Thinning down Tamiya arcylic paint

[Primoscustoms]

So I thought it was a water base paint so I been thinning it out with water. But I went over to the hobby shop and the guy tells me I need a thinner. Is this true? The water seemed to be working. Anybody know?

[- Z -]

Both work fine, but the the thinner gives a smoother result.

[Tony]

Tamiya is an alcohol based acrylic instead of just water like most. Normal rubbing alcohol(like 70% or something) is whats in the Tamiya thinner jars contain. From what I've been told water will still work but the alcohol will be better.

[Hatchet]

Any rubbing alcohol is the best for Tamiya. Since their products are alcohol based you don't want to use water in them. It will weaken the paint and make it chip easier.

[Boggs6ft7]

I use alcohol and get good results, althought I sometimes seem a difference in the gloss of the top coat depending on the amount of alcohol.

You need to thin them down for hand brushing too. Tamiya down right sucks out of the bottle when trying to brush paint. It takes more coats when its thinned, but you get such a smoother finish.

[Hotwire]

I use alcohol and get good results, althought I sometimes seem a difference in the gloss of the top coat depending on the amount of alcohol.

You need to thin them down for hand brushing too. Tamiya down right sucks out of the bottle when trying to brush paint. It takes more coats when its thinned, but you get such a smoother finish.

Will have to remember this. What ratio would you suggest?

[starwarsgeek]

I'm surprised you want/need to thin Tamiya paint at all. I stopped using the stuff because it was actually too thin for my tastes...

[mampy]

Will have to remember this. What ratio would you suggest?

I use alcohol to thin acrylics as well, but I don't really follow a specific ratio (definitely more paint than alcohol, though). It's really best to just try it out yourself, thinning small amounts of paint until you get a consistency that works well for you. :)

[BigHank]

Have any of you guys had issues with thinning water based Acrylics with alcohol? I tend to use alcohol to thin all my Acrylics, Tamiya and Model Master, which is water based.

I haven't noticed any issues with alcohol thinned MM paint, but can it hurt? Never thought of it bfore "thin acrylics with alcohol" was always my default.

[frenzyrumble]

Have any of you guys had issues with thinning water based Acrylics with alcohol? I tend to use alcohol to thin all my Acrylics, Tamiya and Model Master, which is water based.

I haven't noticed any issues with alcohol thinned MM paint, but can it hurt? Never thought of it bfore "thin acrylics with alcohol" was always my default.

I've actually been doing this. I've been doing some black washes using acrylic Model Master black (good stuff) originally, I was using water to thin it to a wash, but the paint mixture was beading cause it was going on lacquer or enamel areas. The alcohol does the trick though. I get the nice washes I want, then when about 99% dry, I wipe the area clean leaving only the panel lines black.

[Overhaulimus]

Alcohol huh?

So now I know about Future and Alcohol to thin down paints.

[BigHank]

Thanks F_R for clarifying. I've never used water, thinking back I must have picked it up years ago from the veterans at the hobby shop. They always would do layers, and detail with a different medium (base w/enamels, glosscote, detail/wash w/ acrylics or oils, glosscote, decals, dullcote) looks like I've been doing okay all this time!

[frenzyrumble]

yeah, originally I used to use enamel base coats (main colors) and then try to do washes with enamels. Unless 100% cured, it causes problems, especially where it pools up (reactivates the enamel base coat) Since then, I go "down the scale" with paints. I'll base coat with lacquers now, so when I use enamels (thinned with paint thinner) the lacquer base coats dont move. Only reason I've been trying the black acrylic washes is when I want a quick wash on something I don't have the time to wait a week for to cure/dry.

[BigHank]

"down the scale" huh. That's a good way to conceptualize it. I've not tried lacquers yet (I'm skeerd) but maybe after I nab that Iwata from you I'll give it a go. As for MM black it is good, I like their line of acrylics and enamels too. I use MM = aircraft interior black. It's a tad less than pure black, kinda like that camo fusion we prime with.:)

[frenzyrumble]

yeah, i typically use MM Black chrome trim, it's super matter and goes on very opaque.

[starwarsgeek]

I usually thin my paints with clear Windex. Never tried alcohol.

[C2567]

Doh! I Should have come to this thread before wasting a entire bottle of clear blue trying to get it to cover using water, Gah!

[MacrossFa19]

I just buy the tamiya x-20 thinner. It cleans the paint up great in the airbrush and a drop or two on your paint works wonders.

[Tank_driver]

I usually thin my paints with clear Windex. Never tried alcohol.

i concur this works pretty damn good IMO

[Crabeg]

sorry to butt in but does this mean that all acrylic paints are better thinned with alcohol,i've just been using water to thin it enough for my airbrush and it seems ok,will i get a better finish with alcohol?

[Squall]

the only issue i have with paints is...

why wont they just sell those paints used by the chinese in making toys? can you imagine how durable their paints are, plastics were painted even if they are still oily. and yet no paint chips and all...

.........ok so i'm not really helping. lol.

[frenzyrumble]

the only issue i have with paints is...

why wont they just sell those paints used by the chinese in making toys? can you imagine how durable their paints are, plastics were painted even if they are still oily. and yet no paint chips and all...

.........ok so i'm not really helping. lol.

I'm not 100% sure, but pretty confident I've read factory "paints" are either thermally applied (heated process) or screen printed on. I don't think it's an actual "paint"

[Hotwire]

I'm not 100% sure, but pretty confident I've read factory "paints" are either thermally applied (heated process) or screen printed on. I don't think it's an actual "paint"

Beat me to it.

[MacrossFa19]

I'm not 100% sure, but pretty confident I've read factory "paints" are either thermally applied (heated process) or screen printed on. I don't think it's an actual "paint"

and not to mention alot of them are still on recall.

[IceWilly]

So I basically have found myself with the following acrylic paints to choose from, and here is what I have gathered so far in terms of feedback.

Citadel - expensive but really nice. Sometimes can gunk up a bit in the airbrush and not made to be thinned down too much. Great washes. Terrific metallics for dry brushing (bolt gun metallic especially)

Tamiya - Not as expensive but pretty good. Decent selection of colors to choose from. Pretty thin out of the bottle

Testors Model Masters - Seems to be a pretty universally liked paint. Seemed like a decent "go-to" for a starting point for myself. Good selection of colors.

Krylon Fusion - Rattle can stuff but great for plastic bonding apparently. Lack of colors will make me most likely avoid it though.

I am trying to build a base set of paints to start my experimentation on. My shopping list was looking like this:

Primers: (needed?)
rattle can krylon fusion (hopefully in black and white)

Paint:
Model Masters assortment of base colors
Citadel metallics and washes

Sealants:
Future floor polish
Model masters dull coats and gloss coats

I realize a lot of this will be trial and error to learn what works for me. But I would prefer to minimize spending the money on cheaper things at the start that will give me a bad precedent for how good paint should behave.

I have access to the Tamiya stuff for 2.30$ a bottle locally and Citadel for 4$, whereas I would have to order model masters online. Should I go strictly Tamiya for the time being?

Thanks

[Hotwire]

So I basically have found myself with the following acrylic paints to choose from, and here is what I have gathered so far in terms of feedback.

Citadel - expensive but really nice. Sometimes can gunk up a bit in the airbrush and not made to be thinned down too much. Great washes. Terrific metallics for dry brushing (bolt gun metallic especially)

Tamiya - Not as expensive but pretty good. Decent selection of colors to choose from. Pretty thin out of the bottle

Testors Model Masters - Seems to be a pretty universally liked paint. Seemed like a decent "go-to" for a starting point for myself. Good selection of colors.

Krylon Fusion - Rattle can stuff but great for plastic bonding apparently. Lack of colors will make me most likely avoid it though.

I am trying to build a base set of paints to start my experimentation on. My shopping list was looking like this:

Primers: (needed?)
rattle can krylon fusion (hopefully in black and white)
The Krylon Fusion you want is the Ultra Flat Camouflage. Also, Rustolem makes a product similar to the Fusion that comes in clear.
Paint:
Model Masters assortment of base colors
Citadel metallics and washes
Can't speak on these. Haven't used them. But I can speak very highly of Tamiya.
Sealants:
Future floor polish
Model masters dull coats and gloss coats
The Future is a given. It goes on smooth with a brush or airbrush, and it's self leveling.

I realize a lot of this will be trial and error to learn what works for me. But I would prefer to minimize spending the money on cheaper things at the start that will give me a bad precedent for how good paint should behave.

I have access to the Tamiya stuff for 2.30$ a bottle locally and Citadel for 4$, whereas I would have to order model masters online. Should I go strictly Tamiya for the time being?

Thanks
Seeing as you have easy access to it, I'd go with the Tamiya for now.