Can some one recommend a way to thin Model Color (Vallejo) acrylic paint for airbrushing? I have Testors and Tamiya acrylic thinners with me (on the road) but was wondering if there was anything after market that would do the job.
Many thanks
Bill

Vallejo airbrush cleaner was recommended to me by my LHS. And no, it is not a spelling error. Airbrush cleaner it is.

Erik

Water is an excellent thinner for spraying Vallejo...

I only thin my paint with water. Grief, with the thinning ratios I use, I would be buying Vallejo thinner in a tank... I clean the brush with water, and run a small drop of Vallejo Cleaner through the brush last thing.

Whoa, whoa.....

DO NOT USE VALLEJO AIRBRUSH CLEANER TO THIN VALLEJO PAINTS!!!!!!!!!

Not sure who recommended that to you, but Vallejo Air Brush cleaner is not a thinner, it is what it says, a CLEANER, it will actually dissolve the paint and break it down. Similar to the Testors Acrylic Air Brush cleaner product, in fact it even smells the same.

Vallejo paint is pretty resilient, like Tamiya paint, it can thinned by alot of simple things. Distilled water(don't want to buy distilled water?? Take a pot, fill with water, and boil for 10 mins, cool, viola, distilled water). You can use windshield washer fluid. But of course for best results, use their own thinner. Other things will work, but their own thinner works the best and actually gives the paint a harder more durable finish. The bottle number is 524, just says thinner on the label. When you see the stuff, it is going to look something like Skim Milk, when I saw it the first time, I was like....no...this can't be thinner. However after using it, and selling the line of paint in my shop....its the proverbial "Cat's A**"

As far as the Air Brush Cleaner goes....I would recommend it for cleaning your airbrush when you are done using it, as it not only dissolves the paint, but also lubricates your airbrush parts. Even acrylic paint that has been dried on there from past use with a little help from a q-tip, will come right off.

Hope that helps!!!

Now I simply HAVE to try it. . Since the guy who recommended it is a competition winning builder and owns an outstanding hobbyshop it would be nice to prove him wrong for once.

Erik

Thank you all for your suggestions. I am in the Canadian Arctic where supplies arrive (by mail) 3 or 4 weeks from order time so the "other"stuff like water, windshield wiper fluid are doable. I'm wondering if the Vallejo paint thinner is milky it could something they use in the industrial world and sold in paint stores for air spraying house paint called Flosol (sp). Basically art supply stores sell stuff by Liquitex called air brush acrylic paint thinner might work as well. When I get south of the tree line I'll check it and get post it here.
Many thanks again for your prompt replies, much appreciated.
Bill

I don't have any more to add to subjetct of thinner, but I have to disagree with your definition of distilled water.
When you boil water for 10 minutes, you get just that, boiled water. Boiling doesn't remove impurities from the solution.
In distilling, water (or whatever liquid is processed) is boiled, the resulting steam collected, cooled down and condensed into water again. This resulting water is free of impurities, minerals and particles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distilling