Tamiya X-22 Clear

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

Hello all. I’d like to airbrush a gloss coat over my model, 1/48 Tamiya F-15, since I just finished spraying the camo. Would I be correct in assuming that the Tamiya X-22 Acrylic IS gloss because it has the “X” prefix? The bottle just states “Clear”.

Second question-
After this gloss coat is applied and I set all decals, can I continue to apply different methods of weathering, then give a final coat of matt finish? Or am I supposed to seal the decals with another gloss, then move onto weathering, followed up by a matt coat? Thank you much, look forward to reading responses. Kindly, Ted.

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2

Tamiya’s website describes it as a glossy clear.

As for the second question.
Seal the decals with another gloss, weather and then apply the matte finish. Sealing in the decals prevents accidental damage to them while doing the weathering.

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Yup, thats what I was going to say. Don’t want enamels for example eating into the decals.

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Thank you both, much appreciated. I will post a few pics when I’m finished, although I am not in any kind of rush. This is the first build I’m doing in decades, literally! Last one was when I was about 15, I’m now 55!

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You’ve got all the right advice here, @hh60gblackhawk! I’ll only add one extra tip: get something to practice spraying that clear on, even if it’s a piece of cardboard (glossy, like a soda can box is good). Mess around with thinning, air pressure, distance from the model, drying time, etc.

I have often found spraying clearcoats to be unexplainably tricky, and it is always a shame to mess up an otherwise almost-finished model!

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Thank you, I didn’t even think about that. Should I be thinning the clear coat approx 1:1 like the paint prior to airbrushing?

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I personally usually start at around 1:3 thinner/clear, when I’m experimenting with a new varnish. That’s at 20-25psi with a .5mm nozzle, so of course, YMMV. And for what it’s worth, with Tamiya, I’d use their X20A thinner specifically.

You don’t want to thin too much or it could dry before having time to flatten itself out. And of course check in with the manufacturer’s recommendations. I’m not sure what Tamiya suggests.

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Thanks again. I have emailed Tamiya just a few days ago and they email back quickly. I will check in with them about this particular subject and post it here. Thank you.

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Hey Ted, I guess my burning question is, what paint did you use for the camo color coats? Everyone else in the thread has got you well covered on this, but I just want to make sure that you’re not going to have paint incompatibility issues is all.

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I forget where I read it, but the “X” prefix refers to gloss, whereas the “XF” prefix refers to flat. At least that’s how it is for their paints. Not sure about their clear coats.

Hope this helps,
Mark

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You are absolutely right, Mark.

X range is for gloss and semi gloss. XF is the flat range.

Tamiya’s flat clear is XF-86 and semi gloss clear is X-35.

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12

To that specific question, yes. Tamiya’s acrylic line is designated with the X, with the X paints being gloss, and XF being flat.

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13

Hey thanks my man. I sprayed the camo coats with Tamiya XF shades and thinned all with X-20A. I’m using an Iwata Revolution with a 0.5 needle/tip. I was spraying at about 12 psi, not sure if that is proper, but I didn’t seem to have any major problems. Although I don’t have a benchmark to compare to because this is my first time airbrushing. Heck, this is the first model I’m building in 40 years. So I’ll take all the advice I can get. I want to thank you AND everybody else for taking the time out to read through this thread. MUCH THANKS!

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I always seal the decals with a clear before moving on to the weathering stage.
Good luck.

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