Tamiya Acrylic range - lack of colours?

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
21

Are you hung up on Tamiya or can you get access to other manufacturer’s colors, like the ones found in craft stores and such? There’s a lot more than Tamiya for acryllics. And a lot of colors of the craft-types are the same as military colors, they just have these goofy “chick names”…

22

I’m not totally stuck on Tamiya, but would prefer to go the single brand way for compatability, consistency & all that - it has to be acrylic though.

The only other brands that appeal & seem to be available (to me anyway) are Tamiya, Mr Colour & Vallejio. Regardless of what I decide on, it will be mail order. Like said I would prefer availabilty & ease of use over perfect colour match.

Thanks.

23

hi,

vallejo are really easy to use and are available everywhere and i’d recommend them.

make sure you buy the “model air” range for the airbrush.

paul

24

That tears it… I’m going to have try this, this… Vallejo stuff… That’s about the thousandth post about the stuff…

I fear change though…

25

“Mr Color” isn’t an aqueous acrylic - it’s a lacquer based system. Mr Color are the jars with a “paddle topped” lid.

Gunze’s aqueous range come in small, squat bottles nearly identical to Tamiya’s small 10ml jars with a similar shaped cap. The aqueous range has a good selection of colours, including some specific FS matches and some specific RAF matches (eg. “Hemp”, “Barley Grey” amongst others). Gunze’s aqueous acrylics are similar in properties to Tamiya’s. They airbrush exceptionally well but can be a little tricky to brush paint because they dry very quickly, causing similar problems to Tamiya when brush-painting. Quite a lot of Gunze’s “flat” colours are actually semi-gloss, compared to Tamiya’s which are dead flat.

I’ve just started using Vallejo acrylics and I’m liking them so far, though I haven’t uesd them extensively yet.

PS: Gunze’s acrylic clear flat (H-20) is highly recommended.

26

Thanks guys, I have done a bit more looking on the WWW & it seems that I can also get Gunze & Vallejo acrylics online. Having read what I can find in the way of reviews, I have found;

Tamiya - Good all round performer, but with limited range.

Vallejo - mixed reviews, good range, adhesion & drying issues, not sure about “pre thinned”.

Gunze - good colour range, thin, dont know much more.

Any of your pro’s / con’s welcome.

I am still tempted by Tamiya, but no one has really commented on their colours yet? As an example of this query, I have a Revell B-1B & Avro Vulcan to paint in camo, with colours advised that Tamiya dont seem to do being;

Bone: Grey FS36081 (Revell Matt mouse grey 47)

Vulcan: Dark Green (humbrol 163) & Medium Sea Grey (Humbrol 165)

Like said, I am not interested in perfect match - just something that looks about right, so will Tamiya do the job without to much mixing?

27

this link might help a few people

http://www.ttfxmedia.com/vallejo/cgi-bin/_modelis_info.asp?p1=ing&p2=modelair&p3=1#modelairinfo

it gives equivilant colours across various paint makers.

paul

28

I use Tamiya exclusively and while you do have to mix up certain colors, I find it not so hard to do. Here’s a new paint chart I found that might help you out. Use the online one, you can show and hide columns and sort by brand. You’ll have to turn on Tamiya as it’s not shown as default. You might find that the colors you are looking for aren’t that far off.

I find Tamiya to be an excellent airbrush paint, and with patience it brushes on nicely.

Vallejo is reputed to be an excellent paint, but not available locally. When I want paint, I want it NOW!

Gunze Acrylic is also not available locally, but people I know who use it claim it’s interchangable with Tamiya.

29

Bgrigg, thanks for the advice & link. It would seem that Tamiya & Gunze are compatabe, that sorts out Tamiyas limited range if it ever does become a problem. Guess I better get the C/Card out.

Thanks all.

30

just a further comment about covering with white. I find that white covers much better if you lay down a primer coat of a light neutral color. I usually use Tamiya ‘white’ (lt grey) primer in a spray can myself. THe stuff stinks to high heaven, but covers well and a white coat goes over that really nicely.