JT,

I use Liquitex for the flow enhancer and retarder. I got mine at Blick's Art Supply.

Here is what I'm talking about:



The retarder is in the same style bottle. Both are clear, like water, and a bottle this size will last a LONG time. I think it was $5 or so.

If you have a Michael's craft store near you, you can find them in with the painting supplies with the little plastic palettes (great for us, a six pan palette is under $2), oil paints, thinners and that stuff.

Try tap water or distilled water for clean-up. The best thing is Tamiya's own thinner though.

I have used tap water, distilled water, Windex, and IPA. IPA works the best, followed by distilled water, then Windex and tap water. I have never, ever used Tamiya thinner. IPA works too good for me to pay $2 for the brand name thinner.

For airbrushing, I use 30-50% IPA. Also, for airbrushing, add a couple of drops of windex to your mixture. This will keep the paint from drying before it leaves the brush. To clean paint brushes, rinse them in pure IPA. I should have a figure done today to show you the result of Tamiya paints alone. The worst paint I have found to do by hand is Flat Flesh. Several coats means I can't preshade the fleshy bits. Watercolors work well to add shadows.

The Tamiya products import duties have been raised. None of my LHSs are restocking Tamiya paint products. Actually, I should be going down next week and buying the remainder of their stock.

He still needs drybrushing and pupils, but this is totally Tamiya. Fig and paints are Tamiya.

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He still needs drybrushing and pupils, but this is totally Tamiya. Fig and paints are Tamiya.

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He looks really good.I think I can make this work.(no pupils make him look kind of creepy though) So let me get this straight.For brushing,retarder,flow aid.clean up/thin for spraying ipa,windex or blue screen cleaner?......When you use Ipa do you use the 50,70, or 90% I'm talking about the stuff you get at wally world,walgreens,or rite aid

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He still needs drybrushing and pupils, but this is totally Tamiya. Fig and paints are Tamiya.

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He looks really good.I think I can make this work.(no pupils make him look kind of creepy though) So let me get this straight.For brushing,retarder,flow aid.clean up/thin for spraying ipa,windex or blue screen cleaner?......When you use Ipa do you use the 50,70, or 90% I'm talking about the stuff you get at wally world,walgreens,or rite aid

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When airbrushing, I use 30-50% IPA and a couple of drops of windex. For cleaning my brushes, I use pure IPA. You can also use and of the other solvents, but in my experience, IPA is the best.

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He still needs drybrushing and pupils, but this is totally Tamiya. Fig and paints are Tamiya.

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He looks really good.I think I can make this work.(no pupils make him look kind of creepy though) So let me get this straight.For brushing,retarder,flow aid.clean up/thin for spraying ipa,windex or blue screen cleaner?......When you use Ipa do you use the 50,70, or 90% I'm talking about the stuff you get at wally world,walgreens,or rite aid

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When airbrushing, I use 30-50% IPA and a couple of drops of windex. For cleaning my brushes, I use pure IPA. You can also use and of the other solvents, but in my experience, IPA is the best.

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Matt,I'm sorry,I am still a little confused. When you say you use 30-50% ipa do you mean thats how much you reduce the paint for spraying? I need to know what % the ipa you are using to reduce the paint with.When you buy a bottle of IPA(rubbing alcohol)at the drug store or where ever,it is generaly 70% alcohol 30%water mix.Is that what you are using to thin/clean with,or are you using pure IPA (100% no water added) sorry to be so picky.Thanks again Jeff

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He still needs drybrushing and pupils, but this is totally Tamiya. Fig and paints are Tamiya.

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He looks really good.I think I can make this work.(no pupils make him look kind of creepy though) So let me get this straight.For brushing,retarder,flow aid.clean up/thin for spraying ipa,windex or blue screen cleaner?......When you use Ipa do you use the 50,70, or 90% I'm talking about the stuff you get at wally world,walgreens,or rite aid

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When airbrushing, I use 30-50% IPA and a couple of drops of windex. For cleaning my brushes, I use pure IPA. You can also use and of the other solvents, but in my experience, IPA is the best.

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Matt,I'm sorry,I am still a little confused. When you say you use 30-50% ipa do you mean thats how much you reduce the paint for spraying? I need to know what % the ipa you are using to reduce the paint with.When you buy a bottle of IPA(rubbing alcohol)at the drug store or where ever,it is generaly 70% alcohol 30%water mix.Is that what you are using to thin/clean with,or are you using pure IPA (100% no water added) sorry to be so picky.Thanks again Jeff

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For spraying Tamiya, I use a 1:1 or 3:1 ratio(paint to IPA). I also add a couple of drops of Windex, to keep it from clogging the nozzle. I do not use any other thinners. You will want to build up the coats as you airbrush.
Now, for cleaning brushes, I use 100% IPA. Hope this clears it up for you.

Next question,When they dry ,are they glossy,satin,flat I mean ,I know that X-18 semi gloss blk is semi gloss,and Xf-1 flat blk is flat,and so on,but if it is a color like X-1 blk,what is the gloss level Regards,Jeff