Tamiya Paint and thinner

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Kekker
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Tamiya Paint and thinner

Post by Kekker »

So I have used Tamiya acrylic paint with their acrylic thinner for airbrushing. It tended to dry on the tip of the airbrush, but laid down nicely. I tried it for brush painting, but was always frustrated by it drying quickly and practically clotting when I tried to paint over part that had already dried.

So I had read in Scale Aviation Modeler that some people used the Tamiya lacquer thinner with the acrylic paint. I finally saw the lacquer thinner at the hobbyshop and bought some.

I mixed the acrylic paint with the new thinner and was amazed! It flowed on nice and smoothly, covered well, and there was no issue when hitting a dried bit. Since it dried more slowly it leveled beautifully.

I'm convinced - I'll be using their lacquer thinner with the Tamiya acrylics from here on out!
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admiralcag
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Post by admiralcag »

Use the lacquer thinner for brush painting, correct?

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Kekker
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Post by Kekker »

Yep - enormous improvement in how well the paint works.
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admiralcag
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Post by admiralcag »

Kewl! I have been wanting to try the lacquer thinner for airbrushing. Would Mr. Color Leveling Thinner work, too?
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Kylwell
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Post by Kylwell »

Yes or even run of the mill lacquer thinner tho' IIRC it dries a bit faster with regular lacquer thinner.
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Kekker
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Post by Kekker »

I looked online about Tamiya acrylics and the lacquer thinner, and there were some people who also used the Mr. Color Leveling Thinner with similar effect. If I could find it around, I'd give it a shot, too.

But for now, the Tamiya stuff will be my go-to!
darth_daniel
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Post by darth_daniel »

Kekker wrote:I looked online about Tamiya acrylics and the lacquer thinner, and there were some people who also used the Mr. Color Leveling Thinner with similar effect. If I could find it around, I'd give it a shot, too.

But for now, the Tamiya stuff will be my go-to!
Just a month ago, I used Mr. Leveling Thinner for the first time after someone on Keeper of the Force recommended it. This stuff produced the smoothest matte black Tamiya acrylic coat I ever painted. Before I just used ethyl alcohol and always got grainy surfaces. So I can definately recommend it.
Just be careful not to inhale its fumes (wear a mask), it´s quite agressive. It even made one of the clear plastic paint mixing jars that came with my Badger 360 crack apart. :shock:
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