Has anyone else had a problem with Tamiya flat base fogging? I did my usual thinning with 70% alcohol and the result looked like I sprayed a thinned white or Floquil Dust. ANy ideas or similar experiences?
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or just search for “tamiya flat base” and you’ll get 730 results
Thanks
Mix with 1 part Flat Base to 4 parts Future Floor Finish.
Tamiya “flat” is actually a "flat base ". When it ismixed with a gloss paint or gloss clear it makes that paint less glossy . Th more flat base is added , the more flat the gloss becomes . When it is mixed with a thinning agent alone it does cause the white coating .
I mix my Tamiya flat with Future. Depending on how flat I want the finish to be I usually do around a 6:1 to 4:1 ratio of Future to flat. Haven’t had any problems… yet… lol
So the key is you need to mix it with something like the plain old Tamiya Clear or Future as the Tamiya flat is used to “flatten” a clear gloss mix. Mixing it with rubbing alcohol is basically like just spraying on raw flat as the alcohol will evaporate and all you’re left with is the flat particles.
About the flattest you’ll want to mix is a 4:1 ratio. There are several pretty good posts on the forums regarding clear flat that might be helpful to you. [:)]
Ah, the weekly Tamiya Flat Fiasco. When will Mr T. clearly label this garbage? Or get rid of it. NO, wait, can’t get rid of it, the messed up paint jobs result in the sale of more paint and models.
Your right about there being no explanation about how to use the Tamiya flat . But once its use is figured out it seems to give a good flat finish . I like the fact that it can be mixed with any acrylic gloss ( including future and Tamiya clear ) to make it "flat " .
This particular topic seems to come up so regularly, I wonder if it might be a good idea to make a “sticky thread” on the subject.
All other clear flats don’t need to be mixed with ANYTHING to give a good flat finish.
The existance of this product baffles me. The Tamiya line up already has the XF range of flat colors (which have to be glossed to have decals applied. ) Adding this to gloss paint seems pointless since you’d have to gloss it again to apply decals. Many years ago, I learned a very simple precept from an old boss: K.I.S.S. keep it simple, stupid. Tamiya Flat Base violates this principle.
I agree that Tamiya flat is not the most intuitive product to you. Thank god for these forums! [:)]
The flat mixed with future is the last thing I spray on the plane.
OK, I get I bit confused because I never really did that step before. Let say for an armor model. Can Tamiya flat base mixed with Future at 1:4 ratio be used for the “dull coat”? Meaning, will it take some of the future glossy effect away and protect my paint job?
Sure! I usually spray straight future, then decal. Then straight future, then oil wash etc. Then seal everything in with a mix future at 4:1 (4 parts future to 1 part Tamiya Flat).
Alright! Thanks a lot! Makes more sense to me now! I will still try it out on a trial build before commiting to a more serious one. Thanks again!
The main reason Tamiya makes a Flat BASE instead of a single flat clear is to give modelers choice. Do you want dead flat, satin flat, sorta flat, semi-gloss, etc.
Sure I can buy X series Gloss and XF series Flat, but with the exception of X-18 Semi-Gloss Black, I can’t buy a semi-gloss version of their colours. With Flat Base I can custom make my own. I haven’t so far, and can’t easily conceive of the time that I would, but I could.
Keep it simple stupid , if you dont like Tamiya flat base , then simply dont buy or use it .
I don’t buy it. Haven’t since the one time I ruined a paint finish 22 years ago. However, people are still buying it and unwittingly ruining their models. Then posting at the various websites asking what they did wrong.
That would be the case for any product when one doesn’t know how to use it. It would be nice if Tamiya had instructions on how to use it. However, once you know how Tamiya Flat is used and how to mix it, it’s fantastic! [:)]
Well it looks like Thehannaman got his answer many post ago and is done here . Still its been fun reading everyones opinions . (smile )
So basically it boils down to this: Tamiya Flat is a great, versatile product that allows you to control how flat your final finish is. The bad thing is there are NO directions on the jar, which will obviously leave someone with negative feelings about the product if they aren’t aware of how to use it and end up ruining a model, and I would certainly understand their apprehension with using this product again. I’m glad I had the benifit of learning from the others so I didn’t have to learn that lesson the hard way. [:)]