Hi all,

Just picked up one of each from an art supply store and wanted to know if both should be used in conjunction to extent drying times and improve flow of acrylic paints or whether simply using one or the other would suffice (using MM Acryl and Tamiya paints by the way).

I've been reading quite a bit about acrylic paints and their mediums and have found references to the use of Slow-Dri and Flow Aid but I've never seen people discuss the use of both during a single painting session.

Have any of you ever made use of both of these mediums at the same time? If so, what was your experience?

Thanks!

Rob

P.S. I would try it myself but my airbrushes are down at the moment

I've never heard of either of these, but will watch out for any replies on how to mix it.

The flow aids are for acrylics only don't use in enamals I use Liquitex in Tamyia and Polyscale and get excellent results. You only need a very small amount in your paint, I put 5 or 6 drops in my paint.,just be sure it's mixed good an old house painter told me once put the paint in the thinner not the thinner in the paint it will mix better.Hope this helps you MCOPELAND1

Thanks for the response, Mark!

Can I use the Slow-Dri together with the Flow Aid? Or using the Flow Aid enough?

Thanks again,

Rob

Hi Rob,

I use both for brush painting, mixing about 5-10% of each into my thinning water, then use that water mix to thin the paints as needed. I also use about the same ratios for airbrushing reducer (thinner).

Note that the products are for two different purposes - one is to retard the drying time and the other is to enhance the flow (makes the paint leave the brush bristles more freely).

I have to say, though, that I've only ever been able to get marginal results using these with water for Tamiya paints for brush painting. I have gotten good results using the retarder (Slo-Dry) with water and the Tamiya X-20A airbrush thinner for airbrushing to slow the drying time just a little bit for smoother applications and less tip drying.

I also use the same water mix (with both flow enhancer and retarder) for thinning Vallejo paints for airbrushing, adding in about 5% of the Vallejo airbrush thinner to the water mix and just the water mix (no Vallejo AB thinner) with Polly Scale and Games Workshop (Citadel) acrylics to airbrush those.

Note these are with the regular Vallejo brush paints. I've never used any of the Vallejo AB paints, so don't know what would happen with those.

BTW, Golden and Grumbacher also make comparable products that I've also used exactly the same as the Liquitex products with equally good results. (My local big-box crafts stores - Michael's and Hobby Lobby - seem to switch product lines about every 18 months ensuring never-ending experimentation!)

I've used both retarder and flow enhancer for years with Tamiya, Polly Scale, Vallejo, and Games Workshop (Citadel) acrylic paints. Except for the Tamiya paints (which I now know are not true, water-based acrylics), I've had uniformly excellent results with them for brush painting. In the end, I've given up trying to brush paint with Tamiya paints. There are just too many other good options that are formulated for brush painting that there's no reason to deal with the agravation.

HTH,

If you use Liquitex you don't need a drying aid Liquitex doe's both . MCOPELAND1

Thanks for the detailed info, Mike! I bought the Slow-Dri and Flow Aid specifically to use them with MM Acryl as I've heard (and now experienced) really fast clogging of the airbrush even when using MM Acryl thinner. Since I use Tamiya's own thinner to thin Tamiya paints I don't much have issues with clogging or the paint drying too fast (Tamiya thinner has some retarder in it I've read somewhere). The MM Acryl, I've found, is really a temperamental paint line so I thought that if I make use of a retarder and a flow additive I could get it to submit. I guess it's all a matter of testing a combination of things to make them work. I've been testing MM Acryl and Tamiya paints for the past week using different thinners and the results are encouraging (specially with MM Acryl - a paint that most I've talked to about tell me is garbage).

Thanks again and will definitely make use of your tips...

Rob

Okay, so I guess using Flow Aid may be the ticket instead of messing around with the retarder. I'm assuming I can add this to the paint's own thinner, right?

I'm trying to get MM Acryl so submit and so I'm using their own thinner (for now) so as to get it where I want it. Adding Flow Aid to its thinner shouldn't be a problem then, correct?

Thanks again!!

Rob

Hi again Rob,

As I said in my earlier post, the flow-aid / flow-enhancer and Slo-dry / retarder are two different products and are used to address two different problems.

You can use both together if your paint is drying too fast (needs a retarder) and not brushing smoothly (needs a flow enhancer).

On the other hand, if you just need to slow down the drying time (either for hand brushing or airbrushing), then you only need to use the retarder. Generally, for airbrushing, flow and smooth application are not problems (that's why you're airbrushing, after all), and controlling the drying time is the objective (i.e. only some retarder is needed).

Having said that, though, since I tend to mix water for thinning acrylics with both retarder and a flow enhancer, I just use that for reducing acrylic paints for airbrushing. This is a matter of simplicity for me. I only add a bit of this water mixture to my Tamiya paints with the X-20A thinner for airbrushing. But with this, I'm really aiming for a bit slower drying time. The flow-enhancer already in the water doesn't really contribute anything to the airbrushing process. Note that adding water to Tamiya X-20A will tend to slow down the drying time, too.

I don't use the X-20A thinner for airbrushing any other paint brand, only the already pre-mixed water thinning solution that I keep on-hand. I've never used any of the MM-Acryl paints, but I do get good results using this mixture with the paint brands and types mentioned in my earlier post.

For hand brushing, you can use either one or both products depending on the issues you're having. They are complimentary and will work together. But again, one is for one problem and the other is for another problem. If you have both problems, use both products. If not, you only need the one that addresses the problem you do have. If, like me, you pre-mix both products into your thinner water, the one not needed doesn't seem to have any adverse effect.

Flow enhancer doesn't generally retard the drying time much (beyond that time extended from just adding plane water). The same with a retarder - it won't generally improve the "brush-ability" of paints (beyond what you get from adding just a bit of water).

I hope this helps to clear up my earlier comments. Sorry for any confusion.