Tamiya sprays vs bottles?

Modeling Subjects Armor
1

Hey, while working on my King Tiger for the Panzer Aces GB I got to thinking…particularly after a looong stint at with the airbrush trying to cover that monster…has anyone done an actual comparison between the Tamiya TS series of spray paints vs the XF series in the bottles? Do they actually match? I’m not a rattlecan fan, but for something like that I think I could be convinced to give it a shot, so long as I knew I could do bottle-work afterwards and not have everything look totally different.

Any input?

2

I prefer the bottled paint for several reasons:

I like using acrylics

I like the control of my airbrush

It’s cheaper

And for the most important reason: I can adjust the tone and mix colors. For example, Tamiys’s Dunkelgelb is way too dark. It must be lightened.

Overall, I would say that it’s better to use bottled paint, but it never hurts to try something new. Good luck with whatever you use!

3

Hey dupes. I don’t have an airbrush yet, so all I have to paint with are the Tamiya rattle-cans. (Sadly this means no camo for me, unless its like my king tiger where I can use a silly putty mask) Through my experience the colors come pretty close to each other, and I didn’t notice much of a difference. However, I don’t use my tamiya acrylics for brush painting, so I’ve just been judging by looking at the dried spray can paint to some dry bottle paint on a test tank. The little bottles are waiting for the day I buy an airbrush (which I should get on pronto). An idea I’ve been wanting to try is to use a rattlecan as a base-coat, say on a big jagdtiger, and then use an airbrush for post-shading and highlighting.

4

Here’s a thought: sometimes I decant the spray can paint into a bottle. I then can use an airbrush to paint. If I have to do touch ups, I have the color already in the bottle. The only problem is that it can be a little difficult brush painting lacquer based paint which the Tamiya rattle cans are.

Jesse

5

I recently used Tamiya AS-12 (aircraft aluminum) on the 1/32nd Hasegawa P-47, because the thing was so huge I would have about $40.00 in Alclad II invested. I sprayed over panels with the Alclad after using the Tamiya spray can, but the point is, the stuff was dynamite. I used Tamiya sprays on armor years ago (before the airbrush) and I got good results.

Please excuse the sacreligious posting of a wingy thingy, but I wanted you to see this rattle can finish:

You can use the sprays without fear,IMHO, once you weather the base it will all blend in anyway.

regards,

Steve

6

I’ve never read this anywhere, but I assume the Tamiya spray can paints are either enamel or lacquer based, correct? I have a couple and they smell pretty bad when sprayed. Can anyone confirm the base?

BTW I used the Tamiya rattle can for my first armor build in 30 years and it came out quite nice.

7

Yep, Tamiya’s spray cans are lacquer based.

From the description at the Tamiya USA page:

These cans of spray paint are extremely useful for painting large surfaces. The paint is a synthetic lacquer that cures in a short period of time.

PS: The front of the can says “Spray Lacquer” [:o)]

8

Crockett - that P-47 is AWESOME. [tup][tup] I’m working on one for a group build now, and the aftermarket decals I picked up happen to look veeerrrry similar to the ones on your jug [;)]…wow! Did you do any buffing on the NMF or is that straight from the can?

I’m definitely thinking time conservation versus paint savings with the sprays (XF-60 is pretty cheap), they’re actually pretty expensive. But if I can basecoat an entire KT in 3 minutes instead of an hour (or two) it’d be worth it.

I’m assuming since it’s a lacquer, it essentially serves as a “primer” as well?

9

Not nearly as bad as Testors/MM spray cans I’ll give you the tip.

But back to the q? @ hand - the colours are as near as identical as you can get. There is a slight tonal difference between the acylic & the enamel - which should be expected

10

First and foremost…time conservation? I can cover a 1/35th KT in Tamiya acrylic Dunkelgelb in 5 minutes with my Iwata Micron. With the Badger I can do it in two! But , hey brother…its your rice bowl![:D]

I never prime anything…ever…with paint. The exception is aircraft, where a little trick I learned years ago has never failed me. I “prime” with Future. For NMF, polish the plastic to a sheen, clean the surface and apply a coat of Future. Once cured in a few days, lay on the Alclad II or “whatever” metallic finish you desire, and WOW. Check it out:

Good luck on your painting adventures. PM or e-mail me if you wish.

regards,

Steve

11

Crockett - I see you have the same “thing” I do for P-47’s. [:D]

Will certainly PM you about my further paint adventures…AB a KT in 2 minutes? Gaah!

12

Dupes,

I used the Tamiya TS rattle cans once, and only once. I had several gripes concerning them.

1- They are expensive. More expensive than MM enamel rattle cans.

2- Like all rattle cans, they waste a lot of paint.

3- They are lacquer based, so they stink to high heaven. Only use them outside and with a respirator.

4- You must apply several light coats to get a nice finish. So several cans are necessary for large projects.

5- See numbers 1-4.

13

I have been using the Tamiya rattle cans primarily for awhile now. I have an airbrush, but not the room to set it up (especially to get the wife’s permisssion). They do apply lighter than the MM rattle cans, but I like that. Their quality is better than MM as I don’t get the globbing up as you do with the occasional MM cans. Usually I can work with the painted item in half an hour to an hour as they dry fast. Neither Oil paints, Blue Tack or Silly Putty react to the painted surfaces either. Its been my primary paint for some time now.

One thing that I found important is to use a primer always. Either the white or gray primer that Tamiya has are very good and fine.

Mike T.

14

As I am (perhaps was) primarily a plane modeller, my preferred Tamiya TS spraycan paints are mainly the primers and flat black. Both superb and flat black works equally as well on my 1:72 armour models.

One AS series paint, AS-12 BMF is my preferred bare metal paint for aircraft. Simply superb and can be masked over easily, something that is only achieved by Alcad paints and certainly not Modelmaster.

Oh, oh, another winged thing [:)]

As for paint shade similarity? Not a chance. The AS/TS sprays are different shades to their bottle line up.

cheers

Mike