Tamiya Color Sprays

Thanks again for all the tips. I bought Tamiya's AS-20, AS-26, and AS-27 as well as MM Flat Gull Grey and Testors' Flat White. At my LHS the Tamiya's went for $10.99 CAD (per 100mL), MM/Testors for $6.49 (per 90mL); for all the Americans that's $8.76 US and $5.17 US, respectively. I'm currently building a Hasegawa 1/32 F-16A and a Revell 1/32 F-4J. I must agree that the Tamiya cans sprays quite generously and is far too expensive (especially in Canada) for regular use. MM and Testors seems to be a much better deal per mL.

Make sure that the Tamiya paint you buy hasn't been sitting on the display at the store for say 5 years.

I have used a few different colors from tamiya in lacquer spray form and I have to say I've had mixed results. Ist I tried two navy flat colors for a navy corsair. The paint went on evenly and covered nicely, but it easily wastes as there is a tremendous amount of overspray. As a result it is hard to control and more masking over a wider range of the model is required. Another job took me to use a dark yellow for german armor...one can is not nearly enough and as a result using cans becomes expensive. Finally i've used the racing colors where I had the biggest disappointment...With the racing white, it went on with a yellow hue almost ruining the finish. I also used a blue racing finish telefonica blue...and it's coverage was terrible...when using these metallics, you have to prime with a darker under color first...not the kind of quality you'd expect at such a cost...

Bottom line...if you're going to build several models each with multicolored schemes or complicated camo...forget the spray can paints and buy an airbrush...in the end it will be more convenient, cost effective, and you'll get better results...

Good luck,
Doug

Im a noob; soooo this is something I can answer! I just bought my first airbrush; before that through my teen years(21 now) I built 15-20 models just for fun; none came out real great, but about 6 years ago a hobbytown USA opened up and I started using the tamiya cans rather than testors; and now I use the airbrush.

my thoughts...

first off; it was important that you shake it VERY well; Id shake for 10minutes the first time; maybe it was overkill; but with no way of knowing if it was too little; Id rather too much. before I shook though; Id sit the can in warm water; I used water that was about what Id bathe in. not burning hot; but hot. helped thin the paint and get a better mist.

with that said; the tamiya was light years better than testors; it went on smooth IMO; only a little worse than my first trials with the airbrush. but it was foolproof in that my first and last job looked the same; there was no learning curve and settings depending on humidity, temp, thinner ratio ect.

the down side... it was only good for large surfaces, in my case body shells and undercarraiges; wasnt any use for smaller stuff; too big of a spray. I like to spray my dash and even seats, ect. you could do it but youd waste alot of paint, which brings me to point number 2; expensive.

and point number 3; because it was such a large spray and rather heavy; you had to stay away; and with that I found the airflows would sometimes miss the recessed areas; and youd go too heavy on the exposed areas.

point 3 was true of all spray cans. nature of the beast I guess.

but overall; I thought it did a pretty damn good job.

I have no problems with Tamiya Spray. Agree with what Eric said. You'll have to hold the spray a distance away from your kit or it's going layer your kit with some thick layer of paint.

I have used Tamiya Dark yellow (TS-3) and it works great, as well as German grey (TS-4)

Thanks for the tip Eric

Hikarux,

I've used their Olive Drab before to paint the more pedestrian items such as bombs and other little things like that. It seemed to come out quite generously. This is not a bad thing though. It just seemed to require a different "feel" than what I was used to with the Testor spray cans. I learned quickly that I had to hold the Tamiya can a bit further back compared to the Testors cans. Otherwise it covered nicely and didn't have any problems once I got used to its flow rate.

Eric

Thanks guys, the Tamiya Color Sprays were of good quailty and since I'm lacking an airbrush, it is heck of a lot faster than the snail-like pace of brush painting!

i have heard good thing bout them, and have used aa few cans, but they were on my 1st kit and i havent sed them since. all i can say, looking back at em, is that the paint job is surprisingly good for my 1st kit....
i am currently looking at purchasing some to decant and use in my ab, coz they seem like a mix of acryls and enamles (fast drying time, hardness of paint...)
give them a go, u wont be disapointed....

If you're talking about the spray can things, I've only ever bought the black, and that was to spraypaint the interior of the 1/350 Enterprise I'm making. Hardly a part of the model that's going to get a lot of attention.

However, I was very surprised by the fact that it coated very cleanly and evenly. So I used it on the tracks of my Type 90, and it did well there too. Thus I have concluded that if you're looking to spray something where perfection is less of a requirement, they are a hell of a lot easier than setting up the airbrush, and work rather well.

NTM

Nope, can't say I have. Sorry.