watad36 Posted October 14, 2011 Report Posted October 14, 2011 (edited) My name is Weymouth Atkinson from Massachusetts. I am switching from acylics to enamels and cannot seem to fine tune the amount of thinner I should be using. Sometimes to thick and sometimes to watery. Once I get thru this I want to learn about decals. My new attempt is emergency vehicles. Look forward from hearing and talking with all of you!! Thanks, also my email address is watad36@verizon.net Edited October 14, 2011 by watad36
ghodges Posted October 15, 2011 Report Posted October 15, 2011 Hello Weymouth! Paints can drive you crazy, even with experience! Try the following things to help overcome your troubles... 1) Try to use the manufacturer's "brand" thinner. If you're using Model Master enamels, try to get the MM thinner. Other thinners may work, but the "brand" thinner should work best with the same "brand" paint. 2) Do NOT thin paint that you plan to airbrush with IN the original bottle. Instead, use an empty bottle, or a bottle cap to mix up the thinned paint for your airbrush. If you add thinner into the original bottle, it may upset the mixture and shorten its shelf-life. 3) When thinning, think "consistency of milk". You want the paint thin enough that it drips off of your stir stick easily, BUT thick enough so that if you touch the stick to the inside lip of the bottle, it will leave a strong "tail" of color as it flows downward. Different colors and different manufacturer's batches will require differing amounts of thinner, but the "milk" analogy seems to get it into the ballpark. Hope this helps, and welcome to the funhouse! Gil
FREDDIEM Posted October 16, 2011 Report Posted October 16, 2011 I don't use enamels very much but, I learned a trick that might help you....when you open a bottle of enamel paint for the first time you are breaking a seal and from then on enamels have a bad habit of drying out over time even when you tighten the cap properly. Someone told me about adding 2 drops of lacquer thinner to a new bottle of enamel paint. For some reason this seems to prevent enamel from drying out in the bottle. Enamel paint is a little harder to get to work well in an airbrush. The brand of thinner needs to be the same brand as the paint and needs to be tested out carefully before using on a model. It also takes longer to completely set up. The advantage is that once enamels completely set they are rock hard! Good luck with your future projects.
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