Airbrush paint/thinner mixture?

[chaos]

Hi guys
New to airbrushing and am a bit confused about the paint:thinner ratio - From the previous posts, I have read of 2:1, 1:2, 50/50...

What do most of you guys use?

Would the ratio differ for enamels and acrylics?

Thanks

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Don't get too hung up on exact ratios. The proper ratio is what goes through your airbrush the best. This means you should be prepared to add more paint or thinner to your mixture to adjust it for spraying. Have a test surface that you can spray onto as a test before spraying your model. Have some of those clear plastic pipettes that Testors sells to easily add a few drops of thinner to your mixture.

As a rule of thumb, many paints spray best when thinned to the consistency of milk or just a bit thinner. Try testing enamel, lacquer, and acrylic through your airbrush, and take note as to what ratio works best for each type of paint, and write it down if necessary. See for yourself what the paint does when it's too thick, too thin, or just right. Practice makes perfect, and you'll be more confident when you finally start painting a favorite project.

Many enamels and lacquers spray well with roughly 1 part paint, 1 part thinner. Adjust the ratio according to how your airbrush sprays...if the paint goes on thin and watery, add more paint. If it goes on rough, add more thinner. My airbrush seems to like about 1 part paint to about 1 1/2 parts thinner for enamels and lacquers.

Acrylics are another story-they seem to require less thinner. Sometimes as little as 1 part thinner to 10 parts paint. Again you need to mix up some paint and try it out, and adjust accordingly. I've found some don't need thinner at all. Testors Acryl is one of them, and I've found their own thinner makes the paint go weird...but it goes on very smooth w/o any thinner.

Almost every paint has some sort of directions/guidelines for use. Testors and Tamiya have written guidelines.

[935k3]

A little trick I have always done is after mixing the thinner and paint touch your mixing stick to the side of airbrush jar(inside)and watch how fast the paint runs,should be not to fast or slow running down side of jar. After awhile you get a feel for what's right.

[hirofkd]

I use progressive ratios when I use airbrush for a car body.
First coat is relatively thick to make sure the entire body is evenly covered, so that you can't see the primer.
After a day or two, I make another paint, and this time, I use Mr. Leveling thinner a little more, and apply the second coat.
Third coat has more thinner and I also add clear and Mr. retarder. It's like paint, clear and retarder at 31 ratio, and add appropriate amount of leveling thinner to it.
The last coat is extremely thin, and it has almost 70% thinner.

[Jay!]

Originally posted by 935k3
A little trick I have always done is after mixing the thinner and paint touch your mixing stick to the side of airbrush jar(inside)and watch how fast the paint runs,should be not to fast or slow running down side of jar. After awhile you get a feel for what's right.

I do something just like that... I close the bottle and roll it around to eyeball how quickly it pulls away from the glass. I'll do the same as I'm spraying, as I hold it up to the light...

[chaos]

Thanks for the tips guys!

[God|Zilla168]

Could you tell me the experience with tamiya paint. I just got an airbrush and going to use the arcrylic paint. Do i just pour the paint in the bottle and add a little thinner then paint?
Sorry newbie with airbrush.

Thanks

[935k3]

Originally posted by God|Zilla168
Could you tell me the experience with tamiya paint. I just got an airbrush and going to use the arcrylic paint. Do i just pour the paint in the bottle and add a little thinner then paint?
Sorry newbie with airbrush.

Thanks

Use their thinner for the gloss paints. You can get away with rubbing alcohol for the flat colors. It's about 25% thinner to 75% paint with their paints. Air Pressure needs to be higher than laquers to atomize the paint well,about 25PSI is about right. If you do mess up they come right with ammonia,windex or rubbing alcohol, all of which are plastic friendly.

[God|Zilla168]

Thanks for the advice.