Tamiya recommends that you only use their thinner for their acrylics. Most of the manufacturers do the same. Does it really matter? Tamiya is awfully expensive. If possible I’d like to use something cheaper. Can I do that without compromising the finish I get? Thanks for the advice.
I use iso rubbing alchohol to thin my Tamiya Acrlics. It works pretty good, but Tamiya does not thin well with water! I’ve tried it and it was just, uh, I don’t want to talk about it but I use alchohol. It drys extremely fast thought if you use rubbing alchohol though, so be forewarned.
Isopropyl is the way to go with Tamiya. I even add drops straight in the airbrush cup if it starts to thicken when I’m taking my time. I also keep a AB bottle full of 50% water/ 50% iso to flush between colors. I have the Tamiya thinner and have yet to crack open the bottle.
-or you might try Brador.[:D]
-K Dryden HOF[;)]
Alternate thinner/ cleaners for Tamiya acrylics: *Tamiya’s own thinner is best but you can use:
- Windex
- 70% and 91% Isoprophol Alcohol
- Denatured alcohol
- Distilled water/ Alcohol mix
buff, i use tamiya acrylics almost exclusively and i buy there brand of thinner. yes its nearly 8 bucks a pop for the 250ml jug, but that will thin enough paint to float a battleship! ive had a 250ml jug since around september of 2003 and have atleast 2 hrs of spraying time per week since then and have just reached the top of the 2 stars(i would say a quarter of a container in the last 6 months) on the outside of the container. ive even “primed” (or flushed)my airbrush with it from time to time if the ab has been sitting for a while. use the above mentioned if you want to, but i reccomend biting the bullet and purchasing the real mccoy. when you think about it, 8 bucks (or even $16) a year just aint no money my friend. thanks, later.
How do you guys feel that Tamiya compares to Model Master Acryl?
Does it adhere better? Flow better?
I am just curious.
Thanks
Mike
Thanks for the advice, gents. I appreciate it. Hey Ausf, fancy meeting you here! Habs 1, Devils 1.[:D]. We never get any points there.
Read the contents of Tamiya thinner. I forget exactly what it says now, but it’s something “Contains Alcohol Components” and nothing else. Then smell it and tell me it isn’t basically isopropyl alky [8D] I think it might contain a little retarder or something though since it does appear to prevent the paint from drying so quickly.
For brush painting I don’t really like either of them since I have “Blow Through” problems. Paint one color over another and I frequently have problems with the new color dissolving the old. I don’t have a lot of choices locally, but for brush painting I’m getting to where I prefer “Games Workshop” acrylics.
For air brushing I really can’t tell a lot of difference. I thin both with alky and they both seem to spray about equally well. I think I prefer Tamiya, but I really don’t know why.
It’s like kissing your sister.
me: i use iso for thinning, gotta love those alcohol based acrylics… and yes i made the same mistake of adding water.
dries faster than you can blink… i paint a cockpit black, walk down the hall to grab some water, when im back (around 30 seconds) the paint is around 3/4 dire.d
I don’t have a lot of choices locally, but for brush painting I’m getting to where I prefer “Games Workshop” acrylics. I used to paint a lot of Games Workshop stuff and used there paint. I have never found their paint to cover very good without multiple coats, have they changed the formula within the last two years?
Ausf,
Not tonight though!
Model Master paints are great to hand paint things with. Model Master covers the whole area that your painting and never gets sticky while painting through a job. With Tamiya you have to thin out your brush and remix the paint after handpainting a while because it gets too sticky. I don’t like Model Master because the shades of their paint is off. I paid almost $3 (go to http://xe.com/ for currency conversion) for a jar of model master paint called German Uniform Grey. When I was done painting my figure it just didn’t look right. It looks too aqua like. The rust is also off too. It’s too orangish. The model master sprays like a dream through the airbrush though. The tamiya will eventually lose it’s diluteness and will get sticky over time when you airbrush and you’ll keep needing to ad iso rubbing alcohol through out the spray job. Tamiya is right on the ball when it comes to correct shades of colors.
Seems like just about any acrylic paint adheres better than Model Master Acryl. Tamiya doesn’t flow as well for brush painting but air brushes well. I think it tends to clog less than Model Master. The choice of colors is really limiting in the Tamiya line. I don’t like mixing colors except for figure painting.
That’s interesting hungfarlow. I painted an old 1/32 Corsair wing with Model Master Acryl Gunship Gray and after letting it dry for 48 hours it took three attempts with tape to get the paint to lift. By the way, the “tape” I was using for this test was duct tape! [:D][;)]
That is pretty good adhesion I would say. Maybe certain colors don’t adhere as well? [%-)]
Mike
i like my tamiyas the way they are… a little brittle, but so quick drying its not funny
Is there a difference between Iso Alchy and Denatured Alchy - The oldmaster Rodney Williams reccommends 4 part thinner to one part paint - and it works great! just wondering in denatured will work even better!
Isopropyl alcohol is a single chemical. Denatured alcohol is a mixture of ethyl alchol and methyl alcohol. Both should be just fine as acrylic thinners.
Gip Winecoff
When I paint a GW model I will airbrush it first. I have a bunch of the Citadel paints, and I have noticed that at least the black will dry very quickly, especially on my brush. it’s annoying when I take my time and have to keep cleaning the brush.
I have also noticed that the Citadel paints work best on Miniatures. I tried using them on a GW tank and got lousy results.