Thoughts on the new 4013 reducer...

Kim McCann

Mac-Valve Maestro!
I finally got my hands on the new 4013 reducer from Createx. I have to say, that I am actually surprised at how well it performs. I've tried it with wicked, illustration and base, and so far absolutely no seeding, and it doesn't seem to break the paint even when seriously over-reduced. I am really happy with it so far. It might replace my go-to 4011.

I gave up on 4012 after years of random problems and seeding of paint near randomly. Some never had this problem, but I would from time to time, usually at the wrong time. It led to flow problems, frequent clogs in my micron, and other frustrating behavior. But the 4011 still kept performing like a trooper through all of it when I would give up and go back to it. So it became my preferred reducer.

This 4013 tho, actually does seem to be a lot better. It hasn't seeded anything, flow is substantially better than even with 4011, and I feel I have more control.

I'm wondering what others have found so far.
 
Thanks Kim, I’ve been waiting for a 4013 review, I have a small bottle to test but haven’t had time to paint since I got it. Down here in Australia we get the version without the isopropyl, bonus because we get a choice to add the iso or not.
 
I just got my bottle in yesterday , Mail has been kind of slow here lately so it took 3 times longer then it should have. So I will be trying it today.
 
As I don't have any i'm starting to feel left out.. Saying that i'd have reason to paint something if I got some.. Ordered some Liquitex carbon black acrylic ink. should be here in the week. Now I got a couple of extra airbrushes to use I might have a bash. Interested to see how everyone gets on with it though and if it works with other brands of paint.

Lee
 
Whats your homebrew recipe @jagardn ? Always interested in other recipies.

Lee
Current being the best I've used. I'm still playing with ratios and Ingredients.

I mix a 2oz bottle at a time.
11 grams Liquitex Flow Aid
11 grams Denatured Alcohol
34 grams Distilled Water

I'm going to try different ratios with Isopropyl Alcohol, but there is none to be found since it's used to make hand sanitizer. [emoji849]



Sent from my HD1905 using Tapatalk
 
I have a gallon of isopropyl i got several months ago. I put my current reducer mix earlier in the thread although I also used to use 75ml destilled water 25ml Iso and 1 drop of glycerine. Basically 3 to 1 water to iso and a drop of glycerine per 100ml

Thanks I will try yours too.

Lee
 
I have a gallon of isopropyl i got several months ago. I put my current reducer mix earlier in the thread although I also used to use 75ml destilled water 25ml Iso and 1 drop of glycerine. Basically 3 to 1 water to iso and a drop of glycerine per 100ml

Thanks I will try yours too.

Lee
I blew my math out of the water. [emoji849]
I started out with the wrong ratio in my head.

The liquitex is suggested at 1 part per 20.

2.8 grams Liquitex
13.5 Alcohol
40.4 Distilled Water



Sent from my HD1905 using Tapatalk
 
I blew my math out of the water. [emoji849]
I started out with the wrong ratio in my head.

The liquitex is suggested at 1 part per 20.

2.8 grams Liquitex
13.5 Alcohol
40.4 Distilled Water



Sent from my HD1905 using Tapatalk


Similar to mine

Mine is

1 part clear glass cleaner (non ammonia if you can get it)
1 part ethanol (denatured alcohol(
2 parts distilled water
5ml per L of above, Glycerin (from drug store, or dish soap if you can't get glycerin)
50 ml per L of above of Liquitex Flow Improver premix solution ( 20 parts water to 1 part of flow improver from the bottle)

I use ethanol instead of isopropyl because iso is very, very, very bad for you lungs. You should really be wearing a charcoal vapor mask when spraying it. It's not too bad in very small amounts, but it can be dangerous with continuous exposure. Ethanol isn't great, but... it is much less toxic to epithelial cells in your lungs. You should still mask up, but a good dust or drywall mask is going to block most of it, and the rest won't do too much to your lungs, but might make you a bit loopy if you're around it too long. Not usually a problem with the small amounts involved in airbrushing.

Iso tho is definitely a more serious concern. It definitely flashes (dries) faster than ethanol, but the risk/reward tradeoff to me makes ethanol a better choice for homebrew.

I'll say that 4013 definitely works a bit better than my homebrew for flow. At least using C Wicked or C Illustration. My homebrew seems to play a bit nicer with Aerocolor or Golden tho.
 
I use ethanol instead of isopropyl because iso is very, very, very bad for you lungs. You should really be wearing a charcoal vapor mask when spraying it. It's not too bad in very small amounts, but it can be dangerous with continuous exposure. Ethanol isn't great, but... it is much less toxic to epithelial cells in your lungs. You should still mask up, but a good dust or drywall mask is going to block most of it, and the rest won't do too much to your lungs, but might make you a bit loopy if you're around it too long. Not usually a problem with the small amounts involved in airbrushing.

And this is the only reason I’m willing to try 4013. down here in Australia we get the non iso version and add our own so we effectively get a choice of two reducers. I suffer with COPD so I’m very aware of what I inhale
 
My first thoughts on the 4013 ,
Strong smell of alcohol.
Does allow paint to flow a lot better then the 4012 or 4011
Works as well as the 4020 with out the harsher chemicals
Tip Dry is reduced a lot using straight white so that is a plus.
Compared to my home brew which is easy
4 ounce bottle
1 ounce alcohol 90%
3 ounces H2O
1 drop of glycerin per ounce so 4 drops.

It is about the same except the alcohol smell is not as strong in my home brew.
 
Back
Top