Tamiya Gloss Black Jar Paint

[Mr. Moparman]

Today I went to my new hobby shop witch carries Tamiya paints. I needed a jar of gloss black and decided to try Tamiya out. This will be my first time using Tamiya paints. Is there anything I need to know? What to thin it with?

Thanks!

Brandon

[MikeMc]

I agree, pick up some X20 a thinner

I use a piece of plate glass and drop a couple drops of well stirred color and add a drop or two of thinner and then work the brush though the two and pull your paint...its hard to explain, but you will know when you get it correct!!!

[Mike Kucaba]

There is also a couple additives for acrylics that you can find at Hobby Lobby & Michael's. There is a flow enhancer & a retarder. Mine are made by Liquitex, but there are other brands too.

[Jamez]

Am I missing something here? I brush my Tamiya paints straight out of the bottle. No thinning.

[MikeMc]

Am I missing something here? I brush my Tamiya paints straight out of the bottle. No thinning.

James, you havent missed anything i brush them right out of the jar too unless i'm airbrushing them and then they are thinned.

my experience with Tamiya acrylics is that they have a short "open" or working time before they start to firm or tack up. if you are used to brush painting with oil based enamels like Testors it's something that you need to be aware of.

Dave

Dave hit it right on the head...if it is just a small bit...straight works for me...when I'm doing a lot of area, like a subframe I like to make it flow and keep a wet edge.

[Jamez]

It's this "tack up" that I actually like about these paints. I find them very easy to manipulate the flow, which I find can make a huge difference in lighter colours.

[Ddms]

I think genuine Tamiya X-20 thinner helps the paint flow better and reduces brush marks. But I still like enamel better for the small bits.

[Jamez]

I've found that for smaller bits, letting the paint tack a little causes it to flow much like enamal

[Jamez]

maybe "flow" is the wrong word.

Once the paint has tacked a little, a small drop on the brush coats smaller bits, in one go.

I find most acrylics tend to cover less in one coat compared to enamels, however, once tacked up, I find Tamiya paints behave much more like an enamel that I can get the same coverage out the same amount of applications. It does flow a little thicker at this point than most enamels though.

Make any kind of sense at all? I may be doing a poor job describing what I mean.....

one thing that i've noticed with using the Tamiya acrylics is that you can apply it heavier or thicker than you would enamels and it shrinks down and dries hard,

I think that may be exactly what I'm getting at.