Paint reducers?

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Hello everyone.

I have been curious about what you guys are using for paint thinners. I have done a forum search and came up with a couple of answers. I saw one user has his own concoction, others are using just water, while some are using brand specific thinners.

I was a member of the forum CFX paintworks, that centered around painting lexan RC car bodies. A user there posted a Thread where he mixed several kinds of thinners with acrylic paints and watched them over a period of time to see what happened. He found that a cleaner called fantastik worked well as a thinner. I have been using it for a few years now with good success even though it has a purple tint to it. But its getting harder and harder to find locally. In the effort of education and to make it easier to find a thinner I'm seeing what else is out there.
 
Fantasik used to be used a lot when reducing older style water base paints. But being the Feds have been forcing companies to go green , Some of the stuff that use to work no longer do with the newer paint systems Like Wicked ,
Most reducer have glycerin in them to help with tip dry, But too much and you end up with fish eyes.
Some use to use the Johnson brand liquid floor polish as a transparent base too, But that no longer works .
the most well used recipe it 75% purified water 25% Alcohol and 1 drop of glycerin per ounce mixed , How this work is water of course thins the paint , the Alcohol helps with dry time after the paint hits the surface, and the glycerin help with flow and aids in less tip dry.
But to answer your question what is the best reducer , That is the reducer that the makers of what ever paint brand you are using make,
Now if you want a paint the is ready to shoot straight out the bottle ,,,,,Spectra-Tex made by Badger.. It has great color , and you do not have to reducer it even in a .18 Micron CM-C+.
 
Thanks Micron,

If I were going to use the water/alcohol recipe would I be using 91% Isopropyl , denatured alcohol or does that really matter? And as far as glycerin I found some Glycerin USP though Walmart and CVS. Is that the correct stuff?
 
Still hopeing for a little clarification the correct ingredients for that paint reducer.
 
Thanks Micron,

If I were going to use the water/alcohol recipe would I be using 91% Isopropyl , denatured alcohol or does that really matter? And as far as glycerin I found some Glycerin USP though Walmart and CVS. Is that the correct stuff?

Sorry I missed your post, 90% or better and never use rubbing alcohol that will kill you... Yes the Glycerin you found is the right stuff.
This is a good homebrew reducer and I have used it for a few years now.
When I am doing a job for a paying customer I use the recommend reducer made by whatever paint company I am using. But when it is just for practice than I use the homebrew.
 
Sorry for jacking the thread, speaking of Fantastic cleaner, I use it to clean my paint cup between colors. I use the lemon fantastic, I tried the fantastic extra strenght but the lemon works better. fill the cup with the fantastic, usea qtip to swirl around the cup while sprayingit out, the flush again with distilled water. Now ready for next color. Just thought i would throw that in.
As far as reducer, I use distilled water and a few drops of Liquitex flow aid mix.
 
Stick with water if you can m8, its prob the easiest and personally I've never had large enough issues with tip dry and such to really have to worry to much about adding glycerin and other extra's..Some paints really do need help, but many brands spray fantastically straight out of the bottle or with a little extra water added for over-reduction needs..If you are going to get creative and mix up some home brews make sure you protect your lungs and those around you as some of that stuff has some nasty chemicals in it, also ensure any product you use is safe to use with rubber as some are very aggressive on the rubber o-rings in ya gun..GL and av fun
 
No worries micron Thanks for the reply. I'll stop off and get the ingredients to mix some up.

Harborbill I have never tried lemon fantastik. I'm not sure I have ever seen it but will definitely give it a look.

Rebel I have tried water on a few occasions and found that I do get some tip dry it might just be my climate though. Here in Atlanta Georgia we some times get a 80% humidity. I find that because of that I have to thin out my paints more to get them to flow well. So I'm interested to try the glycerin to see if that gives me better results.

The only thing I worry about it with the glycerin is effecting the adhesion properties of the paints. My primary paint surface is Lexan plastic for RC car bodies so adhesion is a sticking point (pun intended lol). Under impact you don't want the paint falling off. I Will have to do some testing for sure before I paint a $40 body and have it get ruined.
 
No worries micron Thanks for the reply. I'll stop off and get the ingredients to mix some up.

Harborbill I have never tried lemon fantastik. I'm not sure I have ever seen it but will definitely give it a look.

Rebel I have tried water on a few occasions and found that I do get some tip dry it might just be my climate though. Here in Atlanta Georgia we some times get a 80% humidity. I find that because of that I have to thin out my paints more to get them to flow well. So I'm interested to try the glycerin to see if that gives me better results.

The only thing I worry about it with the glycerin is effecting the adhesion properties of the paints. My primary paint surface is Lexan plastic for RC car bodies so adhesion is a sticking point (pun intended lol). Under impact you don't want the paint falling off. I Will have to do some testing for sure before I paint a $40 body and have it get ruined.


Make sure to use an eye dropper with adding the glycerin that was you will not add to much.
I have paint lexan and plastic helmets with no problems.
 
Mr. M, thanks for the post.
I live in Canada.... Just starting to airbrush. I mainly paint rc planes made of pink and blue extruded polystyrene insulation foam from Home Depot and Lowes. So I need good coverage since I am not starting with a white canvas (not sure if a base coat is a good idea since I am trying to limit weight overall) . How do you think Spectra tex will do for this application in comparison to the new paints made by createx: wicked, wicked detail, illustration etc? Any suggestions in this regard would be appreciated.

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I have used the standard white Createx on pink insulation foam. For coverage...it wasn't great. I ended up brushing it by hand and it took 5 coats to get it white. Not sure how much better a base coat will do. If the coverage is better it will take less coats, and the weight could be the same or better. Any one else have experience with this?
 
Mr. M, thanks for the post.
I live in Canada.... Just starting to airbrush. I mainly paint rc planes made of pink and blue extruded polystyrene insulation foam from Home Depot and Lowes. So I need good coverage since I am not starting with a white canvas (not sure if a base coat is a good idea since I am trying to limit weight overall) . How do you think Spectra tex will do for this application in comparison to the new paints made by createx: wicked, wicked detail, illustration etc? Any suggestions in this regard would be appreciated.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2
Never painted on insulation foam before , But Spectra-tex does give good coverage. I would just buy a bottle and compare them or shoot a message to Ken Badger on here since he is the owner of the company and ask his opinion.
 
I have used the standard white Createx on pink insulation foam. For coverage...it wasn't great. I ended up brushing it by hand and it took 5 coats to get it white. Not sure how much better a base coat will do. If the coverage is better it will take less coats, and the weight could be the same or better. Any one else have experience with this?

I think a fast coat of plastic primer (Rattle can) would work great and take less paint when doing the art work.
 
I think a fast coat of plastic primer (Rattle can) would work great and take less paint when doing the art work.

The only issue with Rattle cans is in some of those cans the propellents will melt the foam. Make sure you use one that states that it is safe for Styrofoams.
 
I have used the standard white Createx on pink insulation foam. For coverage...it wasn't great. I ended up brushing it by hand and it took 5 coats to get it white. Not sure how much better a base coat will do. If the coverage is better it will take less coats, and the weight could be the same or better. Any one else have experience with this?
You might try to use Gesso as a base coat to cover the pink foam. You can brush it on, then lightly sand it smooth, then do your airbrush work on top of it.
 
You might try to use Gesso as a base coat to cover the pink foam. You can brush it on, then lightly sand it smooth, then do your airbrush work on top of it.

Way to think outside the box. I would never of thought of using Gesso, But they do make it in a spray form as well. Mainly Gesso is chalk and glue mixture. So in a sense it would also make the foam stronger.
 
I found this today in hobby craft (u.k) for £8 , I get120ml wicked reducer for about £10 including vat and postage, this stuff from hobby craft it says dilute one part flow to 20 parts water before adding to paint, that makes it like 40 times more cost effective it something...it's so good I can't even do the math....anyhow I started a white on black piece tonight.....I diluted this stuff 1 part flow to 4 parts water, I put 40 drops of this in to my cup and 6 good drops of wicked detail white (plus a tiniest bit of orange to counter blue shift) painting at 5 psi it never clogged the paint flowed evenly for 2 hours constantly.didn't tip dry once will have to try it with a normal "milk consistency"reduction to sere how it handles but certainly over reduced it works a treat!2012-12-16 00.22.09.jpg
 
Great find Adam. Let us know how it works with a thicker paint consistancy. Looks Like I will be making a trip to Hobby Craft sometime soon!
 
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