Mike C Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Hi all.... Thought I'd share something new that I learned about thinning LifeColor paint. My apologies if this is "old news"... When I first started using LifeColor, I thinned the paint with distilled water. It was OK, but I find it too runny and if I wasn't careful with spraying it would end up splotchy. So, I decided to try mixing distilled water with methylated spirit at equal part. I mixed up 0.5ml of distilled water with 0.5ml of methylated spirit, then added 1ml of the paint. I left the mixture for a day in a spare paint bottle to let it "settle". Upon inspection the following day, I could still see good consistency on the paint. No lump. Stirred the paint a bit with a long piece of sprue, again didn't see any lumps, just nicely thinned paint on the sprue. SO! Moment of truth! Decided to spray the paint thru my AB at 12Psi...... Was amazed at the result! Laid down almost as nice as properly thinned Gunze Aqueous!! Tried this with LifeColor's gloss (Yellow and Orange). Will try their matt paint next (Matt Black). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ScottD Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 I normally use their own thinner with a drop of dish washing detergent. I was finding out that using their thinner or plain old water as thinner would leave me colored water droplets (like from a water spritzer bottle), but adding dish washing detergent would break down the surface tension and it would spray fine after that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted June 27, 2011 Author Share Posted June 27, 2011 IMHO, if you have to add something to their own thinner to make it work, then it's not worth using. What I was trying to do was to find a way to make LifeColor dries quicker, hence I came up with the idea of mixing distilled water and methylated spirit. It's been working quite well for me. Haven't got the chance to try this with their matt paint or clear coat though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Big Kev Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Mike, have you tried using the metho by itself as a thinner? Kev Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted June 29, 2011 Author Share Posted June 29, 2011 Mike, have you tried using the metho by itself as a thinner? Kev Hmmm... Can't remember exactly. I think I did a little while back. Result was somewhat unpredictable. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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