Can I thin acrylic paint?

I'm using some acrylic pearlescent paint on some wood scales I made and wanted to see what's the best way to thin the paint. Can I use any thinner or reducer, or is there something specific for acrylic they would have. It's difficult to get a smooth finish without sanding after some coats, which leaves it a bit dull, and I'd like to have it level itself out rather than sanding down the brush strokes. Any other tips? Also, will acrylic work in an airbrush?

Your local paint store should sell extender. Floetrol and water should do the trick.

You need to check with the paint maker. There must be some info. on the container label.

I did t realize it's water based, it works well with a few drops. Bought a cheap airbruush that works with acrylic so I'll try it later and post the results.

It'll be very interesting to see what the final results look like. I don't think I've ever seen painted scales. It will be especially interesting to find out how they hold up.

Yeah, I've never seen it either, I want the paint to be thick enough so they look smooth and no grain from the wood is visible. I'm using basswood since it's light and is easy enough to work with and paint. It'll take some experimenting since I never usd an airbrush before, but I think it'll be easier to get good layers than a brush. If it doesn't look good I'll have wasted very little money and ended up with a new tool!

You can thin acrylics a little bit with water,a LITTLE bit. Depending on why you want to thin the paint there are different approaches. If you are thinning to make it more fluid I would mix the paint with airbrush medium (a thin acrylic with no pigment). If you are thinning to make the paint translucent I would thin with acrylic medium (which is basically paint without pigment) Golden paint makes both of these products.

Edit:
I just reread your post. I would use an acrylic gesso as a primer and get that perfectly smooth. Put on thin layer of gesso then let dry and sand, repeat till you get a smooth finish. Then I would spray my acrylic mixed with airbrush medium with the air brush for the color coat.



Charlie

You might want to apply a water base wood filler first to fill in any open pores on the wood scales. Also, I would prime the filled scales with "BIN" aerosol primer (alcohol base, sand between coats) a couple of times prior to applying the acrylic coat. In my opinion, you should use a topcoat (epoxy) that will stand up to handling, water, soap, etc.

Son of a Barber

Thanks. I wanted to thin the paint to remove the streaks and have it dry smoother. Water worked well, and I didn't need wood filler, I just used a sealer and it works nicely. For the epoxy coat, I use a product called Pour-On, which is really durable and easy to use. I'll look for more stuff tomorrow that might help