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Tamiya Smoke as a wash


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I've seen lotsa chatter bout Tamiya smoke used as a wash and I can see why. It's just a good oily dirty color. I usually make my own wash with acylic paint, water and dish soap and it works fine. Unfortunately my tried and true wash formula doesn't work for the tamiya smoke. The excess doesn't want to come off. Fortunately I got after it before it sat for long but it was a real effort to remove.

What's the secret formula for easy removal.

Jerry

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I used it on a Hornet landing gear. I'm well aware that you must go over a gloss and that a wash needs to be thinned. It's just that it's not working with Tamiya Smoke as it does with other acrylics. The parts were painted with a very smooth and glossy white paint. The Tamiya smoke was thinned as I always do to make a wash with acrylics. 5 parts water, 3 parts Dawn (soap), and 2 parts paint. The wash apeared to go on as nicely as any before but when dry it was very stubborn to remove.

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I had the same problem years ago Jerry and am sorry to hear of your plight with Tamiya Smoke. I just stick to either the "simplistic wash" method Steve Bamford talks about in the tips section (since it's water soluable and truly fool proof) or a true oil wash using artists oils thinned heavily with turpenoid. The Tamiya Smoke is....well...just sticky and hard to remove as a wash.

Greg

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No problem at all Jerry. Most of the guys I've read that use Tamiya Smoke are on the "other side of the pond", over in the U.K. and know Osprey has published some stuff stating that Tamiya Smoke works. I threw mine out years ago after ruining a build trying to use it for a wash.

Greg

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The problem might be that Tamiya acrylics don't like to be thinned with water. I tried it once in my airbrush and it was a disaster. Try using the Tamiya thinner or isopropyl alcohol. Then use the same thinner to whip off the excess.

Edited by graves_09
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I have never liked 'Smoke' - both of the bottles I have had were the consistancy of molasses.

And both of the kits I attempted to use it on were 'Hangar 13'ed as soon as I was done.

I use either a sludge wash with Polly Scale or my current fave the ProModellers wash that is available thru Spreu Bros. Not 100% how it'd do as a point wash like around gear though. But if screwed up one can simply immerse it in water and the clay washes right off (mostly - nothing is perfect....)

http://www.spruebrothers.com/Nexternal/mis...ous-cat-186.htm

It's in the miscelleneous tools section as it really isn't a paint.

Matt

Edited by Matt Roberts
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No...I don't think it's neccessary to buy a store bought wash. That stuffs a little pricey. I've been making my own for years and it works just fine and it doesn't cost a thing really. It's just that I wanted to try something new with the Tamiya Smoke. Someone out there uses it , likes it, and doesn't have any problems. The Ospry books are a good example. A lot of builds in those books say they use Tamiya Smoke as a wash. Maybe the secret is Tamiya thinner, but I'm not gonna go there cause I'm not sure how it would react to my clear coats. Guess I'll stick with water and acrylics.

Thanks for the feedback though!

Jerry

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Yea it could deffiantly be the thinner, I know it claims water wash up but I've tried with brushes just washing with soap and water and it never works. Not sure what rubbing alchol would do to a clear coat, but thats what I use to clean all my brushes after using Tamiya paints, works like a charm.

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Tamiya Smoke works really well for me as a wash (thinned of course!) over natural metal areas - particularly engine and landing gear parts, where its oily sheen is really effective. However, I wouldn't use it as a general wash (I still use oils for that).

Where Tamiya Smoke really comes into its own for me is for post-shading. It's a very translucent colour, and takes a few passes with the airbrush before you start to discern a shift in colour. This makes the effect highly controllable and difficult to ruin.

Kev

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Tamiya Smoke works really well for me as a wash (thinned of course!) over natural metal areas - particularly engine and landing gear parts, where its oily sheen is really effective. However, I wouldn't use it as a general wash (I still use oils for that).

Where Tamiya Smoke really comes into its own for me is for post-shading. It's a very translucent colour, and takes a few passes with the airbrush before you start to discern a shift in colour. This makes the effect highly controllable and difficult to ruin.

Kev

Thinned with what? Don't say water...that doesn't work. If you read my initial post, I put the wash on landing gear parts. I didn't use it for a general wash. That would have been a real mess. The builders in the Osprey articles use the wash on landing gear legs and bays. If I were to apply and leave it, fine, i.e. radial engine cylinders. But I want to remove the excess and darken the receesed areas only in a white painted landing gear bay. When this stuff drys....it doesn't want to be removed.

I must assume then, that the wash must be thinned with Tamiya thinner or alcohol and the excess removed with the same making sure that the thinner doesn't react to my clear coat. Thanks for the feeback fellas! :worship:

Jerry

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Thinned with what? Don't say water...that doesn't work. If you read my initial post, I put the wash on landing gear parts. I didn't use it for a general wash. That would have been a real mess. The builders in the Osprey articles use the wash on landing gear legs and bays. If I were to apply and leave it, fine, i.e. radial engine cylinders. But I want to remove the excess and darken the receesed areas only in a white painted landing gear bay. When this stuff drys....it doesn't want to be removed.

I must assume then, that the wash must be thinned with Tamiya thinner or alcohol and the excess removed with the same making sure that the thinner doesn't react to my clear coat. Thanks for the feeback fellas! :monkeydance:

Jerry

would like to clarify if you are using Enamel X-19 Smoke on your work, and what is the type of paint of base color?

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  • 2 weeks later...
Yes...X-19 Smoke over Model Master White Gloss Enamel.

If you cannot remove the Enamel X-19 by its Enamel thinner, better to repaint

if you use Enamel X-19 as wash, it works well on Mr Color (Solvent based) and gloss Mr Hobby Color (water-based) and probably other acrylic color (gloss), do not leave the x-19 on painted model surface for a long time

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The X-19 wasn't on the model for more than ten minutes....just long enough to dry, then was very stubborn to remove excess. I wouldn't call ten minutes very long. I'm giving up on this stuff and going back to my old "tried and true wash brew."

thanks to all who offered suggestions,

Jerry

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