Couple Quick Paint Questions...

Hi Dean, In my experience you CANNOT mix Gunze and Tamiya paints. Neither can you use Tamiya thinner with Gunze. It results in a gummy, thick mass which is difficult to remove from the paint cup on the air brush or any container they're mixed in. As for the thinner you have in the garage, I'd give it an experimental try in a disposable plastic cup of some kind before introducing it to the air brush or paint prepared for a project. I always thoroughly clean my a/b between each color change, however I do know modelers who clean their a/b about every 6 months and still turn out nice work. Although I don't see how !! ! ! Ol '45 Highlands Ranch, Colorado USA

Dean,
Ol' 45 is correct. For some reason (proprietary no doubt) most acrylics work best with their own corporate thinner, Tamiya being one of the most finicky.
But for cleaning the airbrush after use the best (and cheapest) stuff is straight blue Windex without ammonia. Works great, and it is easy to see why one can go six months without a takedown of an airbrush (which is needed just about every time with enamels).
Cookie Sewell

Hi again folks.
Well today I put my airbrush to its first use. It is a dual action, ebay airbrush from somewhere in Hong Kong. Works a treat though. I thinned the Tamiya acrylic with Tamiya thinner and sprayed a couple coats on. Took a while to dry which led me to believe I either put it on a bit thick, or I hadn't thinned it enough, although my guess was close to 1:1 ratio.
I ended up just useing the Tamiya thinner to run through the airbrush and clean it out. Took needle out and other basic parts and gave them a wipe with thinner and re-assembled. All good so far and seems to have done a good paint job... No orange peel and no runs. Had the airbrush compressor set at 20 PSI.