Aqueous paint for airbrush practice

[Guest]

Heh, I was just reading about the Acrysion paint earlier today. It seems to me like it’s a paint that tries to combine the best features of solvent-based and alcohol-based ones, but to be honest, what I read did not want to make me run out and buy it.

If you want to use Mr. Hobby paints, then I would advise Mr. Hobby Aqueous plus isopropanol (AKA isopropyl alcohol, 2-propanol, IPA, etc., or in French, alcool isopropylique). This works very well to thin both Mr. Aqueous and Tamiya paints for airbrushing, and though it’s technically a solvent, it’s an alcohol very much like the ones that are in these paints already anyway. A litre costs around ten euros and lasts forever (well, almost) if you only use it for airbrushing.

If you really want to avoid all solvents, though, you should probably go for Vallejo, Ammo, Hataka, Italeri, Revell, or similar paints that are water-based rather than alcohol-based.

[Tim Marlow]

Jakko mate, the only way you could avoid all solvents would be by working with coloured chalks Water is probably the least obnoxious of solvents, but it depends what is actually dissolved in it. If this is a concern then a decent quality face mask along with a well ventilated room is very useful.

[Michelnou]

The suggestion relating to the mixing Mr Hobby Aquaeous paint+Isopropyl alcohol suits me perfectly. It seems to be a good compromise.

A last question : cleaning the airbrush, used with that paint, with Isopropyl alcohol is it easy ?

Thanks
Michel

[Michelnou]

The ratio thinner/paint is it also 0,5/0,5 with the mixing Mr Hobby Aquaeous paint and Isopropyl alcohol ?

Michel

[Guest]

Jakko mate, the only way you could avoid all solvents would be by working with coloured chalks

A chemistry background (even one as limited as mine) can be handy in a discussion like this, yes — but you know what I meant

The suggestion relating to the mixing Mr Hobby Aquaeous paint+Isopropyl alcohol suits me perfectly. It seems to be a good compromise.

It sprays very well, in my experience, and is a lot cheaper than buying a manufacturer’s solvent which is mostly isopropanol anyway.

A last question : cleaning the airbrush, used with that paint, with Isopropyl alcohol is it easy ?

I don’t find it harder than other paints And because alcohol-based acrylic paints also dissolve in water, you can also spray through or wash out the airbrush with that.

The ratio thinner/paint is it also 0,5/0,5 with the mixing Mr Hobby Aquaeous paint and Isopropyl alcohol ?

Probably more like 2:1 paint:alcohol, I think. But I don’t measure it out — I just put paint into the airbrush, mix in some alcohol (or water, for water-based paints) and stir. If I think it looks too thick I’ll try spraying a bit, and if it does feel thick, I add some more alcohol (or water). But of course, I have been doing this with Tamiya paint for about 35 years, so I have the experience to look at the paint as I stir it and make a good guess at if it’s thin enough yet, or not.

In your case, I think I would start about 2:1 like I said above. Try spraying a bit, on some scrap material (a piece of paper, cardboard, etc.) to see if it seems to go well or not, and if the paint looks like it doesn’t spray well enough, add a bit more alcohol. A syringe works very well for this, because you can add the alcohol in small doses and in a controlled manner.