Everywhere I look , including Tamiya USA is nearly out of stock. Are they going out of production or something?
Due to the Tsunami, they are having production difficulties. Hopefully all will be better soon.
Actually, they are in the process of altering product labelling to conform with US labelling requirements.
Last month a Tamiya USA rep told me that they expect to be importing paint again by November, 2011 or sooner! The stated problem was the labeling issue.
That’s good news. I’ve been looking for an answer of some kind since last winter. Lately, I have had some (mixed) luck with ebay.
I thought I noticed that Great Models had a restock of the long awaited x-20 thinner sometime last week, too.
I ordered Tamiya paints from England a few days ago. I will let you know how the order goes. Stores over seas are really well stocked. Keep looking around and you will find them. Good Luck. November can’t get here soon enough.
I think this is a big lie. Have you seen the labels on Mr Color?!? There is not one word in English other than the name of the color…If Tamiya had labeling issues, Mr. Color should’ve been pulled off the market years ago.
If you guys are still having trouble getting the stuff, I would be more than happy to try & help (obvious I suppose).
The shipping cost on single order makes things pretty expensive, but if there are a few of you who know each other, I could combine orders to save on the shipping. The only real complication would be that it would have to be shipped to a single address…
If it has lead in the paint, which I am assuming the labeling issue is addressing, then that is why. Maybe the Mr. Color has no lead or possibly it just hasn’t been scrutinized yet?
My apologies.
I got an email notification from Scalehobbyist.com about 20 minutes ago saying the X-20A thinner is back in stock. Maybe that’s a sign that the floodgates are opening.
Greg
How did the order from England go, and if well, what was your source?
Labeling problem? Wonder if this goes back to the argument a year or so back about whether Tamiya paint should really be treated as or even considered as an acrylic. Adam Wilder wrote a bit for Armorama (as I recall) and he argued that Tamiya users should realize that the solvents used in Tamiya were complex stuff and it really crossed the border into lacquer territory. (Tamiya puts them in spray cans but are the largest maker of lacquers in the model market.) The top paint guru at a place called Hobbywave which specializes in figures and sci-fi is a Gunze junkie and says the same about Mr. Color. Let’s face it - Tamiya and Gunze look, smell and act differently than water based acrylics like Vallejo. I have maybe twenty bottles of Tamiya and will use each one of them - but I certainly think Wilder was right about using Tamiya lacquer thinner on them. (Here, for once, you wouldn’t go bulk. Some hardware store lacquer thinners would attack some plastics fast. They’re good at cleaning an air brush though. Tamiya and Gunze both make lacquer thinners that are more civilized.) Or maybe the letters are too small or somebody missed a semi-colon. We’re dealing with th egovernment.
Yeah, I am not buying the whole labeling problem rumor…
Looking realistically at it - how long does it take to reset the labeling machine to print a new label?!? Certainly not a whole year. Keep in mind that there is no recall on the paints to be re-labeled or otherwise, so all they have to do is just print new lables for the new paint.
Something is certainly going on and the fact that Tamiya is so hush about it doesn’t make me feel good. Not a word (officially) from Tamiya on why there is no paint or when new shipments will arrive. The whole story is very suspect…
But, it may take more than a year for our government to make up its mind. I understand that Tamiya has changed the labels once, then our government changed the rules. Tamiya maybe a bit gunshy.
I received an order for two X-20A Thinner yesterday. The label is brand new and in english. The thinner smells different. I have some of the old thinner and the new smells like strait Isopropyl Alcohol. When I smelled it I just about fell over. I will try spraying it and will let you know how it works out. I really hope the paints don’t change to much.
I have ordered paint from the UK and it seems to work just fine. I would be a real shame if the US paint was different.
I was at HobbyTownUSA last month and the owner said that as far as Tamyia goes, it was the earthquake and labeling that set them back. He also said that, with regards to Mr Color, Mr Surfacer, etc., that because of the labeling that he couldn’t get any more than what he had on stock and he couldn’t display them. He said that Texas law doesn’y allow it to be sold with the current labels.
And that is why you should buy American, like Testos Model Master range. Great paint and has all the colors. Why fret over Tamiya that is inpossible to brush and is only in a relatively few colors or Mr. Hobby that almost no one sells on the shelf? Model Master is available everywhere and is a good product. I think is all comes down to paint snobbery, That anything domestic can’t be any good, we can only use an import! People who use Testors have no worries or porblems and the labels are english.
Our local Hobby Town just received the new spray cans of white primer. The label is in English and has extensive health warnings. The clerk said her distributor is finally receiving shipments of Tamiya paints and she hopes to be re-stocked soon.
Don’t say flood![:#]