Question about Tamiya paint

[Mike Kucaba]

I seem to remember something about using Tamiya clear over Tamiya Lacquer paint.Do I wait several days? Clear right away? or give it the old sniff test.

[Dragline]

I warm weather Tamiya synth laquers dry very quickly. At 90 degrees I was able to decal and clearcoat a car within a couple of hours. And I used Testors 1814 enamel clear. Tamiya clear synth laquer is very HOT and care must be taken to do several mist coats before a relatively wet coat can be applied.

Tamiya clear coat is solvent heavy but lays down incredibly smooth. To the point where only a light polish or waxing is all that's required for an outstanding finish.

Tamiya clear can also be laid down over Model Master laquers with excellent results as well.

Bob

[Zoom Zoom]

I'm not sure if it's still a problem, but in the earlier days of Tamiya lacquer sprays, if you shot the clear outside of the "within one hour of color or after a month of curing" window, it would very likely crack. I know people who had this happen, and sometimes months after the paint was applied.

I've always applied at least some clear in the 1 hour window of color coats, so it's never been a problem. If you plan a 2-tone job, you should spray at least a mist coat of clear on the first color before it's masked for the second color, and apply clear within an hour of shooting the second color. Make sure the paint is cured well before masking.

I also use a dehydrator, which makes wait times for paint curing (and putty, and decals) exponentially shorter.

[MikeMc]

In most cases if you use Tamiya clear over their sprays, you need to either apply the clear immediately after the last color coat is on, or wait about a month for all the solvents in the color coat to "gas out" before applying the clear.

This is mentioned on Tamiya's website as well

The use of a dehydrator to speed up the process will work as well, reducing curing time to days instead of weeks.

I concur.

Zoom Zoom taught about clearing with 3 coats using the paint window..about 15 min between all coats,base and clear. Or as Mark said wait about 1 month.

[Jon Cole]

Bob Downie did a write up on this subject several years back, and I liked it so much, I put it to graphics. I hope Bob doesn't mind.

[MikeMc]

Thanks Jon....that is how I've done it for years....not a crack and I love my TS13

Edited September 10, 2010 by MikeMc

[Mike Kucaba]

Well after polishing out the Light Gunmetal body of my Alfa BAT I took the plunge and shot some of the TAM clear on it this morning. It's hanging up

to cure now in my 8X45 foot dehydrator (AKA My Patio). It does look good!