Lesson learned.

[outerlimtz]

This is more a tip, than anything. If it's in the wrong board, I apologize.



Learned a valuable lesson last night.

Normally, I paint cars. So I have a small stash of Tamiya and Createx acrylic paints for painting the bodies. With me working on my first tank, I have some AK interactive enamels and some Vallejo acrylics.

Started my first figure last night. Primed it with Mr Surfacer black. After watching a few videos, I needed to spray a light coat of white over it. Only white I have is either testors flat white, createx white or tamiya white.

I grabbed the createx white and started thinking it was Mr hobby self-leveling thinner. I didn't realize it at first, but the paint was actually getting thicker.
As I poured into my brush, I added a few more drops of thinner and mixed it up.

It sprayed fine. Got the coverage I needed. Went to clean the brush and what little paint was left in there, didn't want to pour out. I added a couple drops of lacquer thinner and swoosh, it became like a gel.

Needless to say, I spent the next 30 minutes cleaning the brush. During this process, I dropped it and it broke the prongs that hold the needle in place, so there is nothing to put the lock nut onto.

I completely stripped parts off the gun and noticed that this white gel of paint made its way up the barrel to the trigger. So there is white paint on the bottom of the trigger barrel.

The gun is toast. I have a spare, as it was given to me by a friend. I would have assumed the Mr hobby leveling thinner would work on acrylic paints as they do enamels from the videos I watched. And it did with the vallejo paints and the tamiya black I used on the figure.

I just think the Createx compounds didn't like it. In hind sight, I should have just used the Testors flat white. But I did what I did.

I will continue to use Createx for car bodies. However, it will be thinner with thier thinner. I do use Tamiya Acrylic thinner when cleaning the brush though. It cleans it's up nicely.

[lyle]

Wow, that sucks. I have had some problems with MLT and Tamiya acrylic, but nothing like this.

[chromdome35]

By Tamiya Acrylic, are you referring to the X and XF paint line that comes in the 10ml round bottle?

I've been using MLT with Tamiya paints for years with no issues at all.

[outerlimtz]

My mistake in the context. It was createx white, not tamiya white I used.

Fixed the post.

[dupes]

Must be something in the Createx makeup reacting with the LT. I know there are certain Vallejo colors that will do the same "gumming up" action if you try to use anything but water (or their proprietary thinner) to thin them. The recommended Createx thinner appears to be a small bit of Methoxy Propanol mixed with 90% water...definitely not any LT in there.

[stikpusher]

The best thing to do before trying out new, previously untried and non proprietary combinations of paints & thinners, is to first mix them in a small container cup and see how well they sit together before ever putting them into your airbrush. Adverse reactions may be immediate, or may take some time to take shape, so give it a good 5 minutes or more. When you’re using acrylics, as you found out here, a thinner that works great with one or several different brand(s) of paint will not work well with others. There is no such thing as a universal acrylic thinner in my experience, due to the differing formulas in the various acrylic paint brands currently available. Mr Levelling thinner is good and versatile, but it is not a cure all.