Needing advice on thinning Model Master enamels for brush painting

[Rick Lowe]

Hi, folks

I was wanting some advice on the above topic, please.

I have some MM enamels and really like them, but I want to be able to thin them a bit. The sticking point is that the thinners I've seen (in the square bottle) is labeled as 'for airbrushing' - can this be made to work for hairy sticking too, or should I keep looking? (and what should I be looking for?)
I have seen discussion about others having good results with White (Mineral) Spirit, but - again - only for airbrushing.

The other thing I've heard is that Testors are 'like Microsoft for Paints', in that they are formulated so only their own thinners really work, rather than any other manufacturer's or a 'generic'.

Any and all help would be appreciated.

Cheers

[zenrat]

Turps seems to work OK for me but I tend to only use enamels (Testors, Humbrol, Tamiya) for detail painting.  I suspect you are wanting to brush paint larger areas?

[Dizzyfugu]

I frequently use MM enamels (with bushes), and also use the dedicated thinner occasionally - especially for the metallizers, but to me the stuff also works well in the normal paints. Standard terpentine or nitrous solvent should work well, too, I found the enamels to be pretty robust.

[sandiego89]

I routinely used the "airbrush" thinner with the model master series for both airbrushing and regular brushing without any noticeable issues.

[Rick Lowe]

Thanks everyone, that helps - and yes, I should have said I'm looking at using them for the main paint jobs - so full coverage or whatever you call it.

[jcf]

Naphtha/lighter fluid/white gas/Coleman fuel - different names for the same thing,
is the best thinner for any "enamel" paint. The type I use is labeled VM & P
(Varnish Maker & Painter) Naphtha, in my experience it's "cleaner" than white spirit/
mineral spirits/paint thinner, the paint/varnish flows and levels better and the
naphtha evaporates more quickly. I was introduced to it for thinning varnish on a
wooden boat resto project, works brilliantly and equally as well with modeller's
oil-based "enamels" which are actually just pigmented plant-oil based varnish.