tamiya cure rates...

i am currently using tamiya acrylics, with a brush, to applicable parts, and i was wondering how long they take to cure; meaning how long until i can handle the parts without ruining them (for assembly), apply a different color coat over a painted area (bottle reads 1 hour between coats, but may be different for a new color), or apply x-22 clear? I once applied tamiya's x-22 clear over what i thought to be a cured painted surface (waited overnight) to protect a decal when it began to "melt" the paint and ruin a hard laboured masking job!

thanks,
mgt

Well, it depends really. These types of paint dry pretty fast. Within the hour they are touch day. But press hard and you could still leave a finger print mark.

After 24 hours they are normally hard enough to apply decals etc.. As for clearing them, I tend not to brush clear, as clear can be tricky.. I always use my airbrush to clear Tamiya Acrylics. This way I can build the clear up in fine mists. And it doesn't eat it's way back into the base coats.

Someone else might say other, but when I tested brush painting clear over chrome silver, after two strokes I could see flakes of silver in my brush.. Not good..!!

appreciate the reply mike, thanks! just two more things; i have tamiya masking tape, and i was wondering how long after i brush paint tamiya acryilcs or spray paint tamiya sprays do i remove the tape? second, how long do tamiya acrylics have to cure in order to apply a different color; 1 hour between coats like the bottle reads for a recoat of the same color or a full curing period of 24 hours?

thanks,
mgt

Well I tend to wait a few hours before I overcoat any acrylic with another colour. Been working fine for me, as for masking tape, I wait no longer then 40 minutes before removing the tape, and I have at times removed it sooner if I can grab the tape easy enough. But don't remove it too soon, wait until the paint is at least tacky.

I should have also said, that Acrylics need a longer time to cure if you want to polish them. More like a month is needed then.

Someone else on this board might be able to answer better then me, as I'm only just myself getting into the hobby, but my results with my guidelines have been OK so far.

I've always had bad luck with brushpainting Tamiya acrylic over Tamiya acrylic. The solivent in the paint seems to have a nasty tendency to soften or dissolve the basecoat (because Tamiya acrylic can be stripped with alcohol, and Tamiya uses alcohol as a solivent in their acrylics)- not matter how long I've left it to 'cure'.

If you airbrush, there's no need to wait- you can paint one immediately over another, some or differnet color. As long as it's dry to the touch, (which with acrylic is usually 30-60 seconds) you're good to go.

As for X22 clear, I'd give it a day before overcoating. As far as polishing it out, though, I've had good luck waiting four or five days. It will always be softer than a laquer, but that certainly doesnt mean you can't get a terrific shine out of it.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/502/67954109_0961.JPG

My 996, painted with Tamiya acrylics, overcoated with X22. Polished it out less than a week after spraying.


Brush painting the stuff, however, I can't help you with....

I've not had that problem when overcoating with another colour, but then again, I don't brush paint an awful lot anymore. I favour airbrush with Acrylics. They are pefect in an airbrush. I tend to now use enamals for what little bit of brush painting I do.

Although I do try and plan my painting to paint the light shades first, followed by the darker shades.

As for polishing X22 clear in 4 days. Really..?? I didn't know you could polish them so soon.. That's worth knowing, as my next model is going to be a BMW M3 and I'm planning on giving it a metallic blue mixed with X13.?? or something and X11 then cleared with X22. Good to know X22 does polish out well.

As for polishing X22 clear in 4 days. Really..?? I didn't know you could polish them so soon.. That's worth knowing, as my next model is going to be a BMW M3 and I'm planning on giving it a metallic blue mixed with X13.?? or something and X11 then cleared with X22. Good to know X22 does polish out well.

Cool. The Dragon kit? What shade of blue are you going for- Estoril or Avus?

I did the 996 after waiting about 4 days, and smoothed the finish with a Squadron polishing stick (only the rough dark grey end). Then, I rubbed it out with course and medium polishing compound. I'm still really happy with how it came out.

Sooner or later, I'm going to do the same with my M3, sittling now primed and ready to paint on the back of my workbench. Mine's gonna be Avus- should be no trouble mixing it with Tamiya....

Estoril..

thanks for for the replies!

p.s. i have found that if you warm up tamiya acrylics in hot water for 5 min, you can apply them and achieve a great finish with no brush marks, despite what many may say.

thanks,
mgt

I've always had bad luck with brushpainting Tamiya acrylic over Tamiya acrylic. The solivent in the paint seems to have a nasty tendency to soften or dissolve the basecoat (because Tamiya acrylic can be stripped with alcohol, and Tamiya uses alcohol as a solivent in their acrylics)- not matter how long I've left it to 'cure'.

If you airbrush, there's no need to wait- you can paint one immediately over another, some or differnet color. As long as it's dry to the touch, (which with acrylic is usually 30-60 seconds) you're good to go.

As for X22 clear, I'd give it a day before overcoating. As far as polishing it out, though, I've had good luck waiting four or five days. It will always be softer than a laquer, but that certainly doesnt mean you can't get a terrific shine out of it.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/502/67954109_0961.JPG

My 996, painted with Tamiya acrylics, overcoated with X22. Polished it out less than a week after spraying.


Brush painting the stuff, however, I can't help you with....


Nice 996, but I wonder if the paint/solvent within the X22 is any different than X23? I used to airbrush on X23 to make carbon fiber hoods and I could never leave it alone less than a week to start polishing it. Even then I could still leave pretty big finger prints on the X23 painted surface, just by having my finger on it a few seconds. Hell I could even leave finger prints on it some time after I have finished with the entire model. Are there any tricks that needed to remember during your polish?

p.s. i have found that if you warm up tamiya acrylics in hot water for 5 min, you can apply them and achieve a great finish with no brush marks, despite what many may say

Really?!?! Got any photeys to show us? That does sound interesting (especially to me as I still brushpaint anything smaller than a bucket seat!)

unfortunately i don't have a capable camera, but i can briefly describe my method for tamiya acryilcs: stir for approx. 2 min with a toothpick, then, this tip actually comes from pman, fill a glass up, with hot water, to a point where, when placed in, the bottle will displace the water to just below its cap (need to experiment to get right level!), then leave for 5 min to heat up. This warms the paint, which apparently aids the flow and helps to eliminate brush marks. Then, with a good, proper sized brush, apply a thin coat, making sure to brush lengthwise and always in the same direction (eliminates brushmarks), wait two hours, repeat process and apply another thin coat, then leave to cure. Never go back over a previously painted area and try to keep a "wet edge," which means you're always keeping the edge of your paint work wet, so basically don't start haphazardly; for example, begin at the left and move uniformly to the right. I have always yielded excellent results with this method, you can't even tell i used a brush! I personally "have more fun" brush painting, as it is a lot less hassle then spraying, and detailing is the best part. But one thing, i spray paint large areas, so you will have to gage what needs to be brushed and what sprayed, also, you may want to spray very smooth areas, such as wheel wells, because it is difficult to get a good finish with a brush on these types of peices; detailed peices are preferred!

mgt

Nice 996, but I wonder if the paint/solvent within the X22 is any different than X23? I used to airbrush on X23 to make carbon fiber hoods and I could never leave it alone less than a week to start polishing it. Even then I could still leave pretty big finger prints on the X23 painted surface, just by having my finger on it a few seconds. Hell I could even leave finger prints on it some time after I have finished with the entire model. Are there any tricks that needed to remember during your polish?

I always do my best not to touch a recently painted surface, but I've found that with acrylics, even if the paint will take fingerprints, it can be polished out. I like to spray it on in multiple layers, smoothing any texture out with a polishing stick before applying more. I find that acrylics seem to respond just as well to being rubbed out once with micromesh or a polish stick to remove surface texture, and then using Tamiya type polishing compound- instead of multiple grades of micromesh. 6 sandings with micromesh will remove more paint than is necisary, and the acrylic is soft enough that polishing compounds seem to do just as well removing scraches.

It is softer than laquer, or fully cured enamel- but this is not really a disadvantage. It just requires different handling than harder finishes.

Since we already have a thread open about curing times, I'm going to save trouble of making one. Is 30 minutes good to wait to spray tamiya acrylic over a tamiya lacquer? Should I wait longer? The acrylic is going to be airbrushed over the can sprayed lacquer.

Since we already have a thread open about curing times, I'm going to save trouble of making one. Is 30 minutes good to wait to spray tamiya acrylic over a tamiya lacquer? Should I wait longer? The acrylic is going to be airbrushed over the can sprayed lacquer.

Similarly, I'd like to ask how long do I have to wait before I can brushpaint acrylic over lacquer (for my window trims). I've only done this once before (for my last model) and I can't remember how long I waited. Oh, and I did do a search but never got the answer I was looking for.

Cheers

I always do my best not to touch a recently painted surface, but I've found that with acrylics, even if the paint will take fingerprints, it can be polished out. I like to spray it on in multiple layers, smoothing any texture out with a polishing stick before applying more. I find that acrylics seem to respond just as well to being rubbed out once with micromesh or a polish stick to remove surface texture, and then using Tamiya type polishing compound- instead of multiple grades of micromesh. 6 sandings with micromesh will remove more paint than is necisary, and the acrylic is soft enough that polishing compounds seem to do just as well removing scraches.

It is softer than laquer, or fully cured enamel- but this is not really a disadvantage. It just requires different handling than harder finishes.


Thanks for clearing that up. Yea the fingerprints were not too hard to remove, but it was just a scary experience when I had to redo the polishing after some small parts like mirrors/lights/windshield were already glued on, and I wasn't careful enough to avoid leaning fingers onto the hood :uhoh:
When you smooth the surface after every light coat, was it easy to burn through the acrylic and onto the color? It would be annoying to lose some CF texture while trying to work on the clear coat.

I've always been carefull to use a light enough touch when rubbing intermediate layers to avoid it. I guess I've kinda figured that if I'm applying more layers overtop, any particular layer doesn't have to be perfectly smooth, but any obvious texture/orangepeel, I've tried to remove. I'm sure it's easy to burn through, but with a bit of care and discresion, I've managed to avoid it.

how long do you have to wait for tamiya spray lacquers to cure before you can handle them for assembly, etc.? second, say i spray paint (tamiya lacquer) something like a seat, interior tub, engine peice, etc. should i carry out the regular procedure (see faq) given for the body, or do i just spray and leave to cure?

thanks,
mgt