Tamiya TS-50 Blue Mica

[mozli]

Hello everyone!

As with all other model kit related products...there's a shortage of Tamiya's TS-50 Blue Mica paint in Israel.... how can i match it using X series paints... dont wanna mess up my skyline
Thanks!!

[MPWR]

Are you looking for an exact match (have you already painted part of the skyline?), or are you looking for something close? If you're looking for an exact match, forget it- the mica flakes used in the TS line of paint isn't used in Tamiya's acrylic line, so precise color matching is impossible. You can, however, make a close match with acrylics. Try mixing royal blue and gun metal, and adjust until it looks close to mica blue by your eye. If this is too dark, use regular blue instead of royal blue. Remember, each time you adjust the mixture, you'll need to trial spray it- the paint will look different in the bottle than it does painted on something. Also remeber, when you've mixed something you're happy with, make sure you mix a bit more than you expect you'll need- if you run out, you'll never match the color again.

[Vric]

Even if I hate Tetor, they make one very close to Mica (Metalic Blue or something like that)

[SteveK2003]

Testors has a couple close matches: True Blue Pearl and Arctic Blue Metallic are good, but pure 'blue'. For the slight hint of purple that the Mica Blue has, Sapphire Blue Metal Flake is a good color to match it. The first two come in the new Acryl acrylic and enamels, but the Sapphire Blue Metal Flake is only an enamel. It does come in the Model Master brand as well as standard (I believe the first two come in Model Master as well).

Tamiya does make a metallic blue acrylic paint, which should match the metallic blue spray paint pretty closely (The pictures of the bottles on Tower Hobbies' website look dark). Note that's the Metallic Blue TS-19, not Mica or Telefonica/Racing Blue.