I just mixed Liquitex Flow-Aid and distilled water according to the direction. The mixture contains a ton of bubbles. Is this normal? Or did I do something wrong?

Mine did that too, just let it sit and settle a bit. Once you mix it in with paint, the foam and bubbles should disappear.

Kimmo

That's good to know. I bought Flow-Aid to use with Vallejo primers. They work OK with my airbrushes, but not as smoothly as Tamiya paints.

I'm just a brush painter, but I find it helps for primer/base coats. Once you've got a good base to work with, it isn't as effective because the paint has something to stick to. I imagine it should help with airbrushing though.

Is this similar to Golden's acrylic flow release ? To break surface tension ?

I've read in AB forums that Flow Aid greatly helps preventing a dry tip and nozzle clogging. I've never experienced such problems w/ Tamiya but it's a different story w/ Vallejo primers. The mix ratio is 1 Flow Aid to 20 distilled water. And you add one or two drops of the mix to the paint. A 4 oz bottle will last for decades for me.

I suspect so. Most paint manufacturers have their own "flow" aid. Some people use liquid dish washing soap and say that it works just as well, although the ones I've heard of using it do so for brushing.

Kimmo

I suspected that the ratio of the mix was similar. I. Got into this while using Lifecolor paints, the paint would like to flow into cavities and would thicken around the eyes and ears and places where capillary action would draw them . I experimented with dish washing soap and that was a disaster, they do help with airbrushing though.

Liquitex Fow Aid is excellent for airbrushes, along with Liquitex Slo-Dri, which is a retarder, which also eliminates nozzle drying and clogging. Both work with all acrylic paints, alcohol or water based.