Are all lacquer thinners the same

[jfmajor60]

I just stopped at my LHS to get some Tamiya lacquer thinners they wanted $9.75 for a 250ml bottle, no thank you is there any difference between Tamiya and the stuff I find at my local home Center which is much cheaper.

[jinmmydel]

No they are not all the same. Tamiya's and Gunzes (the better option of the two IMO) are much lower in strength than typical hardware store lacquer thinner. They are also slower drying as they have retarders and flow agents in them. The Gunze is quite pricey, but I only use it for thinning, and not cleaning. I will say it's my preferred. All that being said, I have played around with thinning the paints I use (Mr. Hobby/Color, Tamiya, and MR. Paint) with regular hardware store thinner, and it can be done. Big difference is the paint will dry faster (since most hardware store versions are medium to fast drying). You can also get the paint mixed too "hot" with too much thinner and cause issues to underlying coats.

The big benefit to something like Gunze's lacquer thinner is it's completely safe for plastic. I've used it to wipe away paint and primer mistakes with no issues. If you do that with regular thinner you're going to ruin the plastic.

[jfmajor60]

Yeah part of the reason I wanted the Tamiya is because I can remove paint from the model without damaging the plastic

[MoFo]

Are all lacquer thinners the same

No.

The hardware store variety likely contains acetone, MEK, tolulene and/or benzene, which will all dissolve styrene to the extent that you can use hardware store lacquer thinner as a substitute for conventional liquid glues.

If you want a lacquer thinner that you can soak plastic in, shell out for the Tamiya/Gunze/Gaia/Modeler's stuff.

[jinmmydel]

Yeah, you can't do that with hardware store lacquers. It will dmage the plastic. I've never used the Tamiya, but I'm told it's very similar the Gunze's Mr. Leveling Thinner...which you can wipe on bare plastic with no problems, but the hardware variety I use for cleaning the airbrush...while you can thin to spray with it, you can't just wipe it on the plastic.

[Joel_W]

I only use Tamiya's Yellow cap Lacquer Thinner for thinning Tamiya paints. To clean my air brush I use the store brand as the Tamiya LC is just to expensive to use as a cleaner.

Joel

[B2 Rick]

I use hardware store without issue, except for any labeled" low voc". That crap never dries.

[galileo1]

When I used enamels I used to use store-bought lacquer thinner without issues. You can't wipe the plastic with it but you sure can paint with it. I'm almost 100% acrylics now but I started to use lacquer primers and I do indeed like the Gunze Leveling Thinner. Best lacquer thinner I've used.

Rob

[Hawk10]

99.9% of the painting I do(both airbrush and hand) is with Enamels(mostly MM and Humbrol)thinned with lacquer thinner. Prior to painting, I wipe the model with a soft rag soaked with 91% rubbing alcohol. Works for me.

[Rex]

You might want to just go ahead and buy the good model paint thinner, and a can of the hardware store thinner.

Then just remember to reach for the model stuff when you really need it,,,,,,and the hardware store stuff for everything else, such as airbrush cleaning, and etc.

I am not on a real tight modeling budget myself,,,,,,but, I use a Hi-Low mix of products to save money whenever I can.

That leaves me money for the stupid stuff I do, lol. (as Jimmy will attest to)

[Thommo]

Last night I started experimenting with hardware store lacquer thinner (General Purpose Lacquer Thinner from Bunnings, $AU9 for 1 litre) and Tamiya acrylics (after reading on an Aussie modelling site that this stuff works, and not wanting to pay $13+ for a 250ml of the proper yellow cap Tamiya Lacquer thinner, which I'd have to mailorder online).

First, I mixed the Bunnings stuff with some Tamiya white acrylic and brushed it onto a spare wing which had Alclad on it. This lifted the Alclad a bit so it mixed in with the white.

Then I primed the other side of the wing with Tamiya spraycan primer. let it dry half an hour, then ran some Tamyia dark earth mixed 50/50 with the Bunnings thinner thru my Iwata and sprayed the wing. I sprayed a few spots really heavy and wet to see if it would eat thru the primer. It did not and it dried fast, though a bit glossier than expected.

Next test will be to do the same as above, but add a few drops of Jo Sonja's flow retarder to the mix, as I suspect the above mix is drying a bit fast as it emerges from the AB and causing a little over-spray.

Even if the Bunnings stuff turns out to be a fail, I can use it for cleaning up things. It sure stinks neat though, but not so much when mixed with paint and shot thru the AB.

Should add, I went to our local hobby shop (150km north now!) and asked for the proper Tamiya stuff but they don't stock it, and he said it does not work with acrylics anyhow (which is wrong, as we all know). Reason I'm trying a lacquer rather than my usual Tamyia acrylic thinner is to see if I get a smoother Airbrushing result, with less spitting/overspray and hence the ability to improve accuracy. I suspect my Bunnings solution will work over the primer, but on parts that are not/lightly primed, or over acrylic paint I could hit trouble.

Edited August 2, 2016 by Thommo

[Thommo]

OK the Bunnings lacquer thinner does not work so well. Even with retarder in it, I think it dries/evaporates too fast leading to a bit to much paint speckling as it hits the model, and coarse overspray. But it is ace for cleaning the AB afterwards.

I've gone back to the Tamiya acrylic thinner.

I also learned that lying the moisture trap down (as it was rattling and making too much noise in the compressor holder) is really dumb. Why has this paint suddenly become so watery..add some more paint..adjust AB pressure..look around confused.....oh hang on :doh:/>/>

Edited August 9, 2016 by Thommo

[Scott Smith]

Bottle of thinner my be expensive, but the quantity used for one model, I don't take a chance! I always use the brand correct thinners and the cheap stuff for cleaning. FWIW, a 1 gal can at Lowes/Home Depot will set you back something like $12?? I buy 5 gallon cans of "clean up" lacquer thinner at Auto Body supply stores for $35.00 or less. Of course that was when I was painting my full scale car and I'm still on the leftovers. Highly doubt I'll need 5 gallons ever again if I stick to models.

[hawkwrench]

Is the testors airbrush thinner in the blue metal can good for thinning enamels?

So the best AB cleaner is some good ole hardware store laquer thinner, correct?

What brand if any?

Tim

[Jay Chladek]

If we are talking the small bottle, part number 8825C, it should work fine. However you don't get much and I instead would recommend getting a bigger red can, part number 8824. Buying it in a larger volume reduces the cost per ounce and it will last quite awhile.

As for cleaning airbrushes, if I am doing a flush between colors, I typically just use the thinner I thinned the paints in. If I am doing a strip down and cleaning with Q-tips, I have a jar of Testors lacquer thinner which I use for that. It is not as nasty as the hardware store bought stuff, but it works just fine to take dried enamel and acrylic paint off my airbrush bits.

As for Tamiya thinners, I have bottles of both the acrylic thinner, which I use for ALL my acrylics (it even works great with Testors Acryl paints, better than Testors own acrylic thinner) and the Tamiya lacquer thinner I keep around for occasional uses. I haven't thinned paints with it because of where I spray, but I may try it soon. Concerning the price versus quality though, it is good stuff and the lacquer doesn't cost all that much more than the acrylic. Plus, at the frequency with which I build and paint, 250 ml bottles last a long time.

Big thing to keep in mind about model supplies is in my experience, you get what you pay for so why skimp on them? I'm not saying there aren't cheaper alternatives to some stuff out there, but the hobby seems to be getting more expensive and when it can be so easy to screw up the paintjob on a kit that costs potentially around $100 or more why even run the risk with saving a buck or two on supplies? As much as I might think Tamiya stuff is a little overpriced, at least I haven't had a paint job ruined by their supplies. The tape has always worked for my uses and the paints dry nice and hard, be they spray can or small bottle versions. So why run the risk of using a sub-standard thinner?