Airbrush Paint Thinning Chart: Ratios From Vallejo, Createx, Golden and Tamiya

Thinning ratios by paint maker

Paint	Ready to spray?	Thin with	Maker's ratio
Vallejo Model Air	Yes	Airbrush Thinner 71.261, or Flow Improver 71.262	Optional: 3 parts paint to 1 thinner; airbrush colors take at most 25% thinner. Flow Improver: 3 drops paint to 1
Vallejo Surface Primer	Yes	Airbrush Thinner or Flow Improver	Use directly or diluted; no ratio given
Vallejo brush-on colors in an airbrush	No	Airbrush Thinner 71.261	At most 50% thinner
Createx Airbrush Colors, Wicked Colors	Yes, at higher pressure	4011 Reducer	Generally 5 to 10% per volume, 5% at a time; up to 20% for low pressure and small tips (4011 data sheet). Guides give 10 to 30% for some mixes
Createx on leather	No	4030 Balancing Clear 10%, then 4011	4011 generally 10 to 25% per volume
Golden High Flow Acrylics	Yes	Water (Airbrush Transparent Extender extends but does not thin)	Small amounts of water; over 20% water changes other properties
Tamiya acrylic (X, XF)	No	X-20A Acrylic Thinner	Tamiya's page gives no ratio

Read November 2026 from each maker's page or data sheet (sources below). Createx's 4011 data sheet says it supersedes any other inconsistent information, including the label.

How the calculator reads "percent"

Makers write ratios two ways, and the calculator follows each maker's wording:

• Share of the finished mix (Vallejo). Vallejo's 3 parts paint to 1 part thinner puts thinner at 25% of the mix, which matches its "maximum of 25%". So 30 drops of paint takes up to 10 drops of thinner.
• Percent of the paint's volume (Createx, Golden). Createx writes "per volume" and adds 4011 in 5% steps; Golden's 20% water limit reads the same way. So 20 drops of Createx paint takes 1 to 2 drops of 4011 at 5 to 10%.

A drop is not a fixed volume. Count paint and thinner from the same kind of dropper bottle, and thin by small steps: Createx tells you to add 4011 a little at a time and let the mix sit 10 minutes before spraying.

Signs your paint is too thick or too thin

Too thick	Too thin
Spatter and a grainy spray (Iwata)	Runs and "spider" legs
Paint dries on the needle tip	Poor coverage, many coats needed
Airbrush stops spraying at low pressure	Paint beads or pools on the surface
Needs high pressure to spray at all	Weak adhesion if over-reduced (Createx warns against over-reducing)

Thinning, pressure and nozzle work together

Thicker paint needs more pressure or a bigger nozzle; thinner paint sprays at lower pressure through a smaller nozzle. Createx makes the link explicit: up to 20% reducer for low-pressure work with small tips, and straight from the bottle at 60+ psi through a 0.5 mm airbrush on shirts. Golden says paints of 35 to 60 centipoise suit 0.18 and 0.2 mm nozzles. Match all three: see the airbrush PSI chart for pressure and airbrush types for nozzle sizes.

Which thinner, and why not water?

Plain water thins water-based paint, but it also thins the resin that makes the paint stick and level. Makers sell thinners for that reason: Vallejo says its Airbrush Thinner dilutes color without loss of adhesion, resistance and consistency; Createx says 4011 lowers viscosity, reduces tip dry and improves drying and curing. Golden is the exception: its High Flow Acrylics take a little water, up to 20%. Our airbrush thinner guide compares the thinners and flow improvers.