# Testors lacquer paints in the bottle



## machgo (Feb 10, 2010)

I'm working on a project and tried the Testors lacquer in the small bottles. The color is nice, but it seems to take a long time to cure. Days later, the paint has a tacky feeling. I thinned it with Gaia lacquer thinner at a ratio of 1 part paint to 2 parts thinner.

What is the recommended, or workable, ratio, and which thinner should I use?

Mr. Hobby and Gaia lacquers cure quite quickly when thinned with the Gaia thinner at the same ratio.

Any suggestions or insights appreciated. Thanks in advance!


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Machgo,

If you're referring to the small square bottles, the paint is oil, not lacquer based. Therefore, you'll want to thin the paint with mineral spirits. Lacquer thinner could be causing your problems.

Environmental factors can be holding up your drying time also. Is it very humid where you're painting? Is there much air circulation? Are you applying the paint in thick or thin coats, by spraying or hand brushing? Is it flat or gloss paint?

All thses things can affect how quickly the paint dries.


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## machgo (Feb 10, 2010)

Mark, These are the round bottles. They may be labeled "specialty lacquer." They are definitely not the square bottle enamels. 

Finish is gloss, airbrushed. Doesn't seem to be a difference if the coats are thin or thick--curing time is really long. I couldn't hazard a guess as to humidity, but temperature has been relatively consistent in the sixties (I'm spraying in a basement, so humidity could be a factor.) Air flow is relatively still (when I'm spraying) to none (after I close the windows, when I'm done painting for the day.)

Thanks for the reply!


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Machgo,

Yeah, come to think of it I have seen those. I use hardware store lacquer thinner with Testors clear Dull and Gloss lacquers, so I would think that type of solvent would work the specialty paints. They may have their own thinner - have you checked the paint bottles?

Since you're airbrushing a gloss finish, I have to assume you don't want much airflow around your model. You're not going to want dust and debris getting into the sticky paint. And if the basement is humid, that could be keeping the paint from drying. It might help the paint to dry faster if you brought the covered model upstairs. No dust, less moisture that way.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Testors makes some lacquer car colors in jars, similar to the Model Master line.

I thin those with Testors lacquer thinner. If in doubt it is always best to thin a brand of paint with its own proprietary thinner. I do know the Testors lacquers are straight lacquers and not the plastic safe synthetic lacquers like Gunze or Tamiya's spray can lacquers. That could be a problem with the Gaia thinner if it is similar to the Tamiya and Gunze synthetic, plastic safe lacquer thinners.

It may be you are thinning the paint too much and breaking down the binder. I never thin anything more than 50/50. Usually I spray at a mix closer to 75/25 paint to thinner ratio

I have used the Testors lacquers and have not noticed any prolonged drying times, although I do not use them much or for large things.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

While I've used hardware store lacquer thinner for years to lean my brushes and airbrush, and occasionally to thin airbrushed paints (when I run out of AB thinner), my hardware store recently changed brands of lacquer thinner. Now when I use it in the airbrush, it causes the paint to clump! So, great, now I'm spending more money on smaller cans of Testors brand all-purpose thinner. Oh well.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Unlike something like Mineral Spirits, which is more or less a constant, Lacquer Thinner is no one product and a lot of the cheap stuff you buy is recycled and may include other solvents or chemicals. There was just a long, detailed, discussion of this on Hyperscale perhaps two days back regarding how hardware store lacquer thinner stripped the chrome and pitted the brass on an airbrush becuase the modeller switched brands.

The Tamiya and Gunze lacquer thinners are excellent and are plastic safe. I use those in enamels and acrylic paints too.


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## machgo (Feb 10, 2010)

Well, I am thinning my paints, Gunze, Gaia and Testors (I've only used the one bottle so far--Pontiac Engine Blue) at a ratio of 2 parts thinner to 1 part paint. I'm only using Gaia lacquer thinner to thin. This sprays very nicely through my Paasche VL (I think that's the model) at less than 20 psi with the stock needle (unsure of the size). It won't go through my Paasche Talon at all with the .25 needle, and barely spits with the .38, unless I add some more thinner into the cup.

The Gaia and Gunze paints cure beautifully, so I'm not sure if humidity is a factor or not.

I had to pick up some more Testors paint, so I looked for their thinner. All the shop had was a 1/2 ounce bottle for $3.50. At that price, I have to stick to the Gaia thinner.

My wife likes to paint her nails with lacquers. She suggested putting the parts in the freezer and/or sitting them in front of a fan for a while.


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## Disco58 (Apr 10, 2011)

If I may, what are you painting? Is it vinyl by chance? The reason I ask is that while I'm completely unfamiliar with Gaia paints, aren't Gunze-Sangyo all acrylics? As such (for reasons I can't begin to fathom) many will thin with lacquer thinner, and that could give you a false sense of compatibility with other paints for your subject's base material. Enamels and lacquers aren't compatible over vinyl or similar plastics; if it is, or anything even remotely similar, your kids will still be wondering when it will dry, long after you're gone.


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## machgo (Feb 10, 2010)

Kit is resin. It's been primed with Gaia surfacer. For all intents and purposes Gaia and Mr. Hobby are interchangeable. I'm using the Mr. Hobby lacquers, although it's my understanding the pigments are acryllic based. I'm not using the Mr. Hobby Aqueous paints.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Disco58 said:


> If I may, what are you painting? Is it vinyl by chance? The reason I ask is that while I'm completely unfamiliar with Gaia paints, aren't Gunze-Sangyo all acrylics? As such (for reasons I can't begin to fathom) many will thin with lacquer thinner, and that could give you a false sense of compatibility with other paints for your subject's base material. Enamels and lacquers aren't compatible over vinyl or similar plastics; if it is, or anything even remotely similar, your kids will still be wondering when it will dry, long after you're gone.


Gunze aka Mr. Hobby has two lines of paint. The Aqueous Hobby Color line, which are acrylic, and the Mr. Color series. The Aqueous paints have not been imported to North America for a few years now and many of the high number colors have been discontinued. The Mr. Color paints are now imported though, but are rare. THey are quite good.

Gaianote Paint is another lacqer brand. They get good reviews but are pretty obscure. They are not mainstream for sure (Testors, Tamiya) or even second tier (Floquil, Mr. Color).


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## starlord (Mar 30, 2011)

I would guess that the place needs to be warmed up. I have used that kind of pait with thining it at all but here in the mojave desert we have a sumertime temp of 90 og more in the daytime.


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## machgo (Feb 10, 2010)

Thinking temperature might be an issue--as well as humidity--I put the still tacky parts outside in the sun for about ten minutes or so. The paint got soft, to the point it started bleeding onto/into the notebook paper it was sitting on. This was done June 20th.

Today I got back to the parts in question. I had removed them from the basement to the first floor. They had cured to the point that I could wet sand them without the paint gumming the paper.

I sprayed some more Testors Pontiac Engine Blue today, and put the wet pieces in front of a box fan--no issues with slow curing at all. Still not as fast a cure as the Gaia or Gunze paints, but well within reason. So, there is a happy ending to this story!


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## Hallofame (Jan 13, 2012)

*Infrared temp gun*

I read often people paint in basements and garages and discuss time frames and drying problems and even humidity factors. I paint Fiberglas fish mounts and also do curing of epoxy, which needs good temps in my basement. I found a inexpensive $16.00 infrared laser gun which shoots a beam on almost anything including liquid paint or water and reads back the temp. Has dozens of uses to match corresponding temps. I even used it on my wife. Excellent piece of equipment for painters.


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## Y3a (Jan 18, 2001)

With over 200 Brass steam loco's I've painted, and sealed with Testors Gloss lacquer, I ALWAYS thin it with Home Depot/Lowes type lacquer thinner. I buy it by the gallon. I thin it 50-50, and spray at 40 lbs through a Paasche H brush. I then dry the parts in a heated area (about 110 degrees with 250 watt flood). It sounds like the paint was let to dry in a place too cold.


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## dreadnaught726 (Feb 5, 2011)

I used the bottleTestors Pontiac Engine Blue lacquer to paint Uncle Martin's ship fro MFM with no drying issues. I used commercial lacquer thinner I got fro Home Depot and thinned the paint to the consistancy of mik, which I do with all my paints. The paint was completely dry in 2 hours with no other issues. Try adjusting your paint to thinner ratio.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I have had no drying issues with any of the various lacquer paints when either using their proprietary thinner (ie Mr. Color Thinner in Mr. Color paint) or hardware store type lacquer thinner.


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