Hobby paint v 'other' paints

[steve000]

Hi.
I will preface this by stating what will become obvious, I know nothing about paints.
There is a paint place locally that can put paint in an aerosol spray can.
I'm contemplating getting colours put in the cans, and use them on my fleet.
I have used them before, on larger scale model vehicles, and the paint 'appears' thick, when compared to something like Tamiya rattle cans (which are excellent but limited colour range). -I get that the paint shop product is probably excellent for spraying a real car, but heavy for a small scale model.
So my questions are:
-what's the difference between a Tamiya-type model can, and a bottled paint shop can?
-I'm thinking of getting more thinners in the shop mix can, do you reckon that'd work?
Thanks for any input.

[DougC]

Are you doing plastic or resin?

What kind of paint do they sell - acrylic or lacquer?

Hobby paints are designed to be compatible with styrene plastics.

The solvent for lacquer paint is not. It will dissolve styrene. It is possible to paint styrene with lacquer paint if you apply a barrier coat first, such as Future. Or spray multiple, extremely light coats (allow to dry completely between coats).

[Timmy C]

Hobby paints also generally have finer pigments - regular paints, especially those mixed for general-purpose household use, can have a rough pebbly appearance especially for matte paints.

[steve000]

Thanks for your replies.
I'm contemplating using the make-up aerosol sprays on both plastic and resin models.
I have used them on 1/72 scale models before, but always (so far) over a primer.
The perception of the paint being "thicker" may be the 'larger pigment' issue mentioned? I had presumed it was a matter of % of thinners?
My main issue is RAN colours, Storm Grey and current Haze Grey, which to my knowledge have no commercial hobby spray colour equivalents. Hence my thinking of getting them made up.