Tamiya Acrylic Shelf Life ?

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

A LHS has a rack full of Tamiya acrylic paint, but the lids have a layer of dust on them.

As the shop moved 2 years ago to its present location, the paint is at least that old.

What is the shelf life of Tamiya paint if the factory seal is unbroken.

I’m tempted to buy but don’t want to purchase useless paint.

2

Well i have tamiya paint thats 10 years old, maybe even older and it still works fine. I keep them stored upside down so no air gets in. If those are still factory sealed they should be just fine.

How much are they asking for them, i’d be interested in them, i think your in Oregon?

3

I still have and use some I got in college in 1986 when a hobby shop closed and I stocked up.

4

I’ve got some of the older 23ml jars which are pushing close to 30 years old and still work fine. Early-mid 80’s vintage.

5

Thanks for the info. guys.

I wasn’t expecting to see Tamiya paint so I didn’t check…however, the store is kinda expensive…

they want Mfr. list on all the kits so I presume Mfr. list for Tamiya paints…

They have RC and trains so maybe kits are a sideshow.

BTW…I’m in the Chicago area

6

same here…I have some from the early 80’s…still good and have the old tamiya smell to them too…

7

Any vintage years? …ie; older better than newer or same consistent quality?

( only half kidding…)[whstl]

8

Surprisingly, this is a valid question. The best is actually pre-1986 or thereabouts. This is about when they first changed the formulation.

Up until the change, it was a very nice paint to brush-paint with. It went down silky smooth, could be overcoated when semi-dry without any nasty pull-up and it self-levelled like you would not believe. With a decent brush, you could lay down a coat that rivalled an airbrushed finish - I’m not kidding.

9

I’m inclined to believe you.

I noticed a number of changes ( for the worse ) in consumer product quality over the years, though most consumables were changed due to inflation in the 1970s decade.

Should be interesting how products change as the current inflation rate ramps up

As this is paint, I can’t help wonder if anything other than the materials used in it’s chemistry had a hand in the paint characteristics changes.

Any news on how the newest batches behave.?

…Providing the paint is again available in the USA…