How much thinner to use

[durangod]

Hi i purchased some eyedroppers to thin paint for spraying in my hand held but not sure how much thinner to use to thin it.

I got glass ones so i dont have to worry about what i use in them if i need to.

 

[the Baron]

I have the same or very similar eyedroppers, but I cannot tell you specific amounts. I think using ratios instead.
A common "rule of thumb" says to thin till your paint looks as thin as skim milk. For me, the problem is that I don't drink skim milk, so that doesn't help. But I'll thin my Tamiya X/XF acrylics starting at about 10:1 paint to thinner, and eyeball it, up to just less than 2:1, or 50%. I'll add that I'll use an eyedropper to measure the paint into the cup, too. That's about as precise as I get with it, though.
I don't know if that helps, but I hope so.

A PS...
I use the eyedropper to add water as necessary to my wet palette, too. I could pour water into it, from a bottle or a plastic cup (I use the plastic cups from chocolate pudding on my bench), but it's too easy to pour too much at once, or spill it. The eyedropper practically eliminates spills or adding to much water.

 

[JOHN R]

I vary the thinners depending on the manufacturer.

For Mr Hobby primers use just enough to get a good spray, so it's a matter of spray and see.
For AK 3 rd gen and Vallejo I would mix in equal amounts, so ,50 /50.

The Mr Hobby I find is less likely to clog the AB .

 

[Jakko]

There's no hard and fast rule for how much to thin paint — even if you read (for example) to "thin Tamiya acrylics 1:1 with X-20A," what about older paint from which some of the thinner has evaporated, leaving it thicker than from a brand-new bottle? And that's without even considering that different brands and/or types of paint will probably require different thinning ratios, let alone the question of what you use to thin the paint with, because that will also matter.

My normal method is just to add in some thinner until I think it looks to be enough, then try spraying. If it's too thick, I add a little bit more thinner, and if it's too thin, I put in a little more paint IMHO your best use for those eyedroppers is to put some thinner into them and just squeeze out some into the paint until it sprays well.

 

[durangod]

My sprayer does not have a cup, its the testors version and so i will be using a empty testers jar or the actual testors color jar. I have some of the larger testors paint bottles as well but i will use the empty testors jar to spray.

I drink skim milk so that makes sense to me.

 

[BlackSheepTwoOneFour]

I vary the thinners depending on the manufacturer.

For Mr Hobby primers use just enough to get a good spray, so it's a matter of spray and see.
For AK 3 rd gen and Vallejo I would mix in equal amounts, so ,50 /50.

The Mr Hobby I find is less likely to clog the AB .

Mr. Hobby works best using their brand thinner for airbrushing. Lacquer thinner don't play nice with Mr. Color paints.

 

[BlackSheepTwoOneFour]

My sprayer does not have a cup, its the testors version and so i will be using a empty testers jar or the actual testors color jar. I have some of the larger testors paint bottles as well but i will use the empty testors jar to spray.

I drink skim milk so that makes sense to me.

View attachment 127368

The biggest waste of money on that set. You'll beingnspending more money on canned air than anything else.

I would never use glass droppers. Buy plastic droppers instead. Cheaper. Even better if you can find them in bulk. I've still have a small batch of plastic droppers to last me a few years. If I need more, I know the source to get more.
I rarely use droppers for paint. Mostly for thinner. I eyeball by counting how many drops of thinner to my paint. 99% of the time, I'm spot on on the paint : thinner ratio for airbrushing.

 

[durangod]

The biggest waste of money on that set. You'll beingnspending more money on canned air than anything else.

I would never use glass droppers. Buy plastic droppers instead. Cheaper. Even better if you can find them in bulk. I've still have a small batch of plastic droppers to last me a few years. If I need more, I know the source to get more.
I rarely use droppers for paint. Mostly for thinner. I eyeball by counting how many drops of thinner to my paint. 99% of the time, I'm spot on on the paint : thinner ratio for airbrushing.

Its what im starting with, i will get a new one after the first of the year. The holidays and 3 birthdays are comming up soon.

 

[Jakko]

Mr. Hobby works best using their brand thinner for airbrushing. Lacquer thinner don't play nice with Mr. Color paints.

Mr. Aqueous, though (the alcohol-based acrylic paints from Mr. Hobby), thins fine with isopropanol, which you can buy in bulk for next to nothing. Same goes for Tamiya acrylic paints from the X- and XF-ranges.

 

[Pantherman]

Hi i purchased some eyedroppers to thin paint for spraying in my hand held but not sure how much thinner to use to thin it.

I got glass ones so i dont have to worry about what i use in them if i need to.


View attachment 127365

I generally mix 50/50. Pantherman

 

[Rimmer]

Thinners? What's this 'Thinners' you speak of?

muwhahahahahaha!

Actually I do use some, I just generally mix it by eye.

 

[Nikati]

My sprayer does not have a cup, its the testors version and so i will be using a empty testers jar or the actual testors color jar. I have some of the larger testors paint bottles as well but i will use the empty testors jar to spray.

I drink skim milk so that makes sense to me.

View attachment 127368

I forgot I had one of these years ago before I really got back into building. Got it more for doing sons pinewood derby car.

There are so many variables for thinning paints for airbrushing. For instance Iawata NEO and Eclipse you don't always need to thin at all. I have a Neo and it sprays Tamiya, Vallejo, and Model Master with no thinning, straight from the bottles. Most others brands you will need to thin and each may act a little differently. I've heard consistency of both skim and whole milk. I can't recall how much I had to thin with that unit as it was over 10 years ago I used that one. Different brands of paint will also require different ratio and some you may have to add flow improver and retardant. If you make it too thin normally is not an issue other than you may have to put an additional coat on. Sometimes I've tried to do that for a base color to bleed through. Also when you get a dual action brush and you want to do finer detail you will want it thinner than normal and the air pressure turned lower so that you can do a finer line or get into a tighter space with little to know over spray. If it is too think it will kinda spit out the end or not come out at all. If that happens just add a little thin and take the tube of and add a drip in that and where it plugs into and you should be good to go.

It can be intimidating when getting started. But just keep in mind it is not that difficult and it is mostly trial and error and there is almost always an easy way to resolve having the wrong ration. The skim or whole milk consistency is the easiest visual way as a good starting point.