Tamiya paints

A

Arron

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Hi. After auditioning several brands of paint I've finally settled on the ones that work best for me. I settled on Matisse Flow acrylics for the broad areas and underpainting, and on Tamiya acrylics for detail.

The choice of Matisse has actually got more to do with the fact that its made just across the river from me and it feels good to support Australia's manufacturing industry even if it is in terminal decline and it probably wont make any difference anyway.

Its the choice of Tamiya that has me curious. Why is it so rarely mentioned. It seems just wonderful stuff to me (no connection - no promo intended). I did a forum search and found a few mentions of it, but I guess my question is "is there something I'm overlooking". Is there something I should know before I get any more enmeshed with it ?

cheers
Arron
 
I think the reason theres not much info on here is because its mainly a modelling paint. There are quite a few modellers on here but I think some use other brands of paint on their models.
I personally don't use Tamiya paints for anything as I don't make any models although i do have several Tamiya RC cars from the 70's through to the 90's. They are due to be taken out of storage soon so I can see what I have and Maybe get them painted up again. For that reason I am interested in what answers you get.

I'm certain that you will get a few replies to your question and they may give you the answers you want.

lee
 
Yes, I do see that they are used mainly by model makers (which I'm not) so I'm curious what makes a paint suitable for models rather then for other things?
 
Availability perhaps. I've never seen it anywhere. Mind you, I guess I haven't gone out of my way to look either.
 
Tamiya makes awesome models, my favorite kits ever. I use the paints too. IN fact, I'm painting my hard hat and I used tamiya primer rattle can for it. The bottles are pretty small so I think they are more expensive. Plus, they have to be highly reduced. Vallejo is another excellent model paint and they make a line just for airbrushing

That's all I know
 
It is a great model paint. It sticks right to the plastics super well. My son went and bought me a wack of it when he found out I started playing with the a/b.
Every time my nephew comes over he brings and paints up some models. This was not to long ago...Can you guess the car...lol
IMG-20140825-02488 - Copy.jpgIMG-20140826-02489.jpg

I did this using it for the base black and did the side stripe and the trim. The red stripes was AutoAir trans
IMG-20130906-01066.jpg IMG-20130906-01077.jpg

It always cleans up real well.
 
Meaning ?
Is there a vulnerability with using a paint made for plastics on paper or metal ?
As andreZA said just made to etch into plastic so it holds better to it.,and it won't be as good on paper as lets say e-tac because its hard to erase and scratch in things like fur.hair and highlights
 
As andreZA said just made to etch into plastic so it holds better to it.,and it won't be as good on paper as lets say e-tac because its hard to erase and scratch in things like fur.hair and highlights
OK, not being good at erasing is a pretty strong negative - in fact I think it's a deal-breaker.

Back to the search.

Can anyone confirm a couple of things for me;
Is it true that Golden High flow paints are also poor at erasing ?
Is there anywhere to buy Createx paints over the counter in Sydney?
 
I will add that it dries to be very resistant finish and so erasing and scratching techniques used for texture and realism will not work well.
 
tamiya paint is what I first started using ( due to the fact that it was the only paint available where I live)
A great paint for coverage, but with its above mentioned downfalls i.e smell, doesn't erase well and doesn't scratch well. I've used it for paper and canvas. It has a limited colour range in the xf series ( which I had primarily used and is the flat line paint). But if use the gloss line don't use it as a base coat if you're gonna use the flat line afterwards( issues with adhesion, but you can use xf line before the x line). Best way to mix this paint is using an oral syringe ( which can be purchased at a pharmacy). This provides consistency for colour and the thinner used down to the millimetre . Furthermore if you're gonna use the transparent line ( which is the x series) you will have to either clear it with a gloss or a matte to have a uniform finish if mixing the two series together. I find using nothing but the xf series for all fine art works best. If you want a transparent paint in the xf series you'll have to mix it yourself with a colour from the xf series plus the flat clear that tamiya offers. I used to mix it half colour and half flat clear. It's a good paint and atomizes nicely , but it has its limits. If it helps I recently switched to Createx wicked line and their illustration line and couldn't be more happier.
 
Call me crazy, but I think the Tamiya paints smell pretty good for paint. I dont breath it in and I do ventilate when painting. It flows very nicely with almost no tip-dry. They only exception there is the white. I heavily reduce it to help prevent it. It does have its limits as far as colors go. However, I see new colors every so often.
I do have a question. How do you take the xf (flat) paints and make them into a gloss coat? Can you just add gloss clear? New to this idea.
 
Never mind the flat/gloss paint question. I fiddled around with some 1000 grit sandpaper and was able to smooth the surface enough to make my paint masks stick properly.
I am into model making, so I use Tamiya. I'm currently building the refit Enterprise and am painting the lower hull. Here is a pic of the strong back area. Once again, I'm fairly novice, so if I did well enough to impress myself, I wanted to show it off.
 

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