Help on Thinner... HOW to is not included..

Hye all.. i have a problem.. i tried most of my hobby shops around my area searching for tamiya thinner to be use to dilute my paints for air brushing... and guess what?? its out of stock till next months!

i cant wait that long.. so can anyone help me? i bought some ordinary thinner from hardware shop.. anyone can help me how to dilute those thinner to be able to use it for tamiya acrylic paints... and so it wont eat my plastic parts.??? pleasee...

someone around the shop suggest me using carosine.... is it possible??

Pls.. i need a hand.. thanks all~!

btw.. i just got myself a new box of Supra! hehehe.. and i bought some other stuff... too

u could buy them online

i wish i could.. i dont have credit card...

Do not use regular paint thinner with Tamiya acrylics. Just get some isopropyl or denatured alcohol.

dont ur parents have a credit card? just use that

sadly no.. my parents doesnt... and what is isopropyl or denatured alcohol???? can someone tell me? where can i get those?

Tamiya acrylic may thin with several options. Test them first!

Rubbing alcohol (isopropyl). This is available everywhere.
Windex. I know it cleans the airbrush very well after spraying Tamiya acrylic, but I don't know if it mixes well.
Lacquer thinner. Same as above, it cleans the brush very well, and I know someone who mixes just enough lacquer thinner to get it to spray, so it works for someone.

Remember, test these first to see what does/does not work for your setup. Do not use enamel thinner or kerosene!

DO NOT USE PAINT HARDWARE STORE PAINT THINNER FOR ACRYLICS.

Acrylics are water based, not oil based. The thinner you got at the hardware store is suitable only for enamels- nothing else.

To dilute acrylic paint for airbrushing- Tamiya, Gunze, MM Acryl, etc:
Go to a drug store or grocery store, and go to the first aid supply section. Get a bottle of isoproplyl (rubbing) alcohol. It's cheap, probably less than $1 USD. Then, get youself a bottle/jug of distilled water. It's cheap also. Mix a thinning solution of 1:3 isopropyl alcohol:distilled water. To clean your airbrush, use Windex or similar glass cleaner- just don't use generic stuff, it usually doesn't have enough ammonia content.

Then, when your LHS gets Tamiya acrylic thinner, open a bottle and smell it. Smell familiar?

MPWR.. ur a genius~! thank you.. thank you so much.. another thing.. about putty.. can i use else then tamiya putty?? i saw some putty in the hardware shope.. but it says for fibre.. woods.. and etc.. but didnt mention anything bout plastic.. what happen if i use it??

another thing bout this windex.. what are these? what does it do? where can i get those? i usually clean my airbrush using water.. is that dangerous???
please.. i need help.. does anyone wanna see my air brush?? ill post the pic after this..

windex is a brand of window cleaner in the States, not sure if it is in other countries, basically any window cleaner with amonia.
water will clean an airbrush just not as well as other things like alcohol, thinner or windex.
I would not use that putty, i can probally assure you it won't dry hard enough to do anything with. Just search this board to check you other alternatives for putty.

ok cool.. thanks jswillmon... ill search for a window cleaner with ammonia... is that what u mean rite??

uhmm... another thing.. this epoxy putty.. how am i suppose to use it? why is there 2 type.. one is white and the other is kinda yellowish orange.. whats the diferent?

i'm not sure about the putty, i'm sure someone else with more experience with it can help you.
Like mpwr said windex has more amonia than the cheeper brands. Look for it or look for another name brand that will be your best bet.

DO NOT USE PAINT HARDWARE STORE PAINT THINNER FOR ACRYLICS.

Acrylics are water based, not oil based. The thinner you got at the hardware store is suitable only for enamels- nothing else.

To dilute acrylic paint for airbrushing- Tamiya, Gunze, MM Acryl, etc:
Go to a drug store or grocery store, and go to the first aid supply section. Get a bottle of isoproplyl (rubbing) alcohol. It's cheap, probably less than $1 USD. Then, get youself a bottle/jug of distilled water. It's cheap also. Mix a thinning solution of 1:3 isopropyl alcohol:distilled water. To clean your airbrush, use Windex or similar glass cleaner- just don't use generic stuff, it usually doesn't have enough ammonia content.

Then, when your LHS gets Tamiya acrylic thinner, open a bottle and smell it. Smell familiar?

yea i had that problem with harware store thinner and arylic! i use just cheapo crap from the hardware store for my enamals

What brand of epoxy putty do you have? Epoxy putty almost by definition is a two part affair. You mix equal amounts of both parts, and kneed it THOROUGLY until the putty is one solid color. Shape as you would modeling clay, and let it cure for a day or so until hard.

The hardware store putty you're describing sounds like wood filler. It could be made to work, but then so could wall plaster. Better to stick with the real stuff.

Any ammonia based glass cleaner will work- it's usually clear blue in color, and comes in a spray bottle. It will disolve most acrylics (so don't clean your models with it!), and this makes it terrific for cleaning your airbrush. Water won't clean paint that has dried inside the airbrush spray and siphon assemblies (a bit of it will accumulate and dry on inside surfaces even as your spraying)- it will just wash wet paint out, and the airbrush will eventualy clog from dried paint.

i bought the tamiya epoxy putty.. when i open, i saw two color strips... white and yellow.. and the instruction is in JAPANESE.. i cant understand..

what do u mean by mixing together? take some of it both and use water?? or just add like play-doh??

im going to the store again today to get myself the window cleaner... and the isoprophyl... and the a bottle or two of distilled water..( battery water right??) thanks to you and the rest for helping me out in figuring out this.. my LHS is sometimes frustrating.. they dont even have Pla Plates.. can u believe it?

Ok.. im back from the store.. i tried at more than 7 drug store and pharmacies.. none of em knew bout isopropyl... but i got something else.. they gave me this instead..

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/502/169568DSC04877edit-med.jpg

can i use this and add 1:3 with distilled water??

Mix it just like play-doh(!). Figure out about how much you'll need, cut half that amount off of both ribbons, squish 'em together and knead until it's all one color. Water isn't needed. I haven't ever used the Tamiya stuff, but with other types of epoxy putty I've used, a little bit of water does help soften it and make it a bit more flexible for shaping. It doesn't seem to add any time to the curing process. I doubt it would be any different with the Tamiya. Just add a couple of drops at a time, as you would to play-doh! to make it squishier.

It helps to have some tools to shape the putty as you're using it. I use a short lengtht of wooden dowel, sharpened in a pencil sharpener, and painted gloss white (to lessen the putty from sticking to it).

Yeah, battery water. Funny, I don't usually think of it as such, but that's exactly the stuff.

To make paint mixing easier, I mix up the isopropyl and water in a small plastic dropper bottle (I use an old emptied contact lens solution bottle). I then add paint to the color cup on my airbrush, and add the thinning mixture by the drop, until I'm happy with the consistancy (test spraying is a necessary step in this). When done spraying, just squirt the window cleaner into the color cup and go.

Ok.. im back from the store.. i tried at more than 7 drug store and pharmacies.. none of em knew bout isopropyl... but i got something else.. they gave me this instead..


can i use this and add 1:3 with distilled water??


OK, I'm going to guess that that's methyl alcohol. If so, then it should work fine for you. Methyl alcohol is used, among other things, for sterilising surgical instruments, so 'surgical spirit' would make sense.

Let me guess, Singapore?

no.. malaysia... ehehehehe..