Airbrushing Tamiya Clear (x-22)

Hey guys, in preparation for decals, I have been spraying Tamiya Clear as a way to add extra gloss so the decals lay down nice and there is no silvering.

I have given up on future and have since moved on to Tamiya x-22 clear. I love Tamiya paints but this one is a little different. I have sprayed it and gotten really uneven coverage and it has not been very glossy.

Is there a trick to spraying a gloss coat of Tamiya Clear? What kind of methods do you guys use to spray Tamiya Clear?

Thank you,

Carlos

PS. I am talking about the acrylic x-22!

I've had good results with X22- MUCH better than with Future. If I'm going to spray a clear acrylic gloss, X22 is what I use.

Make sure that you are thinning it with Tamiya's acrylic thinner. It makes a real difference, and is definitely worth using. I find that for me, using a lot of thinner and spraying light and slow works best.

Try thinning it 2:1-3:1, 1 to 2 light mist coats, let it tack, then lay down a few gloss coats. Sometimes if it looks too thick don't worry, it shrinks pretty good. It pays to test on a scrap body first.
It literally takes at least a week or 2 to cure, sometimes more before you can touch it without leaving fingerprints, fight the urge

It takes too long to dry and never seems to dry well enough to handle without leaving fingermarks. Try the Gunze Mr Hobby top coat in aerosol form or auto clears 1K and 2K and you will never use the Tamiya stuff again...

it does take forever to dry, but for ease of use and health, I can't beat it.
I usually have at least one or 2 bodies curing up while I work on other stuff.
I've had the thought of adding some hardeners and experimenting with various products, we have a paint shop at work, but I haven't had the time

I think "Baxter!" nailed it! I also use Tamiya's acrylic clear often and it does take a long time to dry. I tend to lay thick multiple coats so it takes several months to dry!

My style though, it is easy to shoot, easy to work with (except the drying time) and I also use it as glue for clear parts. How can you beat that? :)

Just an update, I tried spraying it 1:1 and using lacquer thinner instead of tamiya's alcohol and was surprised. Gloss looks fine, same as usual, but it feels much harder after 24 hours. My testing method was just pressing my finger on to it for 10 sec. You could see a very faint fingerprint which could be buffed out. If this was standard ratio with alcohol it would have been very deep and needing to be sanded out
I'm still testing with some other ratios and hardeners, I'll let ya know.

Yes. An under-appreciated thinning method for Tamiya acrylics is laquer thinner. If you have the ability to vent, its the way to go as far as I am concerned. Really gives a nice finish!

I use two this Tamiya Clear. I thin 60 % (thinner) to 40 % (clear). The thinner i use is Gunze's Mr. Color Thinner and it works fine. In thin layers will dry and harden faster and it makes a very good surface for decals. But if you spray many layers to get a nice and extremly glossy surface you need to let every single layer to dry well othervise you will be dissepointed. Don't rush or you will get the fingerprinst on the body!

Tamiya makes it's own lacquer thinner that is pretty much the same as Mr. Hobby Mr. Color Thinner. It is designed to make the bottled acrylics spray better than with Tamiya acrylic thinner. Some Tamiya acrylic colors do not like some generic lacquer thinners.

@ ZoomZoom MX 5 - I know about the Laquer Thinner from Tamiya, but the Gunze stuff is the only i could buy in my country, but it works very well.

hmm, now here's another question...how might this tamiya acrylic clear/laquer thinner combo work against some SMS decal? I plan to do some carbon work on a tamiya GTR soon and I would like something that doesn't take weeks to cure, but won't harm the decals. My plan is the tamiya smoke clear with some flat base added since I don't like overly glossy cf.

It is designed to make the bottled acrylics spray better than with Tamiya acrylic thinner.

Can you verify this? I've never heard that Tamiya's lacquer thinner was intended to work with their acrylics. My understanding was that it was formulated to work with their lacquer sprays and putty. I would be very curious to see if use with acrylics was a purpose intended by Tamiya.

Can you verify this? I've never heard that Tamiya's lacquer thinner was intended to work with their acrylics. My understanding was that it was formulated to work with their lacquer sprays and putty. I would be very curious to see if use with acrylics was a purpose intended by Tamiya.

It was attibuted to someone whom I cannot quote exactly, in regards to military modelers wanting a better thinner for a finer spray that settled more evenly on the parts. There was a question and it was answered by someone from Tamiya as to why they had a lacquer thinner but don't offer lacquer paint in bottles. It may very well be that it works equally well for all the above; thinning the acrylics, thinning decanted sprays, thinning putties.

I can verify by my actually using it to spray the acrylics. It does work better than X-20; you can build up in thinner layers without the inherent problems that many water based sprays will cause. That's all that really matters. Acrylics don't lay down the same way as lacquers/enamels...until you mix them with a lacquer thinner.

I'm a bit late to this thread bit will post anyways in case this pops up for others searching for info on X22. I use X22 for a coating before decals and afterwards to seal them. I use a 50/50 mix of X22 and Mr. Color Lacquer Thinner. I do two light coats a day apart and a thicker wet coat and allow it to dry for two days before applying decals. I then apply another wet coat to seal and allow two days dry time again. I am in a So Cal so the conditions are dry. Never had an issue with fogging and certainly don't have to wait more than a day to handle with fear of fingerprinting. Airbrush from Badger 175 @ 20 psi. When doing armor I have to recoat with dull to get rid of the gloss.