Thinning Warhammer 40K paints

[Philip H]

A buddy of mine recently moved to New Zealand(!) and left me with a considerable number of his War Hammer 40 K paints.  Since some of them are matches for railroad colors, some look like they will make great weathering washes, and some will be good for cars, trucks, houses, etc I was grateful.  That said, many if not most of the bottles are thickened, at least when compared to my Polly Scale and Tru Color bottles.

I assume these are acrylics since they have have no odor.  Can one of you who games tell me if there are standard dilution formulas and or substances?  Will the Windshield washer fluid trick work with these?

Thanks!

[peteski]

I don't know what is the big deal with windshield washer fluid. Seems like one of those things some really cheap hobbyist thought would be cool to do and ev erybody jumped on the bandwagon.  That stuff is pretty much water with alcohol, and some blue tinting agent and possibly maybe some detergent.  My main thing against it is that it is blue, not clear

Why not use some isopropyl rubbing alcohol instead?  It is clear and almost as cheap as the washer fluid.  Or denatured alcohol mixed with water.

If the paint has almost no odor you are probably best off trying to thin it with just distilled water (tap water will do in a pinch too).  Alcohol or ammonia (like in Windex which is sometimes also recommended as a thinner) can curdle some water-based acrylics.

[railnerd]

Distilled water also works just fine with most modern wargaming paint.  I've used distilled water with Citadel paints just fine.

-Dave

[GaryHinshaw]

I agree - distilled water should be fine.

The first time I heard about washer fluid as a thinner was in Rich Yourstone's weathering article in N Scale Railroading (nearly 10 years ago now...).  He recommended it for acrylic washes, no doubt as a wetting agent so the washes would flow better.  I'm sure rubbing alcohol would produce the same results if reduced surface tension is a goal.  This is not really an issue for spray painting though.

[tom mann]

I've been recommending the Vallejo Thinner to those who ask.  Even significantly thinned, the adhesion is excellent.

[bman]

I've used distilled water also.  I've some of the Vallejo paints since it seems I paint Warhammer figures more than model rr these days.  I like most of them, I've  a sliver that just plain is worthless, but have not tried the thinner.  I'll grab some next game night just to give it a try for a comparison.