FalconFan24 Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 I keep seeing this question come up from new modelers joining the community. Hopefully, this can help you if you're new to airbrush Tamiya acrylic paints. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JackMan Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 Good stuff. I like how you explained the thinning ratios and the different psi for the gloss vs flat paints. Thank you! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FalconFan24 Posted March 4 Author Share Posted March 4 1 hour ago, JackMan said: Good stuff. I like how you explained the thinning ratios and the different psi for the gloss vs flat paints. Thank you! Thank you, glad you liked the video! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Robert Garelli Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 (edited) I watched the video last night and it helped immensely. Thank you for creating it. I was never thinning the paint enough. I painted this 1/56 Gaming Tiger II last night to test out your suggestions and was light SOB!!! Edited March 4 by Robert Garelli Quote Link to post Share on other sites
airmechaja Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 Great tutorial. I've been using Tamiya acrylics for 20 years and I agree with all of your assessments. Good job! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FalconFan24 Posted March 4 Author Share Posted March 4 1 hour ago, Robert Garelli said: I watched the video last night and it helped immensely. Thank you for creating it. I was never thinning the paint enough. I painted this 1/56 Gaming Tiger II last night to test out your suggestions and was light SOB!!! Robert, glad to hear the video was useful to you. Unfortunately, your linked picture is not accessible. Can you reload? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Robert Garelli Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 26 minutes ago, FalconFan24 said: Robert, glad to hear the video was useful to you. Unfortunately, your linked picture is not accessible. Can you reload? Pictures corrected. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rando Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Great info, I haven't tried Tamiya's gloss paints but I'll keep that PSI and ratio in mind when I do. Probably works similar for other gloss paints too I'd imagine. Tamiya and Gunze acrylics really made airbrushing a breeze, I started on Mission Models and they gave me trouble half the time. How do you feel about X-20A thinner compared to the Mr Color Thinner? I have both, haven't directly compared them yet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Collin Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Hated painting with Tamiya paints...until I heard on a podcast to use Mr. Levelling Thinner...GAME CHANGER. Tamiya is my "go-to" these days. Cheers Collin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JackMan Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 On 3/5/2024 at 2:30 PM, Rando said: How do you feel about X-20A thinner compared to the Mr Color Thinner? I have both, haven't directly compared them yet. On 3/5/2024 at 2:51 PM, Collin said: Hated painting with Tamiya paints...until I heard on a podcast to use Mr. Levelling Thinner...GAME CHANGER. Tamiya is my "go-to" these days. Cheers Collin Something interesting I read in Eric Bergerud's post here: http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=77101#p514108 (although the thread is about Lifecolor, they do discuss Tamiya acrylics) is that Tamiya Acrylics isn't really a true acrylic but is, in fact, lacquer based and supposedly works better with Tamiya or Gunze lacquer thinner rather than Tamiya's X-20A thinner. Haven't tried it myself but it probably explains why Tamiya acrylics don't really brush paint as well as the other "true" acrylics like Vallejo and Lifecolor. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rando Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 Yes I've recently learned of this lacquer compatibility of Tamiya and Gunze, and I have to say I like that I can use Leveling Thinner. Have yet to compare them side-by-side but makes me wonder what I'd do with the large container of X-20A I just bought... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
southwestforests Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Ahh, good video. Started using Tamiya's acrylics in mid 1980s and have liked them since. Quickly figured out the different amount of thinner for airbrushing flat and gloss, but never did get in to using differing air pressures, just figured out how to do each with whatever pressure my little Badger compressor was putting out. In 1980s, 1990s, I was mostly painting model trains with them and quickly discovered that the paint could be stripped with Isopropyl alcohol, which did not affect Squadron putty. Ahh yes, that negative point about dried paint flakes on bottle edge. Nah, I don't like the dropper bottles. I like jars/bottles where I can SEE the pain is well stirred/mixed. Mmmm, it is possible to hairy stick brush paint Tamiya's acrylics, but you gotta reach an understanding with the paint, on its terms. And, I didn't try to brush paint anything bigger than 1/72 wings for little WW1 airplanes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ExchefAndy Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Thanks for the video! Some great tips and will help me refine my airbrushing skills. The difficulty of brush painting Tamiya acrylics has plagued me since I first started this hobby many years ago. I did a bit of a search to see if there was a solution, and came across a video where the paint was mixed using Tamy's retarder. You'll have to play around with the ratios of paint to thinner, but it works! I tend to go with about 10:1 on a palette and it self levels and slows the drying time. I'm not affiliated with Tamiya, just passing on a tip that I discovered in a lazy moment where the prospect of masking a 1/48 cockpit became rather bothersome. Andy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gwen Phoenix Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 I spotted the word newbies, and I was summoned as Batman with the Bat Signal on the sky. 😁 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FalconFan24 Posted March 16 Author Share Posted March 16 On 3/13/2024 at 6:07 PM, Gwen Phoenix said: I spotted the word newbies, and I was summoned as Batman with the Bat Signal on the sky. 😁 haha, well hopefully it was helpful. And btw, your profile thumbnail is from Strike Commander. I use to play that game all the time! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gwen Phoenix Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 On 3/16/2024 at 12:28 AM, FalconFan24 said: And btw, your profile thumbnail is from Strike Commander. I use to play that game all the time! Indeed! You can imagine my surprise when I found out that "Anarchist" was my namesake. I'm more like a rightist, but the character in the game is awesome, as is the nature of the plot. I've still got a copy of the game in 3.5" diskettes. The problem is that the video card I had in a 80486DX2 I used just to run that game has gone Kaput, and the resolution of the new one I got is awful. I was completely astonished when Janet betrayed the Wildcats! That game was very good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FalconFan24 Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 On 3/17/2024 at 10:45 AM, Gwen Phoenix said: Indeed! You can imagine my surprise when I found out that "Anarchist" was my namesake. I'm more like a rightist, but the character in the game is awesome, as is the nature of the plot. I've still got a copy of the game in 3.5" diskettes. The problem is that the video card I had in a 80486DX2 I used just to run that game has gone Kaput, and the resolution of the new one I got is awful. I was completely astonished when Janet betrayed the Wildcats! That game was very good. Oh, I wish so badly someone would redo the game with current graphics. I would buy it immediately. It was such a well done game, great story line, plot, characters, etc. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gwen Phoenix Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 Me too...!!! 😄 Dunno whether or not Origin still exist today, but it would be completely awesome to have that game with the level of graphics on DCS. Never got to fly all the missions in the game, but I recall that you could buy an F-22 late in the game? Also, the mission on which the Wildcats have to escort a LearJet; I flew that mission twice to see if I could shoot down Mrs Paige's F-16 before she'd shoot down the executive jet, but it seems that the plot makes it impossible. Does Gule-Gule ever appear on the plot? Stern gets killed early in the game (on a C-130 cargo, IIRC). Billy was such a pedantic @rs€ and Tex a loose cannon. Miguel was kind of cool. Virgil was a wimp. Gwen was my favourite character. The video card I had previously came on an IBM PS2 (80486DX) machine which I sold. The resolution on that card was quite good. Then I bought an ATX CPU for which I had to install QEMM memory manager by Quaterdeck to free enough DOS Hi-mem for the game to run properly. And the video card on that machine was just 1GB, I guess. Anyway, the resolution on the new video card was awful. It rendered the missiles and bombs as disgusting square blobs. Everything was square, actually. What rig do you run Strike Commander on? Do you know if an AGP video card will substract any memory from the free hi DOS memory? Need to check if that new DX2 machine has the ISA or PCI slot type for the video card. I need to try at least a 5GB one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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