Don't know about Testors - I'm in the UK where it is relatively hard to come by. Humbrol and Xtracolour are the enamels I use.
Mineral spirits are flammable, just not very. However it is quite possible that Testors is different - I'm not a paint chemist. However, I do know one, and will see if he can help (though his work was largely with home decoration paints) Humbrol and Xtracolour *do not* have a "Caution: Flammable" warning on them, at least not in the UK.
Which makes me wonder if that's why they aren't readily available in the UK - I recall that there are some Tamiya spray paints that are no longer imported in to the US because of chemical content and/or volitility. I'm sure each country has it's own standards.
Here in the US I use the Testors line almost exclusively. Though I can get and have used Xtracolor and Humbrol at times in the past. Like them for brush painting.
Alan Dicey wrote: .
True. Real lacquer (and its associated thinner) is much more flammable. By real lacquer I mean the stuff thinned with acetone or similar solvents, not the acrylic lacquer which is water-based.
But Rufus wrote
implying that Testors *enamels* had toluene as their solvent. Though I would normally expect anything thinned with toluene to be a lacquer, I'm always ready to be educated...
I seem to remember that something around my bench contains toluene so I threw that one out there, but now I can't recall just what...not my paints, after checking...maybe a glue...
...so, checking the back of the label - all the paints bottles say is "Contains petroleum distillates". But if you look at the airbrush thinner, it says "Flammable liquid and vapor. Contains petroleum distillates and n-propoxypopanol. (which I'll guess is some sort of alcohol?) Keep away from heat and flame.".
The label on my can of Floquil thinner goes even farther and states "VAPORS MAY CAUSE FLASH FIRE"...in caps, just like I typed it.
Bottom line might appear to be - if you use Testors enamels and thin them with the airbrush or Floquil thinners, you're probably making them even more combustable.
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