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White spirit vs. branded thinners


Bertiee

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From my personal experience I'd avoid using any commercial white spirits as most of it is far to hot. I remember using some B&Q stuff once for making a wash it it ate straight into the gloss coat in no time. 

I''d certainly say don't bother with any branded modelling ones either such as Humbrol, AK or Ammo as those are way over priced for what you get in a bottle. 

Instead use a branded low odour art one, I use Daler Rowney low odour thinners and never had any problems. 

http://www.artdiscount.co.uk/daler-rowney-low-odour-thinners-15578.html

Tim.

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I can't speak for Humbrol or anyone else, but our thinner offers drying times comparible with cellulose thinners, long term storage ability without any chance of thinned paint returned to the tin decomposing or curing the contents and a far weaker and subjectively better smell than either white spirit or cellulose.

 

White spirit extends the drying times of our paint. I use it, but only for cleaning. I wouldn't willingly go back to using white spirit for thinning. I believe it's a big part of the reason why people have negative bias towards enamels.

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Don't know what other brands do, but years ago, when the excellent Compucolour range was available, they stated that their thinners was more pure than white spirit as it had been double distilled.

 

John.

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During my time using enamel paints I used nothing but white spirit and found it fine, in the main. It wasn't too 'hot' and drying times were good. The cheap stuff I tried once thinned ok but gave a chalky finish. Low odour white spirit, however, was completely useless to the point where one of them wouldn't even clean a brush properly.

 

I haven't tried proprietary thinners but Jamie's comments above are interesting, particularly the bit about returning thinned paint to the tin. It was something I never did with white spirit as received wisdom told me it was to be avoided.

 

John.

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I have also experienced the chalky finish mentioned above when using cheap white spirit. The trouble with white spirit and thinners in general is that it doesn't say how strong it is on the bottle, nor does it really give any other details of its composition.

I use b & q white spirits for some cleaning but stick to humbrol for air brushing. Humbrol, Revell thinners etc are many times more expensive but save on mistakes and the bottles go a long way if reserved for air brushing.   

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Sorry my post is probably pointless I completely over looked the fact the op was asking about thinning paint!! Not being an enamel user myself I just presumed it was being used for weathering purposes.

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7 hours ago, tank152 said:

Sorry my post is probably pointless I completely over looked the fact the op was asking about thinning paint!! Not being an enamel user myself I just presumed it was being used for weathering purposes.

You and me both!

 

As you brought up washes and art thinners, though, I might as well mention that I started out with Winsor and Newton's low odour thinner, but was disappointed with very poor blending and a propensity to start damaging paint (even Vallejo, let alone Ammo, which is a lot weaker). I switched to AK thinner and cured both problems (although Ammo paint can still be a problem).

 

John, sorry to jump in and sort of change the topic. I've not brushed enamels in a very long time, but advice elsewhere would certainly seem to concur with Panzer Vor's answer. It's often only worth changing something if you're not fully satisfied with it.

Edited by Ade H
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31 minutes ago, Ade H said:

You and me both!

 

As you brought up washes and art thinners, though, I might as well mention that I started out with Winsor and Newton's low odour thinner, but was disappointed with very poor blending and a propensity to start damaging paint 

 

 

Do you know, I had the same problem with Windsor & Newton, although I'm sure it wasn't low odour though. Never had a problem with the Daler Rowney though, like that in the link I posted.

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White spirit used to work ok for my old Humbrol, Airfix, etc enamels. The newer stuff, whether it be the paint, or the turps...something has changed.

 

I have run a few tests, and so far I get good results with Humbrol thinner and new Humbrol enamel. Tamiya thinner with Tamiya enamel and Colourcoats (but not putting it back in the tin ;))

 

I have also used lighter fluid to good effect. It dries very quickly and leaves no residue. I purchase 'Shellite' in the big bottles, and this has been an excellent alternative so far.

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Thanks for all the answers everyone, although from the sounds of it there is no particular answer! I've got some white spirit kicking around and some old sprues (unused weapons off a recent plane model) so I'll try some tests with the white spirit and see how I get on.

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With few exceptions enamels are very flexible and pretty much anything hydrocarbon based will thin them and it will work to an extent. It'll all work. Even the cheapest of household thinners will thin enamels successfully.

 

There are degrees of working though from adequate to excellent. The best thinner to use depends on what matters most to the user.

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