Hi all,

I mixed my Vallejo Air White paint with a drop of Tamiya Thinner (I thought it couldn't do no harm) and now I have a bit of sticky (or tacky) surface.

Now after one week I suspect that this probably won't dry fully and I am afraid I can't use it for my model (actually two, I painted items for two models) as it seems that the layer of paint is not very strong.

Does anyone how best to proceed? I thought about adding a layer of Future, which hopefully cures into a solid strong layer?



Jelger

I have heard that soaking a model painted with acrylic paints in window cleaner, Windex is a brand here in the U.S.; works to remove the paint from the model. Anyone else chime in please. Thanks, Russell

Soak the parts in bowl with Automotive Brake Fluid in it.

In the uk we have a pine smelling type disinfectant called Dettol, that I have used to strip resin acrylics really easily.

Citadel (Warhammer) paints will flow over, adhere to and dry on top of darn near anything.

Dip a toothbrush in Tamiya thinner and brush away the offending paint carefully, that will do the trick I am sure!



Magnus

Windex will indeed remove acrylic paint very well. Vallejo Air is designed to be used straight from the bottle with no thinners.

get some of the vallejo airbrush cleaner(clear), not only will it clean your airbrush but it will also thin their paints.vallejo's own brand thinner(white)supposidly has a little retarder in it but some people dont like the way it works.
model air in theory doesn't need to be thinned but some of the colours are a little thick.

paul

dont put future over it, its best to clear the paint off and start again.

paul

your mistake was that Vallejo is acrylic paint, while Tamiya paints are acrylic enamel - not the same thing at all. While both can be cleaned up with water, the pigments are not suspended in the same medium (and thus do not use the same thinner).

any window cleaner with ammonia in it should do the job, as will a cotton swabs dunked in isopropyl alcohol (use the 91% solution if you can get it there - it is easily available in the USA, but i know it is impossible to find in Germany - no idea about its availability in the Netherlands)

This chart is useful:
http://www.modelairplaneinternational.com/a%20PDF%20downloads/WorkBench%2049.pdf

Although it doesn't warn that strongly against this combination, just not to airbrush it, where as it seems the thinner has actually inhibited the setting of the acrylic medium, so a pretty major issue!

You can thin it with distilled water or with their own thinner. It does dry soft so place a protective barrier over it. As for stripping it all the listed items will work, just be very careful with brake fluid. It will remove the oils from the plastic and make it quite brittle. So you now have learned to do a test sample. Even before you put it in your airbrush. As the saying goes an ounce of prevention saves a pound in time.

I have once been very successful removing acrylic paint with Iso propyl alcohol (94% pure).

I would "soak it" but rubb carefully with tissue or swap stick.

Soaking it may kill the glue, or plastic, definitively the transparent parts and will aslo remove the paint you don't want to go (like in the cockpit)

Hi all,

Thank you all for your suggestions. So no coating with Future, but removal of the paint will be the choice.

I sometimes thin Model Air a bit to improve spraying. The dumb thing is that I actually have Vallejo thinner on my bench, but just did't thought about using that. I just grabbed the Tamiya thinner....

I will try using Tamiya thinner or isopropyl alcohol. The latter is available here in general drugstores so obtaining that is not a problem.. And maybe I buy a new toothbrush as well.

@ Ben: that chart is very useful. Thanks for sharing.



Jelger

Yesterday, I tried to remove the paint. I started with Tamiya thinner and a cotton bud.

The paint went away like snow melting in the sun and it seems that the underlying layer of primer is not affected.

I will inspect the parts tomorrow more closely and if necessary I give it a light sanding and then repaint with Vallejo Air White.

So thanks again!



Jelger

The weird thing is that Tamiya's X-20A thinner mixed 50/50 with Vallejo's acrylic matte varnish (420 end number I think) makes for the best, toughest and most forgiving matte varnish ever... I have used this for years, and still cannot get over how great the combination is compared to the comparatively pathetic, flaky and unforgiving performance of everything else (just yesterday I washed it off a model with tap water after five minutes of hesitation, and it came off without a hitch, yet is super-hard and mineral-durable when fully dry, and the deadest flat you've ever seen without any underlying colour balance change)... Note my Vallejo matte bottles are the old style white label: I cannot vouch for the new blue labels.

Gaston