My first experience with Tamiya Acrylic..

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

I used the Tamiya Flat Black Acrylic to airbrush (Badger 350) a Revell SR-71 Blackbird body. I’d read it needed to be thinned as usual (1:1), but I noticed the paint was already a watery consistency (after stirring and shaking, mind you), so I used a 1:10 ratio (Isopropyl : Paint), and it seemed, well, watery. I was thinking I probably should’ve shot the paint straight.

I neglected to mention that I was using the gravity feed cup (I’m starting to hate the canisters).

Thoughts?

2

I have shopt the paint strait and it does ok. However I do get a bit of a orange peal affect.

3

Well, orange peel is a user caused problem not a paint caused problem. I can hardly paint a good gloss surface without it myself. Try using less air pressure and/or backing away from the surface you’re painting a little bit.

madda

4

1:10 should work fine, even 4:1 shouldn’t be a problem, but you probably want to use about 20-22 psi when spraying it, and use several thin coats so the color doesn’t build up in corners and creases.
Glenn

5

Thanks for the info folks…

I decided to be aggressive and shot the paint straight. I’m using a Badger 200 with a Badger Whirlwind 80-1 compressor (I don’t get to choose the air pressure). BEAUTIFUL! Better than I hoped…even the spots where I oversprayed, expecting clotted plastic…smooth as a baby’s bottom! Mind you, I’m using Flat Black…I’d expect a gloss would show more flaws. On the Blackbird, it’s gorgeous.

I’M NEVER GOING TO USE AN ENAMEL AGAIN! (well, maybe for small details).

TAMIYA RULES!

6

Glad to hear you’re back on track, ModelMann. This hobby can be really frustrating at times, but it goes with the territory, I suppose. Thank goodness for boards like this where we can share ideas and fix-its.

7

There are certain colours of Tamiya Acrylic that I will not reduce at all, Flat Black being one of them. It seems to spray perfectly straight out of the bottle.

8

Thanks for the pointer!!! I was shooting the flat black thinned like my panzer colors and could not get it to work right at all. I"m going to try much less thinner for the flat black Tamiya now!

-Muzzleflash