Mr Color Leveling thinner

[ElectroSoldier]

Hey guys.

I was wondering if somebody could tell me the difference between Mr Color Leveling thinner and any other airbrush thinner/cleaner like Vallejo Airbrush cleaner or Vallejo airbrush thinner...

Im thinking more about cleaning an airbrush out rather than thinning paint with it.
 

If I use it to clean my airbrush out after spraying Citadel or Vallejo acrylic paints is it more aggressive than the thinners and cleaners of the same brand?

[dnl42]

DO NOT USE lacquer (cellulose) thinner to clean your airbrush after spraying Vallejo!

 

I've never used Mr Color Leveling Thinner to clean an airbrush. The stuff is far too expensive for such use.

 

I routinely use hardware store lacquer (cellulose) thinner to clean my airbrush. But DO NOT USE lacquer thinner to clean your airbrush after spraying Vallejo! The paint will be turned into a gooey mess that will demand a full disassembly cleaning of the airbrush.

 

I haven't sprayed Vallejo in ages, but I recall using water and an Medea Airbrush Cleaner after. 

Edited November 8, 2019 by dnl42

[bmwh548]

MLT is by far the best thinner for lacquer paints (and not just for those). For cleaning purposes use lacquer thinner on Tamiya/Gunze/Revell's enamels.

For the true waterbased stuff I use alcohol (technical alcohol called here, has a blue-purple tint), it cleans them up beautifully. 

[Steve Noble]

If you're using Vallejo or Citadel paints you definitely don't need Mr Levelling thinner and certainly not for cleaning out an airbrush. As already mentioned above, you'll make a sticky mess in your airbrush. The levelling thinner is way too expensive to use as a cleaner. Use it for thinning Mr Color lacquer paints, it's great for that. The media airbrush cleaner is what I use to flush the brush after Vallejo paints...

[ElectroSoldier]

Umm yeah

 

Levelling thinner is £15.50 for 400ml

Vallejo Airbrush cleaner is £7.50 for 200ml

So yeah the thinner is £0.50 more expensive, which isnt a lot

[bmwh548]

You don't need to throw money out the window on expensive cleaners. IPA/cheap lacquer thinner (depending on the paint you've used) will get the job done just as well.

[Duncan B]

22 hours ago, ElectroSoldier said:

Umm yeah

 

Levelling thinner is £15.50 for 400ml

Vallejo Airbrush cleaner is £7.50 for 200ml

So yeah the thinner is £0.50 more expensive, which isnt a lot

Mr Levelling Thinner is Mr Color Thinner with a retarder (to slow drying) in it so if you really must use a lacquer thinner to clean your airbrush save a few more pennies and use the regular Mr Color Thinner (however it will clog your airbrush if you are trying to clean out Vallejo acrylics with it). Gunze also make a dedicated airbrush cleaner called Mr Tool Cleaner and it is superb at shifting lacquer based paints.

For water based paints like Vallejo and AK Interactive you don't need to go to that expense (or smell) as you can use Medea Airbrush cleaner or non dedicated fluids like car screen wash, industrial alcohol also known as IPA (or Vodka if you are feeling flush!). 

 

Duncan B

[CasualModel98]

Read this thread, we found a way to make cheaper AV cleaner.  Cleans my AB beautifully.  We also use it as a thinner for AV and it works well. 

 

[ElectroSoldier]

On 11/11/2019 at 3:32 AM, CasualModel98 said:

Read this thread, we found a way to make cheaper AV cleaner.  Cleans my AB beautifully.  We also use it as a thinner for AV and it works well. 

 

Thank you for that. But not really looking for a cheaper option, the Vallejo Airbrush cleaner works well for me and Ive got no problem with the price either.

 

I was asked by somebody who knows that I use an airbrush for a lot of different painting things what would happen if they used this or that or the other (Leveling thinner, IPA, Acetone, RPDE and  a couple of other things I cant remember the names of... white spirit maybe)

 

I just told him to use the thinner of cleaner of the same brand as the paint as it will work... I mean if I buy Citadel air paint then I use their aircaste thinner to thin it it will work, and their airbrush cleaner will clean the airbrush out after (in point of fact it will think their paint too but Ive a suspicion that its the same thing only one costs more than the other)

[Davidrebolton]

Guys. What's the difference between Mr Colour Leveler T-101, T-104,  T-106 and T-108, I notice there are different ones. 

 

I have the T-101 at home and it appears fine with Tamiya acrylics and Mr Hobby paints. I'm hoping it'll be fine with the x22 Tamiya clear coat process. 

Edited April 24, 2021 by Davidrebolton

[Stef N.]

You've got Mr Color Thinner and Mr Color Levelling Thinner. The levelling one has an added retardant especially for airbrushing smoother coats. I haven't used the first one yet to be able to say if there is much difference in spray quality.

[bmwh548]

T-101 and T-104 are the same stuff, just different size bottle. 

T-106 and T-108 are the same stuff, just different size bottle.

The dark blue label one is the standard stuff, I use to use it years ago, nothing wrong with it.

The yellow label one is the one with retarder in it, it's my go to thinner for all lacquers, solvent based acrylics (like Tamiya) and some enamels. It allows for the paint to settle better (useful particularly with gloss finishes).

They also make Rapid thinner (red-ish label) which is supposed to be excellent for flat finishes and metallics, I keep forgetting to add one to my shopping list to try it out.