Turps?

[Guest]

I don't know if it has been asked yet, can Humbrol enamel be effectively thinned with miniral turpentine? I hve been using lacure thinners sofar, but as soon as you want to thinn it allot, the pigments start to come out of the paint.

I have heared I must use "E" thinners, I assume it is enamel thinners, but can't find it and was wondering if turps was less "volitile" for the pigments?

Theuns

[Dave W]

I asked a similar question about thinning enamels on here a couple of weeks ago.I was advised to try white spirit.I have and it works fine.But the drying time is longer.I have since found a hardware store that sells 250ml tins of enamel thinners which i now use.I use the cheaper white spirit for cleaning my airbrush.Havent tried Turpentine.Why dont you get some and experiment with it?.Hopefully someone on here can give you a Better answer.

[spanner570]

Theuns, I've always used turps (Not turps substitute) both for thinning enamels and brush cleaning since I started modelling way, way back. Works fine.

I have a bottle of Humbrol enamel thinners but really I can't tell the difference in performance between the two.....My findings might well be contradicted but these are my personal conclusions.

Cheers,

Ron

[stona]

I sprayed enamels for years and agree absolutely with Ron, turpentine was my thinner of choice. I also used white spirit (turps substitute) from time to time with no real issues. I've never used enamel thinners so I can't compare. I also use(d) cellulose thinners for the White Ensign colourcoats (as recommended by John Snyder at WEM) with no problems.

I think generally enamel paints are much more sympathetic than their acrylic counterparts and much easier to thin and spray consistently. It's just the smell!!

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Be aware that a lot of the Turpentine sold in the larger stores is in fact white spirit or "turps substitute" as it is often called.

White spirit is used as a direct substitute to turpentine and is chemically almost identical, but if you are looking for Turps be wary.

[Guest]

I've used turps and turps substitute all my life with no challenges. I would be cautious with some of the more volatile solvents as they evaporate a lot faster than the enamel and so can lead to cooling of the paint surface and consequent 'blooming' with condensation.

I'd stick with turps, easy to obtain, cheap and works fine.

[Guest]

I wenttothe hobby shop today to get some paint for the trop 109 and they actually had humbrol enamel thinners, so I got some. I will check it out and report back.

I do think that the normal lacure thinners is "faster" and according to humbrol site their enamel should be thinned 2 parts thinners to 1 part paint. Sounds a bit much, but I will try.

If I tried that with lacure thinners the pigment would seperate out the paint.

Miniral turps is not nearly as volotile as thinners, you can feel it on your fingers and it doesn't evaporate nearly as fast either, so the drying times will be longer though.

Theuns

[Dave W]

Ive always mixed humbrol enams qbout 1 to 1 with their thinners.2 parts thinners will be too diluted

[Guest]

I thought it sounded a tad much. What PSI do you spray at?

Theuns

[Dave W]

Im no expert and have a very basic compressor.I find between 15 &. 20 PSI works best for me.

[Guest]

I use Humbrol enamel thinners, Buy the large tins, far cheaper, (250ml?), than the little jars.

I clean out the AB with Turpentine substitute.

Tried thinning with turp sub once and it completely buggered the gloss finish due to blooming, I wouldn't use it again, the only time i've seen real mineral turps in a 'ye olde' hardware store it was extortionate money for a 500ml bottle so i'll stick with Humbrol thinners.

Re the turps sub / white spirit thing, i thought they were two completely different animals, every time I see the bottles in a store, (local hardware, B&Q etc etc, turp sub is clearly labelled but white spirit is sold alongside it?

Same shape bottles but different labelling with different ingredients spec.

I was of the understanding that they contained different ingredients?

[Guest]

I spray about 25psi for enamels BTW.

With it being a slower flashing solvent a higher pressure is OK to lay the paint down as it's not drying as it leaves the brush unlike acryl with IPA

[Guest]

I am notsure what the Turps Substetute /white spirits stuff is, here in SA the mineral turps I see has an almost oily "feel" to it and it doesn't flash off so rapidly as with thinners.Maybe it is the correct stuff.It is so cheap,I will do a couple of tests.

A small tin of Hu thinners here costs more than a 750ml of turps.

Theuns

[Guest]

I tried the Hu thinners with modelmaster enamel today and I am rather pleased with the results. I thinned the paint about 1.2 parts of thinners to 1 part of paint ,basically the same as water and no pigment came out of solution.

The finnished result is the same texture as when I spray thinned acrylics, very smooth.

Pitty I have not known this before!

Theuns