Painting, thinner and cleaner questions

[modelbouwnederland]

I was working on the figures for my Sd. Kfz. 9 Famo today. And as I was working on it, a few questions popped up in my head. I’m wanting to ask them, so here they come.

1. When I’m using thinner to dip my brushes in before dipping them into the paint, can I pour the thinner I’ve used for that purpose back into the container? Or do I have to discard it?

2. When I’m dipping my paint brushes first into thinner, does it matter what thinner it is? For example, do I need to dip my brush in Revell Color Mix if I’m going to use Revell paint? And dip my brush into Tamiya acrylic thinner when I’m using Tamiya acrylic paint? Or does it not matter?

3. Is it possible to premix paint for usage on a pallette using empty jars of Tamiya for example? And use a pipette to get the tiniest amounts of paint on the palette to minimize waste of paint? And maximize the value of the paint I have?

4. How much times am I able to use brush cleaning fluid of for example Mr. Hobby? Would it be good for maximizing the value of the product I got? Or would it be smarter to discard it and start with fresh cleaning fluid every time? But it does cost more money?

[SdAufKla]

@modelbouwnederland

• When I’m using thinner to dip my brushes in before dipping them into the paint, can I pour the thinner I’ve used for that purpose back into the container? Or do I have to discard it?

Yes, as long as you haven’t polluted that thinner with paint from the brush. You should try to keep your “fresh” thinners clean. If the “brush dipping” thinner has gotten dirty, then find a small jar with a tight lid to store it in for later use.

• When I’m dipping my paint brushes first into thinner, does it matter what thinner it is? For example, do I need to dip my brush in Revell Color Mix if I’m going to use Revell paint? And dip my brush into Tamiya acrylic thinner when I’m using Tamiya acrylic paint? Or does it not matter?

No. As long as the thinner you are using is compatible with the TYPE of paint you’re using, it will be fine. It doesn’t have to be the same brand, but it does have to be the same kind of thinner that’s used with that kind of paint.

• Is it possible to premix paint for usage on a pallette using empty jars of Tamiya for example? And use a pipette to get the tiniest amounts of paint on the palette to minimize waste of paint? And maximize the value of the paint I have?

Yes. If you’re going to reuse empty paint jars (and I do this all the time, myself) be sure to clean the threads around the jar and inside the lid really well. Also, keep in mind that the inside plastic seal in Tamiya paint lids will come out so that can also be cleaned.

(This is a handy thing to do when you have a large airbrushing job. Pre-mixing and thinning the require paint will save a lot of time refilling the airbrush and help with getting consistent results. I use a marker to write on the jars that the paint is already thinned for later if I have any leftovers.)

• How much times am I able to use brush cleaning fluid of for example Mr. Hobby? Would it be good for maximizing the value of the product I got? Or would it be smarter to discard it and start with fresh cleaning fluid every time? But it does cost more money?

Keep the brush out of the sediment in the bottom of the cleaning thinner’s jar and just use the thinner in the upper part of it. A problem is using cleaning thinners that have been used with metallic colors of paint. The metallic pigments have a tendency to get into the other paint colors through the dirty thinners.

The best practice is to use the thinners to clean the gross paint off the brush and follow that up with one or more proprietary brush cleaners (Winsor & Newton, Masters, etc.) to really get the brush clean and preserve the bristles.

If you have nice natural hair bristle paint brushes, you can, as an expedient, use a little bit of hair washing conditioner on the bristles after the brush has been cleaned in thinners. (For enamels or oils, you might need to dip the brush into some alcohol to remove the petroleum-based thinners first). Get a small jar with a lid (baby food jar or cleaned Tamiya paint jar, etc), add about half hair conditioner and half water and mix that up. Dip your cleaned brush in to this mixture, shape the bristles back into a fine point, and then allow to dry with the handle down.

Give the brush a swish in thinners before you use it to rinse the conditioner out (which you’re doing anyways to pre-load the ferrule with thinners before dipping into the paint).

Hope this answers your questions.