Okay, so I know there is no magic formula for mixing/thinning your paints. However, I read somewhere that Windsor & Newton\'s Flow Improver was a good product for thinning. I was curious if you were supposed to mix this stuff with water before adding it to paint. The reason I ask is because I have been adding it straight to the paint using about a 4:1 ratio. I\'m mostly pleased with the results except more often than not my paint has what can only be described as soap bubbles in it when I apply it to my mini. There are no bubbles on my palette, only on the mini. If I don\'t get rid of these before the paint dries then they leave a mess. So, should I be diluting it before mixing it with my paint?
Thinning Paints
- Thread starter Ratcals
- Start date
War Griffon
New member
Mix the flow enhancer as per the instruction on the bottle.
I use the Cryla flow enhancer and mix that with water, mainly because of the way they say to mix it
\"Add a tablesppon or two of flow enhancer to 500ml of paint or to the mixing water\"
I then fill a droper bottle and store teh rest for later.
I use the Cryla flow enhancer and mix that with water, mainly because of the way they say to mix it
\"Add a tablesppon or two of flow enhancer to 500ml of paint or to the mixing water\"I then fill a droper bottle and store teh rest for later.
Directions, what are these direction things you speak of?
Actually after I posted the message I got to wondering if there might be directions on the bottle. When I got home from work I checked and sure enough it says to mix with 20 parts water.
That might explain why my paint has been flowing all over the place.
Actually after I posted the message I got to wondering if there might be directions on the bottle. When I got home from work I checked and sure enough it says to mix with 20 parts water.
That might explain why my paint has been flowing all over the place.
oooh, there is a magic formula
2 hydrogens and 1 oxygen!
all I use is water to thin, I still haven\'t figured out what all that other additive crap is for...And I don\'t have a formula, I generally thin my paints a brushful at a time, not all at once, and the trick there is just to develop an understanding of your brush and paint and water, which you just get by painting lots!
2 hydrogens and 1 oxygen!
all I use is water to thin, I still haven\'t figured out what all that other additive crap is for...And I don\'t have a formula, I generally thin my paints a brushful at a time, not all at once, and the trick there is just to develop an understanding of your brush and paint and water, which you just get by painting lots!
Einion
New member
Flow improvers are used to improve flow, not to thin directly, as you\'ve discovered
These are pretty much soap bubbles - flow improvers are made from a kind of detergent (which is what I use instead - dishwashing liquid
). Too much in your paint can also lead to the paint film drying with a patchy finish as well as not being completely insoluble.
Einion
QuietiManes
New member
I usually use a spray varnish, Testors. If I use brush on I dont thin it, I figure extra thick varnish is good for protection. No idea how that would work though, certain thinner/flow improver/dilutant etc have shiny or matte properties, I\'d be afraid they\'d conflict. I suppose no danger with just water...but meh...if it aint broke.
