Tamiya Acrylic for body

[jmwallac]

After finally purchasing an airbrush, I'm realizing why everyone raves about them. I've had automotive paint eat up about 4 bodies this last month so I switched to Tamiya Acrylics (I found a LHS that stocks them). I'm building the Texaco/History Channel GT-EVO and painted it X-1. It's dried for a few days and is generally OK, but I'd like to polish it. I've searched but not found the exact answer.

My question(s):
1) Do I have to shoot X22 clear? I'm planning on putting the decals on over the finished paint and not clearing over them.

2) Is the X-1 durable enough without a clear coat?

3) I'm used to automotive lacquers that polish very nice. Can bare X-1 be polished to a nice shine? Many of the threads I found show X22 polished, but I didn't find anything about the bare acrylic.

4) How long do I have to wait to polish the bare X-1? It's been 70's and sunny here in WI, and I've had it outside drying and in the oven with just the light on (that bulb puts out a ton of heat).

I'm hoping to do a WIP on this car (although it would be a disappointment when compared with the skill displayed on this site). It reminds me of what Darth Vader would drive! Thanks!

[935k3]

I think you would do better with Tamiya's TS Sprays. The acrylics are ok for interiors but are not very durable for polishing on a body. Their X22 can cause the Acrlylic to crack over time or sometimes right away. They also take a very long time to cure properly. You can strip the acrylic with Ammonia which is harmless to the plastic. You may also want to try Testor's new laquers.

[jmwallac]

I've had nothing but problems with Testors spray cans. The crappy nozzle seems to be the problem. I'll try replacing the nozzle. I've had such good luck with airbrushing that I thought I'd do a body. What paint is used when the body is airbrushed?

Can anyone comment on the questions about drying time, etc?

Looks like it's back to the automotive paints.... The acrylic strips really easy with 90% alcohol. No need for ammonia.

[klutz_100]

Remember that it is really easy to decant for example, your Testors paint from those crappy spray cans and apply the paint with your airbrush - problem solved :-)

It is posssible to paint and clear bodies with Tamiya X-acrylics (as MPWR showed with his BMW Z) but it it is a toughie and the clear needs to dry and cure for ages.

If the auto paint was eating your bodies, it sounds to me like you weren't using a primer. Am I right?

[jmwallac]

I was using a primer, but I don't think I allowed it enough time to dry and didn't get a thick enough coat(s). The plastic ended up getting crazed pretty badly. I've saved all the bodies so far, but it took a helluva lotta time to fix. The plastic always seemed to craze after the second coat of color paint.

Does the primer have to be the same brand as the color spray? I'm using brite touch primer (generic at auto zone) with duplicolor paints. For some reason, the white and silver metallic are "hotter" than the other colors. Plus, I don't have the patience for mist coats. I usually cover the body with 2 to 3 coats.

Maybe it's worth the couple extra bucks to pony up for the Tamiya spray cans?

[f1wc]

Sometimes the crazing could be due to the reaction between different paint brands. I use acrylics to airbrush my car bodies (sometimes gloss colours from art craft brands, not bad and cheap) with regular purpose primer (works great, not too hot either for plastic), but I wait for a while before polishing. If I want harder surface to polish, I would clear coat using Future polish, it doesn't seem to have problems like the Tamiya acrylic clear does. It cracked once only because I did too thick of a coat and tried to polish it without letting it cure or the paint underneath to dry properly, otherwise it's fine.
Acrylics are not bad except it needs experience and time to practice.
Check this great modeler out, he uses acrylics.

http://www.cifesystem.com/mgallery.html

[jmwallac]

So back to the original question...can airbrushed Tamiya acrylics be polished and how long do they have to cure for?

[wouter1981]

Yes tamiya acrylics can be used for body's and they can be polished, but it's not that easy. You should look for some builds of MPWR. Some of his cars are done with acrylics with a verry good result. The big problem with tamiya acrylics is that they are verry fragile if tou want to wet-sand them. The advantage is there ease of use ,non-toxicity and fast curing rate. A few days in normal temperatures and they are completely dry.

[klutz_100]

Originally Posted by jmwallac

So back to the original question...can airbrushed Tamiya acrylics be polished and how long do they have to cure for?

I did answer your original question
There is jsut no golden answer as to "how long is long enough". Not least, it would depend on the ambient temperature where you are drying out your paint. You will just have to wait and test....wait and test...until you are sure it's ok.

That's why I suggest you decant Testors or Tamiya paints and lay them through your airbrush in future. You will reduce your waiting time and have a harder body paint to polish as well. HTH

[jmwallac]

Sorry, it was late....

Last time I decanted paint (automotive lacquer) it sprayed on really poorly. It applied like sand paper. I guess the pressure was wrong maybe?

At any rate, I stripped the paint and will be applying automotive paint and clear.

Thanks!

[MPWR]

Er, why did you strip?

Tamiya acrylics can certainly be used to paint bodies. Here are two that I've done with nothing but Tamiya acrylic-





Like all media, it has it's strengths and weaknesses. No, it will never be as hard as laquer- but that definately doesn't mean you can't polish it to a blazing shine. You just have to be carefull with it.

As for polishing, both of these have polished X22 clearcoats. But it is always better to have the paint go on smooth then to hope that polishing will clean up flaws and textures. Easily 80% of the time and work I put into body painting is in the actual painting, and polishing is little more than an afterthought. A paint job is either good or crappy long before polishing starts. So if Tamiya acrylic is going on well for you, then by all means use it!

[jmwallac]

I stripped it because I was impatient. It had only cured about a day in the sun and I tried to polish it. The paint fogged up a little bit and I rubbed through on one of the corners. I just picked up some acrylic enamel auto paint which I've had great success with in the past. I'll stick to acrylics for the interior.

MPWR - that 911 is beautiful. I'm sure you've built more than 2 models-do you use X22 on all of them? If no, what else do you use?

Thanks for the replys.

[hirofkd]

Originally Posted by jmwallac

Sorry, it was late....

Last time I decanted paint (automotive lacquer) it sprayed on really poorly. It applied like sand paper. I guess the pressure was wrong maybe?

Sounds like the paint was too thick. Did you thin the decanted paint before shooting it through your airbrush?

[MPWR]

Originally Posted by jmwallac

I stripped it because I was impatient. It had only cured about a day in the sun and I tried to polish it. The paint fogged up a little bit and I rubbed through on one of the corners. I just picked up some acrylic enamel auto paint which I've had great success with in the past. I'll stick to acrylics for the interior.

You're going to have a short, frustrating building career if you strip whenever you're impatient. The fogging would have almost definately cleared itself in a couple of days.

Originally Posted by jmwallac

MPWR - that 911 is beautiful. I'm sure you've built more than 2 models-do you use X22 on all of them? If no, what else do you use?

Thanks about the 911. I use/have used a number of things. X22 is the only acrylic clear I've had good experiences with (stay away from Future). Lately I've been using my depleating stock of CobraColors acrylic laquers- when they're gone, I'm not sure what I'll turn to next. But I've found that terrific results can be had with just about any type of paint- you just have to learn to use them.

Almost by definition, when you decant paint from spraycans you must reduce it with compatible thinner before airbrushing. Otherwise sandpaper texture or other nasty effects will likely result.

[jmwallac]

Originally Posted by hirofkd

Sounds like the paint was too thick. Did you thin the decanted paint before shooting it through your airbrush?

Didn't thin it. It appeared to be thin enough as it was the consistency of skim milk. Good to know for next time.

Originally Posted by MPWR

You're going to have a short, frustrating building career if you strip whenever you're impatient. The fogging would have almost definately cleared itself in a couple of days.

Going to have? It's already here!!! It is frustrating, but it's a hobby so I put up with it. My "modelling skills" were much better before I found this forum. Before the days of knowing about orange peel, 50 shades of red for Ferraris, having to polish.... I got in this hobby to learn to be patient, but so far it's a collosal failure. I still enjoy it though. I'd like to post some pics and get feedback, but the stuff on this site blows me away. It's humbling. If I wasn't so penny-wise, dollar foolish, I'd just buy Tamiya TS paints. But where would the fun be in that???