"Restoring half-hardened Acrylic paint???" Topic

I need the group's advice on a problem from one of my favorite pots of paint. For some reason, the lid didn't seal air tight the last time I used it. Now I have a very thick lump of paint that isn't thinning out with the addition of air brush thinner and a spinning disk mixing too.

My problem is I am using this particular color for Red Martians and it is AmerIndian Flesh from the old Ral Partha line…which Iron Wind Metals doesn't make anymore due to being PC.

How do I restore this paint so I can keep the flesh color consistant?

Thanks in Advance,
Mugwump

I don't know if this is too risky, but I had the same experience once with a particular shade of blue-grey that I had mixed up for a special purpose and did not think I could easily replicate. It tured into the same sort of sticky, lumpy mess. I was able to restore it with a few drops of rubbing alchohol and a bit of distilled water. The alcohol broke down the lumpiness the distilled water got it back to the right consistancy.

That is probably a crude fix compared to what others may have to offer here, but it has worked for me several times since.

Cheers,

Jason

Another option might be to try and take a piece of the dried stuff to the hardware store and have them mix a batch of paint for you in the same color. That way you won't run out for a while!

Sadly, acrylic paint goes through a chemical change when it dries / cures. It turns into a plastic skin basically. If that has happened it can't be reconstituted. So any hardened paint on the jar lip, any skin of paint on the lid or surface of the paint -- scrape/peel that off and throw it away.

If you have anything that is still gooey, it may not have undergone the chemical change yet and so is just very thick paint in which case it can possibly be saved by adding thinner. I've always used filtered water. Sounds like you've tried that though with the airbrush media.

Good luck.

One aid I've found that works pretty well is add a drop of dish washing soap. If there are any hard dried lumps in the jar remove them, as they will help speed drying out the remaining paint. Just add one drop of dish washing soap, stir it in (do not shake), and let sit overnight. If it's still on the lumpy side, add one more drop of soap then about half an eye dropper full of alchohol.

After about a day, or two you should be able to thin and use as normal. I've used this on many of my old RP paints, and found it works very well. Got the idea from one of the guys who helped develop the paints years ago. If the paint still can not be thinned down for use, then it's beyond saving.

If you can't save it, use some of it to paint about a 1 inch sample square on a white index card, take it to your local home improvement store, and have them mix a quart up for you!!

Paul

I've had some luck with extender and water, but if it's hard, it's hard.

You could try the Testor's Acrylic thinner and clean up products – one of them actually disolves acrylic paint that has hardened, it might work to get it dissolved and then you could work on re-constituting it. I've not tried it for that purpose though.

Another alternative is to try Silicon Dragon's Color Match and see if you can find a close color in an exisiting line:

link

Better to dump it. Even if it looks good on the brush you don't know how it will apply or dry. No matter what, you can always mix more.

Yeah, pull out the dried bits.
I have been having great luck bringing back some paints that had gotten really thick(but not solid)with just water.
Mike