Canned Tamiya TS vs Bottled Tamiya LP

[aurfalien]

Hi,

I can easily fill a 46ml jar with decanted Tamiya TS being 3oz.  Perhaps a bit more but I don't recall.

The average street price per can seems about $7.

There new LP line of bottled lacquers seems to run about $4.00 and is 10ml.

This breaks down the per ml cost as follows;

Tamiya TS; $.15

Tamiya LP; $.40

Has any one performed similar cost analysis?

* Readjusted numbers.

Edited January 2, 2019 by aurfalien

[BigTallDad]

I think I'm missing the point.

[aurfalien]

41 minutes ago, BigTallDad said:

I think I'm missing the point.

The cost between the two is what I was getting at.

A 2.6x difference seemed a bit surprising.

I feel it's best to go with TS and decant.  Just wanted some feedback from others.

 

Edited January 2, 2019 by aurfalien

[BigTallDad]

25 minutes ago, aurfalien said:

The cost between the two is what I was getting at.

A ~60% difference seemed a bit surprising.

I feel it's best to go with TS and decant.  Just wanted some feedback from others.

 

Are there any differences between the two paints that might justify the difference?

Can the LP be sprayed without thinning? If thinning is required, the cost per unit goes down.

[aurfalien]

4 minutes ago, BigTallDad said:

Are there any differences between the two paints that might justify the difference?

Can the LP be sprayed without thinning? If thinning is required, the cost per unit goes down.

From my understanding they are the same minus the propellant ofcourse.

I've thinned decanted TS by about 10% with Mr. Leveler for the purposes of slowing down the dry time.

Hopefully some one who has used both can comment on the differences.

Edited January 2, 2019 by aurfalien

[aurfalien]

A side note, I've previously read reviews were some spray right out of the bottle while others thin.

An interesting quote with regards to thinning;

It is excellent for coloring and is ideal for painting a large area with an air brush. When using it as an air brush paint, dilute lacquer solvent 1 to 2 with respect to paint 1. It is a trick to finish cleanly to blow 2 to 3 times thinly without thick coating at once. Also, if you brush the whole paint with lacquer paint and brush the small parts with enamel paint, you can fix small parts that protrude without melting the substrate.
Tamiya Color Lacquer Paint’s true, consistent tones make it perfect for airbrushing large areas. Mix 1 part Lacquer Paint with 1-2 parts dedicated thinner, and make 2-3 pass over the subject with your airbrush. Pick out the details with Tamiya Color enamel paints: Lacquer Paints provide a durable basecoat that remains undamaged by enamel topcoats.

[Pete J.]

I did this analysis when they first came out and someone said that the Bottles need to be thinned by 1:1.  I can not confirm that, but if it is true then the price may be much more reasonable, assuming that you can even get them here. 

[Pete J.]

4 minutes ago, aurfalien said:

A side note, I've previously read reviews were some spray right out of the bottle while others thin.

An interesting quote with regards to thinning;

It is excellent for coloring and is ideal for painting a large area with an air brush. When using it as an air brush paint, dilute lacquer solvent 1 to 2 with respect to paint 1. It is a trick to finish cleanly to blow 2 to 3 times thinly without thick coating at once. Also, if you brush the whole paint with lacquer paint and brush the small parts with enamel paint, you can fix small parts that protrude without melting the substrate.
Tamiya Color Lacquer Paint’s true, consistent tones make it perfect for airbrushing large areas. Mix 1 part Lacquer Paint with 1-2 parts dedicated thinner, and make 2-3 pass over the subject with your airbrush. Pick out the details with Tamiya Color enamel paints: Lacquer Paints provide a durable basecoat that remains undamaged by enamel topcoats.

What s the source of this quote?  Tamiya?

Edited January 2, 2019 by Pete J.

[aurfalien]

7 minutes ago, Pete J. said:

What s the source of this quote?  Tamiya?

This one was from tamiyablog.com.  I don't think it's an official Tamiya site.

Edited January 2, 2019 by aurfalien

[aurfalien]

12 minutes ago, Pete J. said:

I did this analysis when they first came out and someone said that the Bottles need to be thinned by 1:1.  I can not confirm that, but if it is true then the price may be much more reasonable, assuming that you can even get them here. 

Ah yes, that would be cool.

I really like Mr. Leveler as a thinning agent.  I see more colors being added as well.

[aurfalien]

A little review from britmodeller.com;

Well just a little report back. I've now tried them out a couple of times.

Basically what you have is decanted Tamiya paint without the hoohah of decanting.

They are exactly the same as the TS paint, and apart from the fineness of the finish, it is difficult to tell the TS and LP colours apart. 

I used mine straight from the bottle with no thinning and they worked just fine, (that was spraying at 18Psi) and I cleaned them out with my usual Acetone. 

I think we might be onto a winner here.

I haven't had a chance yet to try out the Clear, but I'll let you know. 

The only grumble really is the bottle size, but then to keep the price down and make them competitive I can see the point. A bottle will do a couple of bikes or a car body and a half but then they are cheap enough to get a stock in. 

The big thing though is, the guys that live anywhere outside of the EU and UK that cant get Zero or Gravity paints, airbrush ready paint from Tamiya really is a blessing in disguise.

Two thumbs up.

Edited January 2, 2019 by aurfalien

[Dougboy]

TS cans cost less $/ml but I'm more concerned about cost per application.

Unless you are someone who builds many models or plan on building another model using the exact same color, the extra ml in a TS can just ends up being unused or sits on the self for an unknown amount of time. So for me, it ends up being a question of spending $4 to paint a model or spend $7 to paint a model and having leftovers that I might or might not ever use (if its not a commonly used color like white or black). That being said, a few dollars here and there is really nothing in the grand scheme of things. I still gravitate towards TS cans for the color choices available. 

PS* off topic but has anyone mixed decanted TS with Mr. Color? Any issues? Thanks 

[peteski]

I think you guys are talking apples and oranges.  The spray cans contain a organic-solvent-based (stinky) lacquer paints.  The Tamiya paint in little glass bottles is acrylic paint (almost water based). The solvent is mild alcohol.  They are different types of paint.

[Dave G.]

A page from Tamiya on their LP ( LP stands for lacquer paint) bottled paints ( I have not read the whole page myself, just sharing it): https://www.tamiya.com/english/products/list/lacquer/kit82101.htm

Edit: Hmmm, seems to be a color chart more than anything, though it does say that a dedicated thinner is available.

Edited January 7, 2019 by Dave G.
Added information

[Zoom Zoom]

6 hours ago, peteski said:

I think you guys are talking apples and oranges.  The spray cans contain a organic-solvent-based (stinky) lacquer paints.  The Tamiya paint in little glass bottles is acrylic paint (almost water based). The solvent is mild alcohol.  They are different types of paint.

Thes LP paints are a new product, it is not the old acrylics. It's not readily available in the US at this time, and it's going to be a slow rollout. Tamiya has a whole line of bottled enamels for other countries that have been available for decades. Not sold in the US.

[Zoom Zoom]

1 hour ago, Dave G. said:

A page from Tamiya on their LP ( LP stands for lacquer paint) bottled paints ( I have not read the whole page myself, just sharing it): https://www.tamiya.com/english/products/list/lacquer/kit82101.htm

Edit: Hmmm, seems to be a color chart more than anything, though it does say that a dedicated thinner is available.

Tamiya has been selling their own lacquer thinner here in the US for quite some time, it's very similar to Mr. Hobby Mr. Color Thinner, and what's nice is that it also plays well with Tamiya's aqueous acrylics. It will thin decanted TS paints and the new LP jar paint, but from what I hear it was developed primarily to satisfy airbrush painters who desired their acrylic paints to lay down as smoothly as lacquers without the acrylic's tendency to seem thinner, pool up if applied slightly too wet, sometime have surface tension resistance to plastic, and dry slower. In that respect it works quite well, I just shot some racing seats w/Tamiya X-6 orange thinned w/the lacquer thinner, the paint laid down just like a lacquer and will a bit less gloss. I did still have to go over that w/satin clear to kill the remaining gloss, but now I don't avoid spraying Tamiya acrylics like I used to. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

9 minutes ago, Zoom Zoom said:

Tamiya has been selling their own lacquer thinner here in the US for quite some time... 

Bob...unrelated question...would you please chime in on the thread below? I believe you've had considerable experience airbrushing Molotow refill material, and know what (or if) it can be cleared with for protection. Thanks (hope to see you at another ACME meeting if I ever get over there again).   

 

Edited January 7, 2019 by Ace-Garageguy

[Zoom Zoom]

35 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Bob...unrelated question...would you please chime in on the thread below? I believe you've had considerable experience airbrushing Molotow refill material, and know what (or if) it can be cleared with for protection. Thanks (hope to see you at another ACME meeting if I ever get over there again).   

 

Done. Hope it helps!

[Tommy124]

Tamiya have confirmed at an early stage that the LP (bottled Lacquer Paint) stuff is chemically identical to the TS canned stuff. Which has been wonderful news as we all know how good the TS paint is. I have used LP paints last year and found them to be great to work with. The only thing that has confused me a little that they require A LOT of thinning (using their dedicated Lacquer Paints Thinner). So it's vital to always have enough of the thinner around... 

[aurfalien]

3 minutes ago, Tommy124 said:

The only thing that has confused me a little that they require A LOT of thinning (using their dedicated Lacquer Paints Thinner). So it's vital to always have enough of the thinner around... 

How much thinner ratio have you noticed?

[Tommy124]

3 minutes ago, aurfalien said:

How much thinner ratio have you noticed?

It was 1 parts paint on 2 parts thinner for the basecoat (which is more or less the instruction Tamiya gives) but it was significantly more for the glossy clearcoat (LP-9), 1:3 ratio at the least. I needed a lot of thinner to get the paint working and a lot of that thinned paint to cover the body to the desired degree. But what I really like about the clearcoat, it's pretty resistant but yet not too hard after it has dried, so it can be nicely sanded and polished. But as I said, make sure to have enough of those small paint jars and thinner around... 

[aurfalien]

2 minutes ago, Tommy124 said:

It was 1 parts paint on 2 parts thinner for the basecoat (which is more or less the instruction Tamiya gives) but it was significantly more for the glossy clearcoat (LP-9), 1:3 ratio at the least. I needed a lot of thinner to get the paint working and a lot of that thinned paint to cover the body to the desired degree. But what I really like about the clearcoat, it's pretty resistant but yet not too hard after it has dried, so it can be nicely sanded and polished. But as I said, make sure to have enough of those small paint jars and thinner around... 

Great info, thank you.

With that sort of thinning, is the color/pigment washed out a bit or does it look rich?

[Tommy124]

1 minute ago, aurfalien said:

Great info, thank you.

With that sort of thinning, is the color/pigment washed out a bit or does it look rich?

You're welcome. TBH I cannot tell you as I have applied the clear coat on a white (Zero Paints) basecoat. So I can mainly judge on the surface, gloss and sandability. The LP basecoats I used were rather small portions of red and aluminium (for engine parts). I have been using the 1:2 ration on those , they pretty much reminded me of the TS consistency. And they covered very well.

[aurfalien]

4 minutes ago, Tommy124 said:

You're welcome. TBH I cannot tell you as I have applied the clear coat on a white (Zero Paints) basecoat. So I can mainly judge on the surface, gloss and sandability. The LP basecoats I used were rather small portions of red and aluminium (for engine parts). I have been using the 1:2 ration on those , they pretty much reminded me of the TS consistency. And they covered very well.

Awesome!

Thanks again.

Even at a ratio of 1:1 which brings this paint to LP/¢20 compared to TS/¢15.

The advantage is being able to use a thinner of choice.  In my case that would be Mr. Leveler, although how much is too much Mr. Leveler? 

[Ace-Garageguy]

38 minutes ago, Zoom Zoom said:

Done. Hope it helps!

Thank you sir. Very much appreciated.