, detergent, and/or alcohol. I never did get a formulation that I was 100% happy with. I abandon my efforts after I tried Liquitex Slow-Dri. It's not a miracle thinner, but it seemed the most forgiving for the way I paint.
Stuart
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I wouldn't use water straight from the tap as it contains minerals etc that can affect the paint and even cause corrosion to your airbrush. I would recommend distilled water, you can pick a 4/5l bottle cheap from places.
I don't use a lot of Vallejo through the AB, but I use distilled water to thin it when I do. I also use it to clean up my airbrush after spraying acrylics, and then a couple of drops AB Cleaner to flush it out.
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Hugh,
I use Vallejo Model Color paints but what I have come up with would work for Air as well. I clean my airbrush with the Vallejo airbrush cleaner. Mix it 50/50 with water as they recommend. It also works as a thinner. I've also tried a bunch of other formulas and concoctions from the interwebs; a myriad of chemicals in small amounts added to water such as glycol, glycerin, washer fluid, retarder, detergent, and/or alcohol. I never did get a formulation that I was 100% happy with. I abandon my efforts after I tried Liquitex Slow-Dri. It's not a miracle thinner, but it seemed the most forgiving for the way I paint.
Stuart
I have started to play around with Vallejo paints. I have been a long time user ( many many years ) of lacquer ( mostly ) and enamels. Lacquers are still my favourite but I am starting to consider other options as I have gotten older and am starting to find the smell a bit off putting.
AK Interactive have a high compatibility thinner which has very little smell and so far seem to work well with Tamiya X-xx and XF-xx acrylics and LP-xx acrylic lacquer paints.
That helps a bit but there is still the need to mix paint from the bottle in order to airbrush. The idea of an airbrush ready paint such as Vallejo Model Air and Game Air is intriguing. It would certainly help simplify some of my painting chores.
Among other things I have also been playing around with inexpensive craft acrylics ( and not always so inexpensive Liquitex acrylics ). Winsor & Newton make several products in their Galeria line which I find are helpful such as their flow improver; Liquitex also have similar products and one which I have just started to try is their Airbrush medium which is described as containing acrylic binders, flow improver, and retarder pre mixed and filtered; sort of like a paint thinner but probably more correctly called a reducer.
Your mention of using Slow-Dri has me wondering if there is any advantage of that vs the airbrush medium?
cheers, Graham
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Graham,
My understanding of mediums is they have the binders in them. Having tried Vallejo thinning medium, it seemed to me it was making the paint brush on easier but not physically making the paint thinner. Not really what I was looking for. I looked at Golden's lineup of mediums and additives last time I was in Blick's Art Supply. I just didn't want to buy a $10 bottle of 'medium' and it be near the same stuff. I was contemplating their acrylic retarder, but decided to experiment more with what I already had.
This morning I just shot some Vallejo Model Color thinned 50/50 with a mixture of 90% distilled water and then 10% to 20% Vallejo Flow Improver. Tip dry on my H&S 0.2mm airbrush was greatly reduced over my previous mix of 50/50 Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner/distilled water, decanted, and adding 10% Vallejo Flow Improver.
Stuart