Airbrushing with Tamiya acrylics

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

Hi everyone,

I am having trouble airbrushing Tamiya acrylics. At what ratio should they be thinned? I tried adding a couple of drops of thinner to about two eye-droppers worth of paint but I got splatter marks. So I tried 50:50 and it seemed as if the paint did not want to stick to the plastic. I had already given a matte base coat so it should stick nicely. I’ve only tried two coats of semi-gloss black and it doesn’t look very glossy, more like fine sandpaper with a sheen. I thought that it might be moisture as I am using propellant but when I spray without any paint it’s bone dry. Any suggestions or should I stick to spray cans, they always gave a nice even coat.

Thanks,

Dan

2

I use Tamiyas in my a/b all the time. I really havent had any problems. What king of thinner are you using? Ive noticed some of their paints thin at different ratios, sometimes I only use 50%, and a few I use a tad bit more.The splatter can still be from the can. You may have too much pressure, or not enough. Make sure your airline at the attachment point is not clogged. I once had that problem and for the life of me couldnt figure it out. The I just happen to notice that the cork sealer came loose and was blocking the air. If you were getting water in the line you would see it on the paint because it beads up on the acrylics.

3

Some Tamiya colours I use straight from the bottle with no thinning at all. I find that Tamiya needs very little thinning at the best of times.

4

I agree with Robert, you don’t need much thinning, its already pretty thin. I just add a little rubbing alcohol to, as I read somewhere, the “consistancy of cream”. Also, try test painting some extra sheet styrene or an old dummy model before moving on to your project. I’ve found that Tamiya, as well as Gunze paints are excellent for airbrushing. Good luck.

5

I’m using the tamiya thinner acrylic thinner (X-20A). When you guys talk about beads in the paint when there is water in the line do you mean like tiny little balls of water/paint? That’s kind of what it looks like when I airbrushing, as if the paint wants to run off the model rather than stay on the surface. But as I said if I remove the paint jar and just spary air through there is no moisture. When the paint is dry it has a splattered pattern, it isn’t lumpy or anything but under the light I can see the paint has a fine texture to it, not a smooth one.

Dan

6

The runoff sounds ike the paint is too thin. The fine texture sounds like either you dont have enough air pressure , or your holding the a/b too far from the surface and its drying before it hits the model.I honestly dont see how you could have both runny paint and at the same time “textured paint” . Try trsting your airline for moisture. First remove the hose and hold the hose close to your finger and see if water builds up. Do the same with the airbrush, holding it almost on your finger. What kind of a/b are you using?

7

I’ve used Tamiya with good results doing the following for airbrushing:

  1. I stir the paint thouroughly folowed by a good shaking for 1 min. to insure the paint and vehicle are mixed well.
  2. For general spraying I thin 2 parts paint to 1 part thinner (91% Iso Alcohol) sprayed at 15 psi. For fine-lines I thin it at a ratio of 1:1 paint-to thinner and reduce the psi to around 10 psi or lower.
  3. I test spray on a scrap piece of styrene, and when I’m satisfied with flow, coverage, psi and volume settings, I move on to the model.
  4. I use an Iwata Revolution HP-CR gravity-feed A/B.

Hope this helps, Good luck![:D]