Tamiya Virgin

[brandle]

Hello all, I have always airbrushed with Humbrol, and never considered Tamiya, but a few weeks back I was at a carboot sale and there was a guy selling nearly all the Tamiya paints for £10, he claimed he had grown tired of the hobby (is this possible...), now I know you can dilute Tamiya with Iso, which is good as I have litres of the stuff in the garage, but what I would like to know is there seems to be a clear liquid suspended above the paint, now would I have to remove the clear fluid before I dilute or can it be left.
Thanks in advance

Brandle

[Bucksnort101]

Do not remove the clear liquid, it is the base of the paint that has just separated from the rest. This happens when the jar has sat for a while. I just take a toothpick and mix it all up good trying not to create any bubbles in the paint.
Generally I do not thin my paint right in the Tamiya jar, mix just what you need in another jar.
I've been using a 3 -1 ratio of paint to thinner with my airbrush, seems to work well with around 30 PCI for general coverage.
I have read that using cheap ISO can make the Gloss Tamiya paint go flat? Have not confirmed this as I've been using the Tamiya thinner as of now, but will confirm or disprove it one of these days.
Tamiya does seem to set and dry pretty quickly so be ready for that.

[brandle]

Thanks for the info Bucksnort,your help is appreciated.Maybe a few experiments first but will watch for the dulling of gloss.

[Airframes]

I use enamels about 98% of the time, but occasionally I use the odd Tamiya, or other acrylic paint. In these instances, I could do with some Iso, as the Tamiya thinners (the only type available locally), in the ridiculously small and very expensive bottles (and its only iso alchohol!) goes nowhere. Question is, where the h*ll can I find Isopropyl alchohol in the UK?!!! I've tried everywhere, and I either get a blank stare (the women in my town, working in the various outlets, are a bit on the 'thick' side!), or I'm told 'we haven't had that stuff for years', or something similar. I can't believe this is true, as the bl**dy stuff's only rubbing alchohol.
Any suggestions as to a source of supply would be most welcome.

[109ROAMING]

I use enamels about 98% of the time, but occasionally I use the odd Tamiya, or other acrylic paint. In these instances, I could do with some Iso, as the Tamiya thinners (the only type available locally), in the ridiculously small and very expensive bottles (and its only iso alchohol!) goes nowhere. Question is, where the h*ll can I find Isopropyl alchohol in the UK?!!! I've tried everywhere, and I either get a blank stare (the women in my town, working in the various outlets, are a bit on the 'thick' side!), or I'm told 'we haven't had that stuff for years', or something similar. I can't believe this is true, as the bl**dy stuff's only rubbing alchohol.
Any suggestions as to a source of supply would be most welcome.

I hear that Terry , I need to find more of this alcohol stuff

both for modelling and other purposes

[javlin]

I use enamels about 98% of the time, but occasionally I use the odd Tamiya, or other acrylic paint. In these instances, I could do with some Iso, as the Tamiya thinners (the only type available locally), in the ridiculously small and very expensive bottles (and its only iso alchohol!) goes nowhere. Question is, where the h*ll can I find Isopropyl alchohol in the UK?!!! I've tried everywhere, and I either get a blank stare (the women in my town, working in the various outlets, are a bit on the 'thick' side!), or I'm told 'we haven't had that stuff for years', or something similar. I can't believe this is true, as the bl**dy stuff's only rubbing alchohol.
Any suggestions as to a source of supply would be most welcome.

Auto Parts house?? it's used as a drier for fuel.now it is usually 70% alcohol wereas the stuff at the drug store for wounds is 80-90%.Kevin

[B-17engineer]

Huh...I get my iso alcohol at a grocery store.

[Bucksnort101]

I picked up two big bottles of 99% pure ISO at the local Home Brewing supply store. They actually are a Homebrew store and Hydroponics/organic gardening supply store all in one. I think the ISO is used in hydroponic gardening to clean hoses? Anyway they gave them to me for free since they had an oversupply. Check if you have a Hydroponics Gardening center anywhere, they may have it.

[javlin]

Dwight had this response in the other thread about the grades

(Note: If you are using Iso as a thinner, you should use the higher end stuff. The lower percentage iso's have additives that can cause problems with your airbrush.)

[Bucksnort101]

Dwight had this response in the other thread about the grades

(Note: If you are using Iso as a thinner, you should use the higher end stuff. The lower percentage iso's have additives that can cause problems with your airbrush.)

I beleive the "impure" ISO is what causes the Gloss Tamiya to go flat if it is mixed? Still have not proved it, but I remember reading this somewhere.

[kgambit]

I beleive the "impure" ISO is what causes the Gloss Tamiya to go flat if it is mixed? Still have not proved it, but I remember reading this somewhere.

According to THIS article, thinning with alcohol (or windex) causes the Gloss Tamiya paints to go matt. Note that in the article the author is using 91% isopropyl and that still causes the problem. I can't vouch for it firsthand however since almost all of my acrylics are matt finish anyway. I have NOT noticed that problem with the Tamiya gloss and semi-gloss black however. The author of the article recommends using Tamiya Thinner when working with Tamiya gloss paints.

acrylic paints

Maybe Wayne can chime in here, since I believe he uses Tamiya Acrylics.

I believe that Tamiya Thinner is denatured alcohol cut with a small percentage of glycerin which promotes coverage and acts as drying retarder.

[Bucksnort101]

That is the article I read that told of regular ISO flattening Tamiya Acrylic. Also explains why the coat of artists Oils I applied as a wash on my T-Bolt engine got gooey and would not dry properly. Needs a barrier between the two paints.
I'm going to try using the Tamiya smoke with a little low grade ISO mixed in to see if it goes on flat?

[stona]

Question is, where the h*ll can I find Isopropyl alchohol in the UK?!!! I've tried everywhere, and I either get a blank stare (the women in my town, working in the various outlets, are a bit on the 'thick' side!), or I'm told 'we haven't had that stuff for years', or something similar. I can't believe this is true, as the bl**dy stuff's only rubbing alchohol.
Any suggestions as to a source of supply would be most welcome.

Maplins do a litre of IPA for about a tenner IIRC. I don't use much and haven't bought any for a while.
Steve

[Airframes]

Thanks Steve, the nearest Maplins to me is about 25 miles away I think!
Once upon a time, here in the UK, every chemist (drugstore) and drysalter store stocked the stuff, now, it's as rare as rocking horse poo. Even Boots (national chemist/drug store chain in the UK) didn't know what I was talking about!! I tried a couple of photographic shops, as it used to be a common glass etc cleaner - again, they hadn't a clue (but then, the average photographic shop assistant these days wouldn't know what a silver halide crystal was, never mind how 'film' worked!).

[vikingBerserker]

Wow that's really odd. YOu can find it almost every where here. Need me to ship a few bottles?