Hi RODC,
Not sure if you're still monitoring this (now ancient) post. Just yesterday I was "Ranting like Rick" about how Tamiya doesn't just give us a direct XF/X to TS/AS cross-reference chart. I *know* that the actual paint they use in at least the TS and AS series are indeed the same as the Acrylics. It works the same with "Frog" tape for example (unlike most other sprays which actually attack the adhesive in all masking tapes I've used).
Anyways, during the construction of two recent HUGE ship projects (1/200 Trumpeter HOOD, and now also her "sister in arms" the Bismarck) I have had to figure out exact paint matches to allow the post-spray touch-ups needed. In fact, I made sure that if I used TS/AS types I had the matching XF equivelent. By trial and error I was ablke to determine that:
TS-6 (Flat Black) = XF1 (when air brushed. hand-brushed was more matt)
TS-32 (HOOD main hull grey) = XF66 "Haze Grey"
TS-33 (Hull Red) =??? (see after. It's NOT XF-9 directly!)
AS-11 (Medium Grey) = very close to RAL7001 = XF82 (Bismarck Superstructure)
AS-31 (RAF2 Ocean Grey) = XF83 (RAL7000) (Bismark main hull grey)
TS-68 (Wooden Deck) = XF78
Note, in contradiction to previous popsts, XF9 is more like a "Boxcar Red" (more of a brown) which I actually have used successfully for CN Boxcars (for my other ModelRR hobby). I haven't found the right "mix" yet but I have seen a mixture ratio elsewhere (which I can't find) that involves XF-9 and XF-7 that comes close to TS33.
BTW - I also discovered a bit of a "trick" to matching up Tamiya spray versus brush-on. If you use Testor Dullcote to post-spray an area with both paints, it seems to reactivate both, and when it "resets" you get a very nice blend. I discovered this by accident whilst cursing on a botched paint-job near then end of a B-25 project, and experience the "miracle" of how well this works!
Cheers,
J.Stevenson
St.John's, NL