White Ensign Model Paints and Airbrushing

[MRinke]

Good evening. New to ship modeling but not new to modeling (aircraft and armor for about 30 years now). I am building Trumpeter's 1/350 scale Sovremeny and decided to give White Ensign paints a try. My question is what do you recommend thinning them with for airbrushing? I tried Tamiya Lacquer thinner which dried way too fast and seemed to not dry to the plastic/primer cote. I then tried mixing with Humbrol enamel thinner and after a couple of days the paint is still rather tacky. I noticed too when mixing it that the paint seemed to rapidly "gum" up and coagulate quickly in my mixing cup. I have read (I think over on Brit Modeler) that someone tried Winsor & Newton Artist's White Spirit and that worked... Does anyone have a similar experience with this paint? If so, how have you solved it? That it is so expertly matched to original chips is a huge plus and I would like to keep using it. Thanks!

Respectfully,
Matt

[mossieramm]

Hi Matt, when I use WEM paints for airbrushing I thin them with 1 of 2 ways. Either with MM airbrush thinner or DIY laquer thinner. Both give excellent results. I prefer the laquer thinner slighty more than MM as the paint really bites in to the surface of paint underneath and dries really fast, but the down side of laquer is the smell.
My thinning ratio is about 50/50 thinner/paint.
David.

[MRinke]

I tried Tamiya lacquer and it seemed to dry almost too fast - perhaps I did not thin it enough? That session seems to be a bit "hazy". I have though read from others on the web that White Ensign paints do take a long time to dry if thinned with enamel thinner - over twenty-four hours depending on conditions. I will keep playing with it; practice makes perfect.

[MRinke]

Thanks for the reply. I think the first time I used Tamiya lacquer thinner, I may not have used the correct amount. I am going to play around with the ratios (starting at 50/50) as well as the air pressure and hopefully find something that works. Practice makes perfect.