Luckly i always stock up on my paints. I always have spare tins, ranging from 1 for the colours i use a little to 5 or 6 for the ones i use alot. But can't say i have noticed anything here. Went to my LHS the other day and the Tamiya paint rack was full, and i think thats the first time i have seen that there.

Definately something to think about.........

My Hobbytowns don't even stock Tamiya thinner. Paint, yes. Thinner? No. But then they suck, so who cares.

But...two things.

1 - I've read it's not the tsunami, it's a relabeling to make the EPA happy issue.

2 - Tamiya paints work BEAUTIFULLY with Gunze Mr. Color and Mr. Leveling Thinner.

I picked up a tip from a Osprey Modelling master class book. Thats to thin tamiya with a certain brand of car screen wash. I found thios has worked a treat, and the screen wash lasts ages, still on my first bottle.

I almost always buy two jars of paint.  I just know I'll run out in the middle of a build.  I use Testors Model Master paints, so out-of-stock hasn't been an issue for me.

Bish

I picked up a tip from a Osprey Modelling master class book. Thats to thin tamiya with a certain brand of car screen wash. I found thios has worked a treat, and the screen wash lasts ages, still on my first bottle.

Does it contain ammonia? Because I was using Windex to clean up after Tamiya (and all acrylics, really), and I'm convinced that it corroded the paint cup of my Iwata. I still use it, but immediately flush with a cupful of lacquer thinner and another of water.

I have enough of just about every kind of paint to get me buy for a while. Then I guess I will just fade into the sunset until it comes back

Doogs, i am not sure actually. I have been useing it for a couple of years and never had a problem. And i also use it for cleaning my airbrush after useing Tamiya. It doesn't smell like ammonia, but i will have a look when i get back to camp.

For any other Brits interested, its halfords screen wash. Its the stuff you are meant to add water to and comes in a blue bottle.

Doogs, I've been using the same stuff as Bish both for Tamiya and Model Master Acrylic fir years now without problems. It seems to be mostly water with a little alcohol added to keep it from freezing. It's cheap and saves me the trouble of mixing tap water with more expensive alcohol from the drug store/chemist. I've no discolouring from the blue dye- haven't tried the pink stuff though.

The stuff retails here in the States for about a buck for a gallon jug. And if you don't like how it works just use it in your car.

Hercmech

I have enough of just about every kind of paint to get me buy for a while. Then I guess I will just fade into the sunset until it comes back

...uhh does that include RUST color???,.....

Gamera

Doogs, I've been using the same stuff as Bish both for Tamiya and Model Master Acrylic fir years now without problems. It seems to be mostly water with a little alcohol added to keep it from freezing. It's cheap and saves me the trouble of mixing tap water with more expensive alcohol from the drug store/chemist. I've no discolouring from the blue dye- haven't tried the pink stuff though.

The stuff retails here in the States for about a buck for a gallon jug. And if you don't like how it works just use it in your car.

Awesome, might try it then! 

carsanab

Hercmech:

I have enough of just about every kind of paint to get me buy for a while. Then I guess I will just fade into the sunset until it comes back

 

...uhh does that include RUST color???,.....

Nahhh... there is never enough rust.

The shortages predate the earthquake and are related to changes to labeling to comply US Consumer Product Safety Commission (not EPA) standards. This is reflected mostly in label updates and not a reformulation of products.

Cheers, Aaron

Gamera, do you guys have halfords in the US.

Aaron Skinner

The shortages predate the earthquake and are related to changes to labeling to comply US Consumer Product Safety Commission (not EPA) standards. This is reflected mostly in label updates and not a reformulation of products.

Cheers, Aaron

Yep.. ..

    for the second time in the last five years or so.

As far as the thinning of Tamiya....unlike MM which is a pure acrylic, Tamiya is a hybrid of laquor and acrylic.

Tamiya will thin with water, windex (3% ammonia solution), isopropyl alchol or laquor thinner. Each one of these solvents has a different vapor pressure (evaporation rate) and a different effect on viscosity (the amount required to thin to a specific level). I have tried all of the above and IMO the best effect on viscosity (very little used) and does not affect drying time adversly or adheasion is laquor thinner.

Now....I will admit I am still using Tamiya LT to thin. I go through a jar large bottle every two years or so. I also clean my airbrush with LT but use the Home Depot paint department can at ~$3 a quart

The Gunze paints are also a hybrid paint  as I remember and could be why the Gunze solvent work well with Tamiya 

My

Rounds Complete!!

Bish

Gamera, do you guys have halfords in the US.

Not where I live. I assume they're an auto parts store?

Most auto parts stores and big retailers like Wal-Mart carry the window washer fluid here.

redleg12

As far as the thinning of Tamiya....unlike MM which is a pure acrylic, Tamiya is a hybrid of laquor and acrylic.

Tamiya will thin with water, windex (3% ammonia solution), isopropyl alchol or laquor thinner. Each one of these solvents has a different vapor pressure (evaporation rate) and a different effect on viscosity (the amount required to thin to a specific level). I have tried all of the above and IMO the best effect on viscosity (very little used) and does not affect drying time adversly or adheasion is laquor thinner.

Now....I will admit I am still using Tamiya LT to thin. I go through a jar large bottle every two years or so. I also clean my airbrush with LT but use the Home Depot paint department can at ~$3 a quart

The Gunze paints are also a hybrid paint  as I remember and could be why the Gunze solvent work well with Tamiya 

My

Rounds Complete!!

Hi Mike,

I wouldn't call it a hybrid - it's just an acrylic formulation which uses an alcohol base. The fact that you can use a lacquer thinner (or water or a number of other options) as a thinner does not change the fact that it is based on acrylic compounds in its binders.

What it does mean is that it's reasonably flexible in what you can use as a thinner (and you can add denatured alcohol to the list ) I have also heard of people using ("slow acting"?) automotive lacquer thinners with Tamiya acrylics - this may be cheaper than using hobby branded thinner.

I have found (Tamiya) lacquer thinner to have a definite edge when airbrushing Tamiya's gloss acrylics. I find that the slightly increased drying time gives the paint more time to level before it starts to "skin", giving a glossier finish in comparison to standard Tamiya acrylic thinner.

Ye, it is an auto parts store. Sorry i mis understood. When you said you used the same stuff, i assumed you meant same brand. My bad. I think halfords is a UK only chain, which is why i was a bit surprised.

MAJ Mike

I almost always buy two jars of paint.  I just know I'll run out in the middle of a build.  I use Testors Model Master paints, so out-of-stock hasn't been an issue for me.

Bish

Ye, it is an auto parts store. Sorry i mis understood. When you said you used the same stuff, i assumed you meant same brand. My bad. I think halfords is a UK only chain, which is why i was a bit surprised.

Sorry guess I wasn't that clear either. I've used several brands and think it's all the same stuff where ever you buy it.

I've tried Gunze Sangyo Mr. Thinner with Tamiya and had excellent results, just that as stated the stuff is so hard to find in the US I've not made a habit of it.

Gamera

I've tried Gunze Sangyo Mr. Thinner with Tamiya and had excellent results, just that as stated the stuff is so hard to find in the US I've not made a habit of it.

I only use Gunze thinner for thinning paint, and since I use gravity feed brushes exclusively, I don't really tear through all that much paint, so a big 450ml bottle of thinner will last me a good long while (I still have 1/3 of the first bottle I bought last year), so as long as I have a current bottle and a second to move on to, supply isn't a big deal. They may not be in stock all the time, but they're in stock often enough that I haven't been left wanting.

I had never thought about needing to thin the paint less when useing a gravity fed air brush. But it makes sense. I am still useing a badger 150 but planning on getting a 100.

Bish

I had never thought about needing to thin the paint less when useing a gravity fed air brush. But it makes sense. I am still useing a badger 150 but planning on getting a 100.

Yeah, depending on the brush, they really sip paint. I use 2ml disposable pipettes to transfer paint and thinner, and for an average spray job, I probably use 2-4ml of thinner. So that's anywhere from 100-200+ sessions out of a single bottle of thinner. 

I would honestly use less for a lot of things, but it's hard to stir a good mix with less fluid in the mixing jar (I never mix in the airbrush cup, since, in my experience, paint likes to drop to the bottom, and it's hard to shift it from around the needle once it's done that).

Thats one thing i was woundering about. With thye siphon feed brush i just mix the paint in whatever i am attaching to the brush. I have never seen a gravity feed brush, but it would be more awkward to do it in the spraying cup.

One question. When you pour the paint into the cup, what stops it just flowing down around the needle and clogging up the brush. Or is it just a case of getting the paint in at the last minute.

Bish

One question. When you pour the paint into the cup, what stops it just flowing down around the needle and clogging up the brush. Or is it just a case of getting the paint in at the last minute.

Nothing, really...when you pour the paint it, it flows around the needle into the paint channel...but the needle is closing access to the nozzle/tip, and with no air in the channel, it's tough for even a mean acrylic to dry out in there before you start spraying.

Thanks. I knew there must be somthing that would stop the paint from just flowing through and into your lap. I really need to get that 100, i keep putting it off.

All of this just makes me happy i switched to Vallejo