Pete J.

Oh, and when I do a Tamiya can, when I am done, I cut it open and take the glass marble out. I save them to drop in my mixing jars to aid in mixing the paint after it has settled.

Procedural advise - When I decant, after punching the hole in the can, I lay it on it's side, hole up, and slowly let the propellent out and let it sit overnight to give it a chance to off gas. Next day, I use a finger to cover the hole and shake the heck out of it and then pour that into my jar. Since I see you bought a couple of pipettes, I use them to squirt a little lacquer thinner into the can and shake it again. This dissolves all the remaining paint. I then add that to my jar. That way you get everything you paid for.

Yup that's what I use.

Ok, thanks! I was just able to find some to order from Canada! It seems from Tamiya's web site that most are just not available in the US yet. Can't wait to get them here and play with them. Kind of seems like an 20ml Tamiya mixing jar may be a good place to start the experiment.

? Easier?? Not so sure. I just happened to stumble across it when looking at a different website. Shear dumb luck!

Interesting article. Worth reading. If I am reading it right, the main knock against glass is breaking if dropped. As to etching, I don't think Super Klean is a high enough concentration to do that. I have used the same container for 10 years actually storing it in one and never seen any fogging or other ill effects. As I said I may be reading it wrong. I also noticed that there is very few plastics that is resistant to lye. I do know that metal is definitely the wrong thing for storing it, even though Super Klean is a engine degreaser. I guess you don't leave it on engines long enough to damage it. As a amateur machinist, aluminum really has a bad reaction to it. Thanks for the info. I guess I will look at the code on the plastic jug that it comes in and see what works best.

Maybe you two can clear up something. I have heard that the Tamiya LP paints were intended to be thinned 2:1. True, false or urban legend? I mean, a 10 ml bottle isn't much paint. I think at that rate it would take two or three to do one car body.

One thing I learned the hard way is to be careful with plastic containers! I got what I thought was a nice one. It was a spaghetti container. I though it would be better for bodies because of the shape. To make a long story short. I filled it, dropped in a body and walked away. Next day I came back and there was Super Klean all over the bench. The plastic had several cracks in it and I had a quart of the stuff all over the bench. Lesson learned. Sodium hydroxide doesn't always play well with plastic containers. I use glass only after that.

I got it rather quickly. The rims were the key. I remember seeing them on a few cars and thought that was a good place to start. I googled 3 lug rims and found the manufacturer and then did a search for Fiberglass Renault and bingo. Michael seems to have a vast catalog of these weird cars to draw from. I seem to have the best luck when I find a key recognizable feature and go from there. Most of the time though I run into a dead end. Nice one Michael!

Your right, one to many zeros. Tamiya makes 20 ml and 40 ml. The 40 ml will hold about 50ml of decanted paint or one rattle can. ? As to the flammability issue, the UPSP has a lot of regulations about mailing that stuff. You can confirm this by googling "flammable liquids USPS". That is why when you walk into the Post Office to mail a package they ask about flammable liquids, batteries and a whole bunch of other stuff. Specifically, it is prohibited from air freight and restricted on ground transportation. International is even more restrictive. Try ordering Zero Paint from Hiro Boy(Spain) and they will tell you they will ship it, but it may get confiscated going through customs sand they are not responsible for that. Several years ago, I tried to buy a couple of gallons of automotive Lacquer thinner(outlawed in Ca. but that's another story) and you wouldn't believe the hoops I had to jump through to get it. USPS refused it and UPS had a bunch of packaging and labeling requirements. I actually had to send it to a friend in Arizona and he forwarded it on to me. From that day forward, anytime I drive out of state(most often to Las Vegas) I stop by an automotive paint shop and pickup a couple of gallons of the stuff. By the way I just got three packages of Gunze lacquers off of eBay and they came by the USPS but had no flammability markings or other indications on the package. I just wonder if the shipper didn't bother to tell the post office. I suppose that would be fine until there was a problem, then they would come looking for you.

Four most common paint strippers, Super Klean(use to be a Castrol product) DOT 3 brake fluid, Easy Off oven cleaner and 91% alcohol. As Jeff mentioned, Easy Off and Super Klean are both sodium hydroxide based and require great care to avoid a trip to the emergency room. Gloves and eye protection as a minimum. Brake fluid is also toxic so be careful. 91% alcohol works well but is very flammable. The good part about alcohol is it makes a great parts cleaner and will help reduce infections in Xacto knife cuts !!?

Steve, I do it because often that is the only thing I can get at the hobby store. The brands you mentioned are mail order only and sending lacquers through the mail can be a roll of the dice due to it's high flammability. Just as a reference, one Tamiya rattle can fills a 500 ml jar. That is generally enough for two cars. I generally only get one car per rattle can without decanting. I ordered a bunch of Tamiya "mixing" bottles which are 500ml. I use a lot of Tamiya paint and am looking forward to their LP paints. So far the local stores are not stocking them. As to the hassle, well I have a rig much like the A/C recharging pliers Bill mentioned. To me that is less hassle than waiting for the premixed to show up in the mail. Yea, I am probably a bit impatient, but at least I can admit that. Oh, and the other reason, I got a bunch of Tamiya rattle cans years ago for free, but that is another story.

Steve, I just reread your original post and decided that my response did not match the question so I deleted what I could.

The Tamiya lacquer in rattle cans can be used directly, but I still like to thin them, especially the primer. I would rather lay on 5 or 6 very thin coats than one or two thick ones. It allows me to control the detail loss like faint panel lines better. It also works better with metal flake(mica) colors. If you lay on a thick coat, the heavy flake will settle under the tinted clear and can get lost. Several thin layers will keep it closer to the surface for a deeper metallic look.

With all you bought, a postal scale(zero-able in grams) would be handy. They are really cheap. Less than $20. Why? If you watch the customizer car shows you will see that they thin and mix catalyzed paints using weight rather than by volume. Much more accurate than using a graduate pipette or bottle especially for small volumes. I know most painters thin by eyeball to the "milk" consistency, but I stopped using that years ago. I keep a journal with the brand of paint, how I thinned it, temperature, humidity, compressor air pressure and my results. If you do that, it won't be long until you have your own manual. What I am trying to say is if you do each of these things the same, you will get the same results every time. Good luck.

Don't have any idea what this is, much less what it is worth, but most times, the individual kits are worth more separately than they are combined.

Wow! Found it. I'm shocked.

Oh my! The fit and finish on this looks like they didn't even try.

Certainly more attractive than the MGB-GT. It would have been better with the later version engine like the V-8. Not that MG was particularly know for their durable engines(or any thing else for that matter). I had a lot of friends who owned MG's back in the day. You either became a shade tree mechanic or spent stupid amounts of money at the auto shop. I can't remember how many friends I helped wrench on their cars!

I really don't remember this was 6 years ago but it took a while. Doing the engine and cockpit were the biggest challenge.

It is slotted but no Tab A/B It is all done with super glue in the joints, except the white metal parts like the engine.

The kits that Tamiya creates are second to none, but a word of caution. There are a number of "Tamiya" kits out there that are just re-boxed Italeri kits. I think they did that so they could import them into Japan for kits they didn't produce. At any rate, I think they are mostly aircraft and armor kits. I don't recall seeing any of the re-boxed kits of automotive subjects.

Bouncing all around this and still haven't found it.

Whoa, that is a real beauty!