Game Face Nation - How to Thin Your Paints for Airbrushing

[UselesswizarD]

Hey guys and gals, GFN has released the next installment of our Airbrushing Basics videos!

This video teaches you the basics of how to thin down your paints for use in your airbrush.  We cover a couple of different kinds of thinners and what kinds of thinners you will want to use for different textures of paints.

Please don't forget to like, comment and share this video if it has helped you out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWlVaWwxpOk

[Butters]

The guys at a HobbyTown USA told me that using water has causes surface tension with the paints, and that I can in fact use straight rubbing alcohol.  They also recommended Tamiya Color X-20A Thinner.  On the label it says that it contains alcohol and it smells almost the same as alcohol.  Is this just a "professional" alcohol thinner,  and seeing as how its $10 for 250 ml would I be better off just using the regular rubbing alcohol?

[S.k.i.t.t.l.e]

I make my own airbrush thinners using Isopropanol alcohol, water and glycerin.

 

To make 100ml I use:

60ml IPA,

40ml water,

2-3 drops of glycerin.

 

Piece of cake. (And cheap) Don't use it with Vallejo Polyurethane primers or their varnishes, the alcohol cause coagulation in the paint.

 

I use 90 something percent pure IPA in mine, this can be quite pricey when compared to 70 odd percent IPA (the more common type) but thats just my preference, I'm sure the lower percentage one would work fine. The place I found this recipe (forgotten now) said that some people used denatured alcohol in place of the IPA and that worked fine too. Hope this helps.

[Butters]

Awesome!  I was just about to use alcohol to thin down some Vallejo paints.  So what is the best method for thinning them down?

[S.k.i.t.t.l.e]

As every paint is different its more about reaching a desired consistency than saying 'X' amount of paint with 'Y' amount of thinners. I know that the 'skimmed milk' consistency thing is thrown about a lot, but its pretty much spot on. The video above demonstrates it well. If you are using an airbrush, mix your paints in a pot before putting them in the paint cup on the airbrush, at least until you get used to thinning your paints. (you could use disposable shot glasses or even get large tattoo ink cups from ebay, they're cheap enough, especially from China :D)

 

While you can use pure alcohol to thin, it does dry very quickly, and if you aren't careful, can clog your airbrush or end up drying in mid air before it hits the model if you are too far away. That's why I use water in my thinners mix. The alcohol allows it to dry quickly, but the water gives you a bit extra working time.