Tamiya paint question.

As far as I know, as wildly popular as Tamiya paints are, Tamiya is not known for having many special colors.

This is why Tamiya fans do a lot of mixing, also why Tamiya kits (which call out Tamiya paints) show color ratios on instruction sheets, and also why lazy people like me tend towards other brands who have a wider range of colors. If Tamiya did have more of the colors I want, it would be my primary acrylic paint for sure.

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Tamiya to release any special colors.

*****WARNING!*****

Cranky 'old guy' rant to follow....

It never ceases to amuse me how much energy people put into not having to mix paint. I read posts about otherwise-rational modelers [there's an oxymoron if ever there was one....] who order a dozen different manufacturers' versions of a color, and I shake my head in wonderment.

Mixing paint colors is as 'basic' a modeling skill as learning to use fillers and sand or anything else. It's not rocket-science, or quantum physics, or alchemy. Re-acquainting oneself with the same basic color theory one probably was taught in 2nd Grade...and a half hour spent with some paint colors and toothpicks...and the 'arcane' mystery of paint mixing is pretty much done.

It's liberating...not to mention convenient and a lot less expensive...to be able to bodge up your own colors as required.

*****END OF 'OLD GUY' RANT*****

(We will now resume our regular programming....)

gregbale

*****WARNING!*****

Cranky 'old guy' rant to follow....

It never ceases to amuse me how much energy people put into not having to mix paint. I read posts about otherwise-rational modelers [there's an oxymoron if ever there was one....] who order a dozen different manufacturers' versions of a color, and I shake my head in wonderment.

Mixing paint colors is as 'basic' a modeling skill as learning to use fillers and sand or anything else. It's not rocket-science, or quantum physics, or alchemy. Re-acquainting oneself with the ssae basic color theory one probably was taught in 2nd Grade...and a half hour spent with some paint colors and toothpicks...and the 'arcane' mystery of paint mixing is pretty much done.

It's liberating...not to mention convenient and a lot less expensive...to be able to bodge up your own colors as required.

*****END OF 'OLD GUY' RANT*****

 

I enjoy mixing my own. My only gripe with the approach is you need to make sure that you mix enough of what you’ll need. Because if you do not, odds are that the next mix will not turn out exactly the same. 

But no, Tamiya has only a few of their more recent expansion colors that are supposedly matched to some color standard. Nearly all of their original line was more “generic”. Some are “close enough”, others are not.

I might be misunderstanding the question, but from what I'm seeing on the Tamiya USA page, they do have some military colors in bottle form. I'm seeing German Grey, NATO Green, etc. They also have the AS spray cans if you wanted to decant them which they say "Each color is formulated to provide the authentic tone to model aircraft," which are separated out from the other TS colors because they're specifically military.

Unless the issue is that they don't really have it separated out into their own line, and/or they don't have the same range of colors as some of the other popular manufacturers, in which case I apologize and agree.

stikpusher

I enjoy mixing my own. My only gripe with the approach is you need to make sure that you mix enough of what you’ll need. Because if you do not, odds are that the next mix will not turn out exactly the same. 

But no, Tamiya has only a few of their more recent expansion colors that are supposedly matched to some color standard. Nearly all of their original line was more “generic”. Some are “close enough”, others are not.

 

modelmaker66

 

 

gregbale

*****WARNING!*****

Cranky 'old guy' rant to follow....

It never ceases to amuse me how much energy people put into not having to mix paint. I read posts about otherwise-rational modelers [there's an oxymoron if ever there was one....] who order a dozen different manufacturers' versions of a color, and I shake my head in wonderment.

Mixing paint colors is as 'basic' a modeling skill as learning to use fillers and sand or anything else. It's not rocket-science, or quantum physics, or alchemy. Re-acquainting oneself with the ssae basic color theory one probably was taught in 2nd Grade...and a half hour spent with some paint colors and toothpicks...and the 'arcane' mystery of paint mixing is pretty much done.

It's liberating...not to mention convenient and a lot less expensive...to be able to bodge up your own colors as required.

*****END OF 'OLD GUY' RANT*****

 

 

 

 

Amen!

 

 

I don't want to deal with that stuff,just give me a bottle of paint and point me in the right direction.Nothing against you guys,simple minds can't deal with too many variables. to each his own

I do a lot of mixing, and agree that anyone who wants to consider themselve an advanced modeler should learn to do it.  However, info on how to mix paints is not widely available in most modeling resources, so I can understand why so many people do not do it.

I find the best resources are for people who do oil or acrylic painting pictures.  Pick up a book on basic learning to paint.  Also, buy a color wheel.

When I say that info on how to mix is not widely available, I do not mean the mechanics of it (what thinner to use, etc.), but about color theory- what complementary colors are, and how to obtain the hue and saturation you want.

stikpusher

I enjoy mixing my own. My only gripe with the approach is you need to make sure that you mix enough of what you’ll need. Because if you do not, odds are that the next mix will not turn out exactly the same. 

I enjoy it too. I just did a mix on my Bell X-1 build. And you are right about mixing enough. Whenever I do a custom mix I make enough so that I have extra. I store the extra until the build is done, and for just in case. Sure enough--I needed it with this build more than once.  

   I don’t mind mixing paint when I’m painting miniatures, I would just prefer not to for my traditional modeling.  Poly S was my favorite brand, and I still have some that I can use, but I’ve always had good luck with Tamiya.  I will try the mixing route and see what results. 

                                         knox 

Tamiya‘s priority is their model cars and motorcycles.Glosses and matalics first then the military colors.Tamiya basic armor and aircraft last.