Brush Cleaner for Mr. Surfacer 500

[Stevekir]

I have been experimenting with this product and my brush is now caked in hard filler. I have tried cleaning it with Water, Medea Airbrush Cleaner, Muc-off and Xtracrylix Thinners but none has worked. How do I clean my brush please?

 

[stona]

You'll want cellulose thinners (lacquer thinners for those across the pond) for that. You can get it from Halfords.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Stevekir]

Thanks. I will get this.

 

[tecdes]

Agree 100% with Steve cellulose thinners is the only thing which will touch it.

Perhaps a nuisance but it has advantages. Nothing else will dislodge Mr Surfacer once it is on the model or your darned fingers.

Useful warning do not apply cellulose once 500 is on your model. It will have interesting effects which will have the further use of 500 or 1000 inevitable.

Laurie

 

[Caledonia]

I have been experimenting with this product and my brush is now caked in hard filler. I have tried cleaning it with Water, Medea Airbrush Cleaner, Muc-off and Xtracrylix Thinners but none has worked. How do I clean my brush please?

Mr Color Thinner, available in 250 and 400mL bottles cleans the brushes, see link below. Cheers Derek

Thinner on ModelDesignConstruction - Model Design Construction (MDC)'s range of Thinners from Mr Hobby Available for customers in UK, Ireland and Scandinavia ONLY

 

[tecdes]

That is interesting Derek in the possibilty of using it as a leveller for Mr Surfacer 500.

It is a bit lumpy where applied & I am wondering if the Colour Thinner will help to smooth it & also help dump it further into the joins.

Just wonder if you had tried that Derek ?

Laurie

 

[stona]

I'll bet you that Mr Color Thinner is essentially cellulose thinners.

All cellulose thinners are a mixture of various solvents,so no two brands are necessarily the same.

Cheers

Steve

 

[tecdes]

I'll bet you that Mr Color Thinner is essentially cellulose thinners.All cellulose thinners are a mixture of various solvents,so no two brands are necessarily the same.

Cheers

Steve

Yes I thought the same cellulose but with some other ingredient to slow & make it less aggresive & non destructive of model plastic than pure cellulose.

I have suspected that Mr Surfacer has a similar thinner to Mr Colour thinners. This is what makes it interesting for other uses as queried smoothing Surfacer 500. Also to be careful where Mr Surfacer is used if using a paint with Mr Colour thinners as if it cleans brushes it will also soften the 500.

Laurie

 

[Caledonia]

I'll bet you that Mr Color Thinner is essentially cellulose thinners.All cellulose thinners are a mixture of various solvents,so no two brands are necessarily the same.

Cheers

Steve

Cellulous thinners are a synthetic solvent and are based on Ethylene glycol, where as Mr Color Thinner is an organic solvent based on petroleum products; it does not attack bare plastic. I have used it to remove dried paint from models without damaging details and to thin Mr Color range of aqueous paints. Cheers Derek

 

[stona]

Cellulous thinners are a synthetic solvent and are based on Ethylene glycol, where as Mr Color Thinner is an organic solvent based on petroleum products; it does not attack bare plastic. I have used it to remove dried paint from models without damaging details and to thin Mr Color range of aqueous paints. Cheers Derek

Speaking as a chemist (well an ex chemist really) and,post degree,an organic chemist no less, that makes no real sense.

The solvents in cellulose thinners are all carbon based,ie organic molecules. The typical source for these is ultimately oil,a substance of entirely organic origin.Many,many moons ago many were derived from living sources,as for example Turpentine was.

Cellulose thinners will contain varying amounts of different solvents which is why some are "hotter" than others.

Most contain solvents belonging to some or all of the following groups. Esters (usually butyl acetate),ketones (like MEK or acetone which will eat your plastic) ethers (like the glycol you mentioned) alcohols and of course aromatic hydrocarbons like toluene. I've probably missed something,most suppliers don't list the ingredients on the tin,the label will say something like "High in VOCs",volatile organic compounds.

The reason that the Mr color thinners does not attack bare plastic is because it will be formulated with little or none of the more agressive solvents,like MEK or trichloromethane (chloroform).

I apologise if it sounds like I'm giving a chemistry lesson,it's just that something like "cellulose thinners" can cover a multitude of different formulae

Cheers

Steve

 

[BarryW]

Alcohol, IPA to be precise, is also good for cleaning Mr Surfacer off brushes. It can be bought in a larger quantity and therefore much more cheaply that the thinners. I have a 10 litre can of it bought off Amazon which I decant into smaller containers for use.

 

[tecdes]

Good tip Barry. Tried it and it worked well. Bit more agitation needed compared to cellulose thinners but it is less lethal.

Not sure how it will work if you leave it & Mr Surfacer becomes hardish.

Laurie

 

[BarryW]

I use it on Mr Surfacer to 'sand' a seam as well Laurie. It works well even after the Mr S has been left to harden for a couple of says. A little more elbow grease than the Mr Thinners perhaps, but not much more once it soaks into the Mr Surfacer. What I don't use it for is to thin the Mr Surfacer (or Dissolved Putty) for which I do use the Mr Thinners as and when needed.