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Cheap cleaning thinner for Mr Color paints


kitman

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Hi - just a note asking if anyone can point me to a cheap source of cleaning thinner for the clean up of my airbrush after using Mr Color paint. This is the lacquer paint and not the aquieous.

Till now i have been using the Mr Colour thinner 250 and 400. This is an expensive so anything which will be a good substitute will  be welcome. - Thanksnull

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For clean up, I just use any Hardware store grade Lacquer thinner which is probably sold where you live as Cellulose thinner. I also exclusively use Gunze’s Mr Color Levelling Thinner during the painting stages as its by far the best medium I’ve come across for both Mr.Color and Mr. Hobby paints. 

 

You’re right, it’s way too expensive to use the specialts thinners for clean up so go to your nearest hardware store and get the basic stuff. 

 

Cheers. Dave 

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You get it in most automotive shops in 5 litre cans and sometimes 20 litre drums and it is not expensive. It's chemically nasty and absolutely stinks though (saying that this applies to Gunze Levelling Thinner so use of cellulose isn't really making the domestic situation worse than it already is) so very good ventilation/extraction is vital.

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As stated. Regular cellulose thinner, sometimes called 'gun wash' or similar at automotive paint suppliers. I bought 5 litres of the stuff many years ago and leave it in my shed, simply fill a smaller bottle and keep near to the airbrush for easy cleaning and keep topping up from the big can. 5 litres lasts forever. I think I paid about £6 for it. As mentioned it stinks to high heaven, so good ventilation, extractor and mask are a must..

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9 hours ago, Tony C said:

Won’t the cellulose destroy the rubber and PTFE seals within the airbrush?

 

For some, probably. We use cellulose thinner for all our tin lid spraying and clean-up. As you could imagine we get through a lot of the stuff! I tried a cheap Chinese airbrush which died fairly quick. We've used a Revell Vario Masterclass with 0.5mm needle and suction feed bottle for the batches we make and it's absolutely fine after a few years of heavy use - it was already many years old and it was only ever water based acrylics that caused me grief with it because it needed a total teardown to scrape out clogged/dried paint (edited to add this was when people sung praises of the convenience of acrylics ... "You just use water to clean up" - spoiler alert - water isn't enough to clean paint out of internal mix airbrushes). It doesn't seem overly bothered with cellulose thinners going through it all the time.

 

I suspect it does very much depend on the brand of airbrush and the exact material used for seals and bearings inside.

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I use cellulose thinners (from Halfords) to clean up after all airbrush sessions.  I then dry the parts out with tissue and finally run some air through to reduce any residual thinners.  I also change seals annually(ish), or if I start having problems.  I've done this with both Iwata and H&S, with no problems - even after clogging the brush with failed mixtures of paint/thinner.  I also use an ultrasonic cleaner when I change the seals to remove paint stuck in the body of the air brush - just make sure all moving parts are removed first to avoid excessive wear.  

Regards

Tim

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As above, I use cheap paint shop thinners from the local motor factors, a gallon cost me about £15 recently. I’ve used this through my Iwata for years without problems. Big box stores do cellulose/lacquer thinners in smaller cans but it’s a lot less cost effective.

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As above, got mine online for £12 delivered, high bloom cellulose thinner. Cheap enough to use to clean the airbrush, decant into a smaller plastic bottle and top up when needed

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10 hours ago, colin said:

.......cheap enough to use to clean the airbrush, decant into a smaller plastic bottle and top up when needed.

Colin, just a thought, may I suggest using a glass bottle rather than plastic? Reason, cellulose attacks plastic, micro etching from inside. Glass is inert, so you don't get the problem.

Just a thought,

Paul

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4 hours ago, PhoenixII said:

Colin, just a thought, may I suggest using a glass bottle rather than plastic? Reason, cellulose attacks plastic, micro etching from inside. Glass is inert, so you don't get the problem.

Just a thought,

Paul

Chlorinated plastics (PETG) are ok for most hydrocarbon thinners. 

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1 hour ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

Chlorinated plastics (PETG) are ok for most hydrocarbon thinners. 

Just a minor point Jamie, you might want to have a look here:- https://www.calpaclab.com/chemical-compatibility-bottles-containers/

Have a look at the key and scroll down to Lacquer Thinner.....PETG and HDPE (Tamiya use this for X-20)

Thanks, I'll stick to glass, or better still back in the metal container it came in, they earth any static electricity. 

 

Paul    

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On 5/11/2018 at 10:27 PM, TimB said:

I use cellulose thinners (from Halfords) to clean up after all airbrush sessions. 

Do exactly the same myself, here’s the stuff:

 

362_DEC96-29_A3-4936-978_C-_E928_C9_A1_A

 

Its available in 250 ml and 500ml tins and lasts me for ages. On average I use around 2-3ml to clean my brush. I have 2 Iwatas which are around 7 years old and a Tamiya Spraywork HG 97 which is about 17 years old and only spray lacquer type acrylics. All are still using their original seals and perform flawlessly. 

 

Regards

 

Howard

 

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I'll echo the thanks for the replies, guess I'll start using Cellulose to clean my 'brushes!

 

Have noticed though, that the seal on my 0.5mm Fluid Nozzle for Revolution CR appears to be crumbling away, despite having only used White Spirit to clean and having only purchased it, around 15 months ago!

 

Is it possible to just buy the seal, or does a complete nozzle have to be purchased?

 

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  • 1 year later...

Thinners for airbrushing are usually too expensive to use for airbrush cleaning.

 

Not sure if cellulose (lacquer) thinners are suitable for Games Workshop, I don't know. Try it first. I do know said thinner causes Vallejo to curdle into a nasty gummy mess.

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Mr Hobby’s Leveling thinner is way too good to just waste on cleaning. Two bottles of the stuff will buy you a very adequate Iwata knock-off AB from various online stores. These happily accept generic Lacquer thinners for cleaning and if they happen to play up, it hasn’t cost you the world to replace. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

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On 5/12/2018 at 12:29 PM, PhoenixII said:

, they earth any static electricity

Not unless you have them connected to a grounding strap that itself goes to a reliable earth. A metal container on a wood or plastic table is no more earthed than a plastic or glass one.

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On 5/16/2018 at 3:24 AM, Tony C said:

I'll echo the thanks for the replies, guess I'll start using Cellulose to clean my 'brushes!

 

Have noticed though, that the seal on my 0.5mm Fluid Nozzle for Revolution CR appears to be crumbling away, despite having only used White Spirit to clean and having only purchased it, around 15 months ago!

 

Is it possible to just buy the seal, or does a complete nozzle have to be purchased?

 

You can get small 'O'-rings from any bearing shop. The average 'O'-ring is lacquer thinners proof, for air-brush cleaning purposes. Evil bay is another source.

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On 5/11/2018 at 9:08 PM, kitman said:

Thanks everyone you have been very helpfull. For your info I use iwata airbrushes.

In which case you will be safe enough to use cellulose to clean them. I use Mr Color paints, Mr Leveling Thinners and Iwata airbrushes and clean up with cellulose. I have also used Mr Tool Cleaner which is excellent at shifting anything from the insides of the airbrush but is also more expensive than the Cellulose but worth having a bottle handy for the more stubborn stuff.

 

Duncan B

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If the rubber seal disintegrates, I apply a tiny bit of grease to the nozzle thread and screw it in. It works for the cheapo China made AB. 

I have moved to use an Iwata and had no problem with cleaning using lacquer thinner made up of Toulene and Acetone. If you spray it all out and then let the air run a bit more to clear the AB including blowing it back through the needle, it should get rid of most lacquer thinner since they are highly evaporative.

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