Hope you guys are doing great. This is my first time on this forum. Hello from Toronto Canada.
I have a question about Tamiya paints. The thing is, i hardly use these paints but i do not want them drying out!!!
WOULD it be a good idea to put in 10-15 drops of x20A (tamiya thinner acrylic) to ensure longer hydration / increase its lifespan?
Please let me know, my local hobbyshops don’t have a clue about this.
I want to extend the life of my paints outside of just ensuring the lids are clean and there no clogging.
I guess what I am trying to get at is, is there ANY drawback in adding extra tamiya thinner to my tamiya jars just for that extra hydration / peace of mind.
I never use tamiya paint not thinned regardless, i always thin tamiya paints when using anyways.
First, a warm welcome to the forum. Very glad to have you with us!
Have to echo what PJ said: lids on tight is the key. I’ve used Tamiya almost exclusively from about 2005, and have had no problems with well-sealed jars lasting for years with full ‘usability’…if that’s a word.[:D]
In my experiece adding a few drops of the same-brand thinner will certainly do no harm…but it also won’t help a lot if any air can get in to evaporate those solvents.
I have some Tamiya acrylics from the mid-80’s (yep, that’s 35 years or so) which are still good to go.
On the other hand, I have found Tamiya’s enamels (in the little rectangular bottles) tend to dry out in the bottle. I recall seeing some which had dried out in the paint rack in a hobby store.
I remember watching a vid from some dude running a hobby shop on proper thinning, and he had this trick where you opened the Tamiya jar, and there was a little ridge in the neck. All you did was fill the jar to the ridge and that was supposed to perfectly thin your paint…
Phil the same thing happens to Testors enamels. They go bad pretty quick but I have some old Testors enamels in the little square bottles 30+ years old and are still good yet ones bought a year or two ago have gone bad.
Thinners added to paint, even the own brand, tend to start the breakdown process of the paint. It’s not immediate, but it will happen once started. Tamiya paints do store well and have a nice long storage life. I have had a few where some of the carrier evaporated out over extended periods leaving more pigment. In that case I was able to revive them by adding distilled water.
Yes, make sure the lids are tight. All paint. Since I started cranking down the lids , I have not had one dried bottle of paint. I have a hard time gettting to lids off sometimes, but, hey, the paint is still good!
my post was referring to acrylic, sorry i should have been more clear
im very confused - why would tamiya’s own thinner deteriorate it’s own paint?
I have like 20 paints i want to keep for the long run and I have added like 10-15 drops of tamiya thinner… basically these won’t last long becuase I have done this?
Im no chemist, so I can’t explain why. But in my experience, once thinners are added to bottles of paint, the paints go bad over time. It’s not immediate, but rather a gradual process. If it is a generic color that you tend to use up rapidly, such as flat black, you’ll probably use it up before it goes bad. But if it’s a seldom used color, you will notice a change in the paint over time.
Make sure you aren’t making James Bond Martini’s with your paint. They should be stirred and not shaken. This keeps the inside of the tops clean which helps to keep the top of the bottle clean and free of paint that might prevent a good seal.
lol starting to feel like if the paint jar is ever in the position where the jar is flipped upside down or tilted in any way by mistake, the jar is doomed [:D]