After finishing building &applying decals to 4 models I’m going to use in a upcoming diorama,I mixed up Tam x-21 flat base to spray on the figures and vehicles to remove the shine.All items were done in acrylics.After a few minutes I checked everything & almost cried.Every thing turned a white chalky color.A months work & several dollars down the tubes.I used the flat base like I’ve always done with Tam. acrylics,60/40 [paint to thinner,Tam. thinner].This was my 1st use of X-21 & assumed it would acheive the same results as twstors rattle can dull cote.Since it obviouslt didn’t,what is Tamiya’s x-21 flat base used for ? Any help will be appreciated & thanks ahead. Semper fi
Bummer!!! That stuff needs to be thinned WAY down! I only spray it mixed with Future for a satin finnish. It woks great for mixing with alchohol and powder pigments. Man, I feel for ya, If I hadn’t tried it on a piece of scrap the first time I tried spraying it I would have had the same experience. It is meant to be a general flat base, but they should warn a guy about the mix ratio!! I finally went to Pollyscale flat and that works well. Of course I tested that first too.
I know what it’s like
don’t quite make it completely 1:3 ratio, but something like the semi-gloss, then add a bit.
the reason it’s like that is because of not enough mixing.
I’ve had that problem, though not to that extent, when mixing it with future (at 2:1 future to flat). What have you tried to correct the problem? I’m thinking maybe spraying with straight thinner would dilute it enough to thin down the effect or let you wipe it off? Let us know how you make out.
We really should sticky this!
This topic comes up all the time. Unfortunately, a lot of people are running into this problem!
X-21 Flat Base is supposed to be mixed with other paints to give them a matte finish, and is NOT intended to be used on its own, for the very reason we heard about in the original post.
Yeah, what Brian said … XF-21 is a BASE, as the name implies, and was never intended to be sprayed by itself. It’s use is to give gloss paints a flat finish. It works well when mixed with Future, but never, NEVER spray it by itself.
it’s a real shame that Tamiya doesn’t write some instructions in English on those bottles so the unwary modeller wouldn’t get bit by it. I have found that mixing it at a 4:1 ratio of four parts Future to one part XF-21 will give a nice flat coat. You can also naturally use it to flatten out gloss and semi-gloss acrylic paints.
Thanks all,just like everything else in life,you learn [hopefully] by your mistakes !!! Semper fi
Encountered that same problem before, I managed to wipe the white chalky stuff off with a cloth. I did it about 2 ~ 3 hours after spraying.
BTW, does Tam produce any thing for flat finish?
Rick
Just bought a bottle of X-21 a few days back for exactly the same use as rudedog did. Didn’t know the purpose of it though I did tell the shop owner that I’m using it for giving my model a matt finish.
Anyway, just went down to the shop again and this time I got the Gunze’s flat clear (H20) and the Hobby Color thinner 110 (owner says the Gunze’s acrylics don’t mix well with Tamiya’s thiners). Is this the correct one to use? [:)]