Could anyone tell me the ratio of paint and retarder for the airbrush.

I am going to use the Mr. Hobby Paint Retarder Mild. Im thinking no more then 20% mix?

Also, would this retarder work with Tamiya and MM acryl paints?

Thanks!

You shouldn't need to thin MM acrylics. I made this mistake and the result was horrible. As far as Tamiya's acryls go, I would recommend IPA. It's cheaper than anything made specifically for paint lines and works beautifully.

Now when you say horrible, what actually happened? I like the MM acryl paints, but they dry to fast, I tried thinning them with alcohol and it seems that it dries faster. I heard about the retarder and thought Id give it a try. I'll try it on a scrap piece and see what happens..... thanks for the reply!

When I thinned them, they pooled and left tide marks.

Matt, I'm pretty sure that Sean is referring to a retarding agent to slow down the drying time, not a thinning medium.

Sean, for thinning Tamiya & MM acrylics, I use either Tamiya X20-A or their Lacquer thinner which does work great with Acrylics. As for a retarder you should only need a few drops per bottle.

70% Iso Alcohol evaporates way too quickly to use effectively as a thinner. You would be best served if you go that route to cut the Iso by 25% with distilled water. That's a good starting point. Also a few drops of retarder to 16oz bottle the cut Iso should do the trick for you.

As for thinning MM acrylic paints, I've found that 3 parts paint to 2 parts thinner works well if you want really thin coats. If that's a little to thin for you, then 2:1 is a good starting point.

I shoot at 18 psi in a temp & humidity controlled room.

Joel