Tamiya Retarder

[MESHER]

I just picked up a bottle of this and was wondering how it is used. Do you use this in place of thinner or as well as thinner? I've been told that the retarder will help the flat paints like Tamiya flat back/white be smooth instead of a grainy finish. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has used this.

[gotarheelz14]

Hey there,

As far as I know, Tamiya's Retarder is something that is added INTO the thinner. That is, thinner + retarder, not instead of it. Acrylic retarders make it so that the paint simply does not dry as fast. This has a number of advantages. If you airbrush for instance, the paints will not dry at the tip of the nozzle/needle so that you won't get the "tip dry" that is associated with acrylic paints. Also, as you mentioned, it will probably give you a smoother finish. This is because the paint will likely not dry on its way from the brush to the plastic. It will instead dry on the model allowing it to settle and not dry into tiny little particles that become incrustated into the paint giving that rough, grainy finish.

If you brush-paint, you will also find that it will allow your paints to stay alive in your paint pallet longer without drying. Adding some retarder will also probably mean that you will see less brush strokes.

You should try it out. Any Acrylic Retarder will do the trick but Tamiya products are simply amazing because they are so catered specifically to modelers. I will probably buy Tamiya's retarder simply because it is made by Tamiya. Even things as simple as masking tape are made better by them lol. go figure.

[dragonfly]

I was always under the impression that Tamiya thinner already had a retarder in it. Tamiya paints airbrush beautifully just as they are with the use of Tamiya thinner.

Jerry

[gotarheelz14]

Yes. Tamiya thinner already has retarder in it but other paints need it too and depending on your airbrush settings etc, you may need more retarder. Plus, many people including me just use 91% Isopropyl alcohol. You can add some retarder in to the alcohol and you have Tamiya's thinner without the fragrance or the bottle. At a huge fraction of the price.

Other tricks I like to do are to use Model Master acrylics thinned with retarder alone at a fairly high pressure. I have found this to be the best way for me to spray these daggum paints as they clog with just about any other thinner including your own spit (lol jk)

HUGE NOTE: Adding too much retarder will sometimes spoil your paint job and may even cause it to never dry. Different retarder brands have their own recommended maximum ratios that you should apply. The Winsor and Newton thinner that I have been using actually recommends no more than 25% to paint ratio.

[icekj]

Other tricks I like to do are to use Model Master acrylics thinned with retarder alone at a fairly high pressure. I have found this to be the best way for me to spray these daggum paints as they clog with just about any other thinner including your own spit (lol jk)

HUGE NOTE: Adding too much retarder will sometimes spoil your paint job and may even cause it to never dry. Different retarder brands have their own recommended maximum ratios that you should apply. The Winsor and Newton thinner that I have been using actually recommends no more than 25% to paint ratio.

For MM Acryl paints I started thinning them 2 parts paint to one part Future floor wax. Got rid of the dry tip and added a self-leveling feature to the paint. The Future acts as a retarder and a thinner.

Side result is it assists in adheasion, toughens up the paint a bit and makes it glossier for decal prep.

HTH and God Bless,

Ken

[gotarheelz14]

For MM Acryl paints I started thinning them 2 parts paint to one part Future floor wax. Got rid of the dry tip and added a self-leveling feature to the paint. The Future acts as a retarder and a thinner.

Side result is it assists in adheasion, toughens up the paint a bit and makes it glossier for decal prep.

HTH and God Bless,

Ken

Thanks for sharing the tip. I have kept hearing about doing this with MM as well as Pollyscale. Brett Green on youtube does this as well apparently. I still don't see how it fixes tip dry as my first go at it was not very successful. Granted, I was still getting very much used to airbrushing back then. As of now, I have completely given up on MM as final coats or even larger coats. I am actually trying to use zero MM.

I might have to give it a try sometime though if my number one paint supplier Xtracrylix goes out of business. I sure hope they don't cuz I love their paints.

Carlos Saravia