The Ship Model Forum

I know a lot of modellers hate Tamiya acrylics, but I love 'em; they're easily available, not too expensive, and even though they're crappy for brush painting, they're great airbrushing with Tamiya's lacquer thinner. Which brings me to my point: a bottle of Tamiya lacquer thinner runs about $10 CAN - I use it not only for diluting Tamiya paint, but also to clean my airbrush after, because none of the other normal cleaners will dissolve the lacquer thinned paint. This uses up Tamiya lacquer thinner at about twice the usual rate. Has anyone, who uses this combination of Tamiya paint/thinner found a cheaper substitute for either thinning the paint with similar results, or cleaning the airbrush without any damage to it?

I use Tamiya acrylics also, using the their X20A thinner too, for cleaning I use Ultimate airbrush thinner which works great

I use cellouse thinners to do the same as you ,i brought my thinners from e bay it cost about £15 for a gallon,hope this helps

Hmmm...the Ultimate brand is about the same price as Tamiya, and with shipping, more so. Maybe just commercial brand lacquer thinners.

Hi Biggles:

Okay, I was looking for a reference for Tamiya acrylics and U.S. Naval paint and saw your post. I too like Tamiya acrylics, I use a local hardware store laquer thinner and Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) I find the MEK to be an amazing product. Not only will it thin Tamiya acrylics with excellent results, it is a great air brush cleaner, and it is a great plastic cement. I have used Hardware store laquer thinner with the equally good results. I quit buying Hobby shop "Brand name" products as they are over prices and perform less stellar than what I have mentioned. I have also found that by using MEK, I can mix Testors Enamel with Tamiya Acrylics and it will spray just fine. I have also found, yes yet another use, that when I thin Tamiya acrylics with MEK directly in the bottle, like if the bottle is almost empty, it will keep, it doesn't get hard. Try it, but; always use a respirator when airbrushing, it is pretty toxic stuff.
Good Luck and let me know how it works for you if you use it.

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Mark
Master Gunnery Sergeant USMC (Ret.)
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html

On the bench:

1/200 USS Enterprise, CV-6

Hmmm...that would be OK for me, but SWMBO complains when I airbrush ordinary acrylics!

Biggles2,
On the Tamiya thinner bottle, it lists isopropyl alcohol as an ingredient. Available for cheap at your local grocery. I find that it works well for cleaning brushes and airbrush.

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stash:
1/350 Grosser Kurfurst by ICM
1/350 Seydlitz

I copy that - I use the X20A to dilute the paint and isopropyl (70%) for cleaning the airbrush

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On the workbench: 1/72 Revell VIIC/41 Platinum Edition + 1/1 F-16C Blk. 52 Cockpit
... and Murphy tinkering with ALWAYS !