Sharknose Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 (edited) Anyone know what I've done wrong here. Back story. Vallejo model air colours, KOE top coats, decals, more KOE. Then today. Tamiya XF86 50:50 with IPA and in a number of areas it's just gone white, milky and ruined it. https://www.instagram.com/p/CH2r-ApB52Z/?igshid=9b011albzi0y Edited November 21, 2020 by Sharknose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmwh548 Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Too much flattening agent. I never got along with Tamiya's flat varnish for that reason. You could try to give it a buff with a really soft sanding stick to get rid of the Tamiya stuff, and then try again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharknose Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 1 minute ago, bmwh548 said: Too much flattening agent. I never got along with Tamiya's flat varnish for that reason. You could try to give it a buff with a really soft sanding stick to get rid of the Tamiya stuff, and then try again. I can't touch it right now or it's going on a test flight all of it's own down the garden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmwh548 Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 I know the feeling. Give it a bit, cool off and come back to it when you're not in the mood of breaking stuff :)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Noble Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Thinning the XF-86 with IPA won't have helped matters. Use Tamiya thinner instead. IPA is way too harsh and evaporates far too quickly to use as a thinner for Tamiya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharknose Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 1 hour ago, Steve Noble said: Thinning the XF-86 with IPA won't have helped matters. Use Tamiya thinner instead. IPA is way too harsh and evaporates far too quickly to use as a thinner for Tamiya. Interestingly - I put a spot of IPA on a cotton bud, and it went clear. Put just IPA into airbrush and re-sprayed and it's gone away!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Noble Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 2 hours ago, Sharknose said: Interestingly - I put a spot of IPA on a cotton bud, and it went clear. Put just IPA into airbrush and re-sprayed and it's gone away!!!! The IPA dries too fast when used as a thinner, so the paint doesn't have time to flow out and level. Those white patches/cloudy effect that you had was all the matting agent in the flat clear that had separated and pooled up, then dried instantly. The correct thinner would have prevented it happening in the first place. I'm glad you sorted it with a quick overspray of IPA. It's reactivated the clear and allowed it to level. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dads203 Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 3 hours ago, Steve Noble said: Thinning the XF-86 with IPA won't have helped matters. Use Tamiya thinner instead. IPA is way too harsh and evaporates far too quickly to use as a thinner for Tamiya. Tamiya thinners are IPA based Steve, Tamiya Acrylics can take really hot thinners such as cellulose and Lacquer thinners. I use the Mr Hobby self levelling and the Rapid thinners, the Rapid thinners can easily melt plastic so really hot Do not use them with Vallejo, they are a latex based acrylic and it will just turn the paint to rubber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Noble Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 1 minute ago, Dads203 said: Tamiya thinners are IPA based Steve Yes, but they also have other ingredients in them. They're not pure IPA. Pure IPA is very harsh as a thinner. Spray some and it dries almost instantly. That doesn't make a good thinner as it dries too fast and the paint doesn't settle and level properly. I agree that Mr Levelling thinner works well with Tamiya acrylics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharknose Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 35 minutes ago, Steve Noble said: The IPA dries too fast when used as a thinner, so the paint doesn't have time to flow out and level. Those white patches/cloudy effect that you had was all the matting agent in the flat clear that had separated and pooled up, then dried instantly. The correct thinner would have prevented it happening in the first place. I'm glad you sorted it with a quick overspray of IPA. It's reactivated the clear and allowed it to level. Top information this mate, and explains why I've never seen too much of an issue thinning standard colours with IPA. I did this after seeing people say IPA is a cheaper alternative to thin Tamiya paints, as you used to be talking £7 for 250ml Tamiya thinners v £5 for 1l IPA. However since IPA went through the roof that price balance isnt so biased and the main lesson is, stick to the same thinners as paint brands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dads203 Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Tamiya thinners are a mixture of retarder, IPA and possibly distilled water, I would imagine the exact recipe is secret but it’s very heavily weighted with IPA fella. I read your reply that IPA is bad for Tamiya paints so just wanted to point out that it’s a main constituent in tamiya paint thinners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Noble Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 1 minute ago, Dads203 said: Tamiya thinners are a mixture of retarder, IPA and possibly distilled water, I would imagine the exact recipe is secret but it’s very heavily weighted with IPA fella. I read your reply that IPA is bad for Tamiya paints so just wanted to point out that it’s a main constituent in tamiya paint thinners. Yes, as I already said above Tamiya thinners are a mixture of ingredients. I never said that a thinner that has IPA in it is bad for Tamiya paints. I use the Tamiya thinner myself for their acrylics, but I wouldn't use pure IPA to thin with. It's not so good as it dries too fast and causes problems. It's just my opinion. I've tried IPA as a thinner with Tamiya acrylics and the results were poor, both for adhesion and spraying performance. Those extra ingredients you mention, retarder and distilled water make all the difference to the performance of the thinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 What strength IPA? I have 71% and 99%. Since I started using my airbrush this past August, I use the IPA for cleanup only, as it works great on the Tamiya and G-S paints that I've used so far. I thin each paint with their proprietary thinners. With the Tamiya, I also add a little of their Retarder. I imagine there is a home-mix out there somewhere, showing the proportions of IPA, distilled water and retarder, to mix up a goodly sized batch of thinner. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Wait! I just found this: https://www.cybermodeler.com/tips/thinner.shtml Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dads203 Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 My personal take on the whole Home brew thinner debate is why would you risk a model by skimping on the thinners that you finish your latest masterpiece for the sake of a few quid. Kits are getting more and more expensive these days so unless you are a chemist - is it really worth taking a punt on that your home brewed thinners is going to be better than one developed by the paint manufacturer, who has spent a lot in time and money in optimising the product ? I wouldn’t . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Noble Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 25 minutes ago, Dads203 said: Is it really worth taking a punt on that your home brewed thinners is going to be better than one developed by the paint manufacturer, who has spent a lot in time and money in optimising the product ? I wouldn’t . No and neither would I. That's why I always use the recommended thinner. We agree 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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