Green "Acryl" icon denotes a product suited to work with water-based acrylic paints. They come in plastic dropper bottles and glass jars. This product is compatible with acrylics by Vallejo®, Humbrol®, Tamiya®, Revell®, Model Master®, Italeri® Gunze® (only H series), Pactra® and equivalents. Not suited for solvent-based acrylics (Gunze® C series) and enamels!
Airbrush Thinners 2.0 Acrylic FAQ
Manufacturer recommends their own thinner for best results, won't 3rd party thinner like this cause problems?
Not really. Manufacturers simply want to ensure that their paints produce best results possible. Who can blame them? The warning you can see on your paint bottle is more of a precaution as people often experiment when it comes to paint thinning. Experiments may cause many issues with coat quality or painting experience - the warning makes sense here. VMS Thinners were extensively tested therefore experimentation is not a case. The warning doesn't apply to specialist, broad spectrum, properly tested thinners - you may go ahead and use VMS thinners with specified brands.
Broad spectrum thinners that can work with just any acrylic paint?
Sure they can, it is all about the right composition. Our acrylic thinner formula contains 2 functional groups - ether and alcohol to make sure it can work great with any water-based acrylics out there.
Solvent-based acrylics? Aren't all acrylics supposed to be water-based?
Most of acrylics are water-based which makes them healthier and non flammable. Still some acrylic resin based paints like Gunze® C series for instance employ volatile solvents instead of water. These are called solvent-based acrylics and are incompatible with water-based thinners.
Do I need special equipment to formulate?
Not really, simple measuring cups will do the trick, all you need to be able to do is mix the concentrated products in appropriate ratios. To prepare the thinner using concentrate you will need to take 2 parts of concentrate and 3 parts of distilled water and mix it. You don't even need to know how much liquid (in millilitres) there is in a cup all that matters is the ratios, if the ratios are OK so is the end product. IMPORTANT: Parts are measured by volume not weight. FORMULATING AN EXACT AMOUNT: Divide the target volume by 5, the result is your part size. For instance let's say you want to prepare 200 ml of thinner. We divide 200 by 5 which is 40. One part is in this case 40 ml. You will therefore need 80 ml of concentrate (2 parts, 40 ml each) and 120 ml of water (3 parts, 40 ml each).
These are chemicals, won't I get burned or start a fire?
Our concentrates are based on non flammable chemicals which are not corrosive. They might however irritate your eyes or skin if you are not careful but this is the case with any cleaner or thinner out there. To be safe, simply avoid contact with skin and eyes while you are formulating your products. If you get some of the concentrate on your skin or in your eyes simply rinse it with plenty of water and that's that.
Do I always need distilled water to formulate?
Always use distilled water while formulating acrylic thinners so that the paint retains is quality. Tap water is fine for formulating acrylic cleaning products, using distilled water for cleaners is a waste. :)
I don't know about all this formulation, what if do something wrong?
You can't, products come with clear formulation guidelines, if you can read model plans (way more complicated) you can formulate. ;)
