thinning craft acrylics?

[Just Mike]

How would one thin craft acrylics available at any given craft store for use in an airbrush?

Thanks

 

[KeiserSoze]

Water. Tap water tends to have impurities that can show up in the final result. Distilled prevents this.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

While craft acrylics can be used, be-careful with them, as the pigment in the craft paints aren't nearly as fine as they are in model paint, and can leave you with a grainy texture to your paint. They are good for putting a base coat on a diorama base, or mixing with plaster to tint, but can be quite grainy for a model, not to mention that they would probably have to be thinned quite a bit to airbrush, to the point where they may be very translucent, and would require more than normal amount of coats to cover the model, building up layers and obscuring detail.

 

[KeiserSoze]

...to the point where they may be very translucent...

Not necessarily. All depends on the brand of craft paint. I have had good luck with the Americana brand from AC Moore. I have also heard others say good things about the Apple Barrel brand from Walmart. Haven't actually tried those myself tho.

You do have to be careful about getting runs tho.

 

[Grendels]

While I haven't used it, Createx paints are for airbrushes. Rocketsilo uses them on his cars. They are found near the air brush supplies and are much cheaper than model paints. One thing though, limited colors. So you will have to mix to get whatever color you would like. A plus side is that they have colors that others do not. I have picked some up, but I have not tried it yet.

 

[KeiserSoze]

I'm curious to see how well those work on models as well Grendels. Keep us updated.

I have recently started using the Vallejo Model Air line.... love em so far.

 

[willypd]

I would go with distilled water too. I actually used rubbing alcohol once with "tole" paints. the result was a rubbery coat which was easy to remove.
At that time I had been using Gunze Paints (early 90's) and I used rubbing alcohol with that paint with some sucess.
There are so many variables with any model paint. I keep "paint pigs" to experiment with.

Having said all that, the Party Line says Use the manufacturers directions and thinning products.

 

[Just Mike]

last night, I tried shooting the copper onto the Martian War Machine but it wouldn't cure and could simply and literally be washed away with water to try again. I thinned it with 60/40 paint/thinner

I'll just get the Tamiya paint and thinner.

 

[aim9guy]

I use craft paints quite a bit now. I blow them through an Iwata brush. The trick is to find the right mixture of water to paint, and to filter them well. i also use FUTURE quite a bit to thin my paints with great results. You can always go back and flatten the finish later. I use a bit of cheap panty hose to strain my paint into my color cup, and I never mix in the cup, always in a separate container. I find that i end up making my paint a tad thicker than normal, and raise the pressure on my compressor to compensate for that. You have to watch for build up on the needle, but it works well.

 

[ScaleModelDisciple]

I have experimented with airbrushing craft acrylics (like Folk Art, Americana, and Anita's). It's tricky to get the thinning ratio just right. They come out of the bottle much thicker than model paints. Also, there seems to be an inconsistency to them in that the correct ratio seems to vary from color to color. What works for a blue or green may not work for a red. And you will definitely need some acrylic retarder or you will be having tip-dry issues!!

These paints can offer a cheaper alternative, but the trade off is that you may have to experiment a lot with them before being comfortable with spraying your model.
I use them mainly for scenery and areas not so detail critical.