Model Master enamels verses Acryl

tho9900 wrote:

Darson from here on FSM was kind enough to come up with this, so any thanks (or complaints ) should go to him.

H3nav wrote:

Just like I said earlier, Tom is the acrylic master!   E

Eliott - I forgot to reply to this earlier.. .I'm not the acrylic master, I just play one on TV.. haha... Actually I am kinda stuck with them (thanks to something I picked up in the Middle East in 1990, it caused severe asthma that still pops its head up now and then) so I make the best and find every angle I can... after using Vallejo (et al) I no longer look on them as something to get around, but as what I prefer to paint with...

Triarius wrote:

tho9900 wrote: Darson from here on FSM was kind enough to come up with this, so any thanks (or complaints ) should go to him. A heap of thanks to Darson!!! And to you for posting it here!

Ditto

MikeV wrote:

They have Tamiya also but I am not going to mix my colors everytime to come up with the right one.

Do you think Tamiya's range of paints is really limited?  Just wondering because I was using MM enamels but mainly doing aircraft.  Then when I started devoting most of my time to armor I switched over to Tamiya acrylics.  I've never had the occasion to airbrush cars, sci-fi etc... and you know how most armor colors run in a basic range.  I just haven't run into a situation where I was mixing much unless it was for weathering or I wanted a specific tint of a color.

I use Tamiya X20 to clean my AB and so far no problems.  I mean I haven't noticed that its any more work to clean my AB with acrylics vs. MM enamels.  The funny thing is that one of the things I expected when I switched to acrylics is that the fumes wouldn't be as bad.  But X20 is about as wicked smelling as anything I've ever used.  I just wasn't expecting it to be that bad.

Kumy wrote:

Do you think Tamiya's range of paints is really limited?  Just wondering because I was using MM enamels but mainly doing aircraft.

Kumy wrote:

I use Tamiya X20 to clean my AB and so far no problems.  I mean I haven't noticed that its any more work to clean my AB with acrylics vs. MM enamels.  The funny thing is that one of the things I expected when I switched to acrylics is that the fumes wouldn't be as bad.  But X20 is about as wicked smelling as anything I've ever used.  I just wasn't expecting it to be that bad.

plasticmod992 wrote:

For RAF Dark Green, (approx. FS34079) try XF-61.   For the RAF Medium Sea Gray, (approx. FS36270), try XF-53.

Kumy wrote:

I use Tamiya X20 to clean my AB and so far no problems.  I mean I haven't noticed that its any more work to clean my AB with acrylics vs. MM enamels.  The funny thing is that one of the things I expected when I switched to acrylics is that the fumes wouldn't be as bad.  But X20 is about as wicked smelling as anything I've ever used.  I just wasn't expecting it to be that bad.

Are you using X-20 or X-20A? X-20 is an enamel thinner, whereas X-20A is the acrylic thinner. If you are using the enamel thinner, that may explain things.

I was following this thread and noticed that Greg referenced a Tamiya paint mixing chart on the IPMS-Stockholm site. I went there but could not find the Tamiya mixing chart. Anybody have the link to that specific chart. With all the great things said about Tamiya, I may give them a try. But you know my luck with acrylics....

E

H3nav wrote:

I was following this thread and noticed that Greg referenced a Tamiya paint mixing chart on the IPMS-Stockholm site. I went there but could not find the Tamiya mixing chart. Anybody have the link to that specific chart. With all the great things said about Tamiya, I may give them a try. But you know my luck with acrylics....   E

Here's the link : http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_fs.htm

Phil_H wrote:

Are you using X-20 or X-20A? X-20 is an enamel thinner, whereas X-20A is the acrylic thinner. If you are using the enamel thinner, that may explain things.

I don't even think X-20 is available in the US since Tamiya didn't export their enamel line here.  X-20A does have a distinctive smell though.  but it goes away quick as well unlike the MM enamel thinner.  with that said, i still have a good assortment of MM enamels really because of the color choices (for aircrafts).  i always find Tamiya to be a little darker in shades and i suk at mixing colors.

MikeV wrote:

They do not use the FS numbers on their paints like MM does, and that is what I meant.

Yea I see what you mean.  I've been doing so much armor that its been awhile since I did any other subjects.  But I really do enjoy aircraft so I'm gonna run into this problem too. 

MikeV wrote:

I wouldn't spend the extra money on a cleaner like that when many household products clean just as well for much less money. Try mixing 1 part Simple Green cleaner, 1 part Windex with 2 parts filtered or distilled water and see how that does for you. It cleans most acrylics very well.

Thanks Mike for that tip.   I'll give it a try next time and see how it does.  X20A is rather expensive even though I usually buy the big bottle of it.

Phil_H wrote:

Are you using X-20 or X-20A? X-20 is an enamel thinner, whereas X-20A is the acrylic thinner. If you are using the enamel thinner, that may explain things.

I'm using X-20A.  I've never seen any X-20 Tamiya enamel thinner so far.

Archangle571 wrote:

I don't even think X-20 is available in the US since Tamiya didn't export their enamel line here.  X-20A does have a distinctive smell though.  but it goes away quick as well unlike the MM enamel thinner.  with that said, i still have a good assortment of MM enamels really because of the color choices (for aircrafts).  i always find Tamiya to be a little darker in shades and i suk at mixing colors.

Yea thats true.  I have a bunch of MM enamels too.  I started out using them and doing aircraft.  I guess the thing that even got me thinking about switching to acrylics was when I'd finish an aircraft and go to clear coat it.  I couldn't find any dullcote at the time so I was shooting flat lacquer (I think it was flat lacquer).  Man did that stuff smell aweful.  I'd put a huge box fan right next to me and turn it on turbo mode and the stuff still stunk like crazy.  I started thinking there has to be something comparable but less invasive.  When I took the plunge and started doing some armor I picked up some Tamiya acrylics from my LHS and gave them a try.  I thought they would have very little smell and would be a less toxic type of paint to spray.  Well the paints seem to be that way but the thinner.... wow it stinks.

Btw I do wear a respirator.  I picked a 3M one up from my local DIY store.  It seemed like a decent one.  This gets me wondering though.  Are there any big differences between types of respirators or is there something specific that modelers should look for in a respirator?  Mine covers my mouth and nose and has twin cartridge filters that are replaceable. 

Kumy wrote:

Btw I do wear a respirator.  I picked a 3M one up from my local DIY store.  It seemed like a decent one.  This gets me wondering though.  Are there any big differences between types of respirators or is there something specific that modelers should look for in a respirator?  Mine covers my mouth and nose and has twin cartridge filters that are replaceable.

archangel571 wrote:

Phil_H wrote: Are you using X-20 or X-20A? X-20 is an enamel thinner, whereas X-20A is the acrylic thinner. If you are using the enamel thinner, that may explain things. I don't even think X-20 is available in the US since Tamiya didn't export their enamel line here.  X-20A does have a distinctive smell though.  but it goes away quick as well unlike the MM enamel thinner.  with that said, i still have a good assortment of MM enamels really because of the color choices (for aircrafts).  i always find Tamiya to be a little darker in shades and i suk at mixing colors.

Okies, sorry if I led anyone up the path with that one, as I wasn't aware that Tamiya enamels were unavailable in the US. It's not unusual here in Australia to find Tamiya acrylics and enamels side by side.

Sorry for the delay in response.  Here is where I obtained the color matching reference:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.models.scale/browse_frm/thread/b28e2606a3f7e97a/2615e6c696062665?q=color+matching+reference&rnum=2#2615e6c696062665

This is the original post containing the chart, that I use from Uban himself, dated 1993.  The current IPMS Stockholm chart is result of over 13 years of updates.  The original post by Urban contains the mixing recomendations and approximations I provided from his chart.  Hope this helps.