How to Airbrush Tamiya Acrylic Paints Tutorial

In this tutorial we take a look airbrushing Tamiya Acrylic Paints
For early access to all my videos before general release and shootouts in all my videos. Consider becoming a Channel Patron:
/ shanesmythscalemodels
For channel updates, and project WIPs check out my FB page:
/ 1778460985508280

[@travis_thompson]

And to save tears and sweat later, if you use a stick to decant the paint, wipe the lip of the jar. They lock up pretty tight if you don't.

[@FreakinfreakInfreaki]

Tamiya was the first paint I was ever able to airbrush without wanting to beat my head against a wall. Simply fill the bottle with thinner to almost the top. Shake thoroughly. Then decant into shot glass and add roughly 50% thinner. One can achieve near perfect results everytime. I build a lot of NATO armor with the standard NATO camo colors and I free hand it all with Tamiya.

[@Davy89]

So fill with thinner, then add more thinner?

[@Ray47nl]

@@Davy89 I am amazed that you can read...

[@Davy89]

@@Ray47nl Problem?

[@seanklingle139]

Thank you Shane, this has been one of the best ive run across for a more clear description of mix ratios especially. Everything I found was just "milk" with no explanation what that might mean. Im just starting to get into airbrush so this helps immensely!

[@longlance67]

thanks very glad that this video helped you out, the milk ratio is no real help I've always found it is why I like to use %ratios as its a little easier to understand

[@titaniumhen]

I am glad I found this video from 4 years ago, I am just learning how to do rusting and weathering with Tamiya paints. I will save this video into my favorites and revisit it when the time comes.

[@longlance67]

That is awesome! Super glad that I could have been of help to your project! If you run into any problems let me know! :)

[@strikeeaglemodels1588]

Best paint ever used in my airbrush mate.Never had any problems with it.Priming is standard practice in any form of painting 🍻👍

[@longlance67]

couldn't agree more, priming is a must for me personally too

[@nathanpartridge3565]

The old Gunze Sanyo were so much better than Tamiya.

[@Sophie_519]

Which primer do u prefer to use?

[@wwkdiecastmore5647]

Thanks for the tutorial Shane! So many different ways to airbrush when it comes to thinning paint, as we can see in the comments below! Also depends on the airbrush, the needle size, air pressure, things like that. If your using a .15 needle compared to a .35 needle, the mixture of paint to thinner is different. As for Tamiya, when it comes to shooting it out of an airbrush, its one of the best paints on the market, never had a problem with it!...Bill

[@longlance67]

true that, I tend to operate mostly with 1.5mm needles so I have to heavily thin my paints for them to flow right. But your right everyone has their own way of doing it

[@EricSemmelmayer]

This Vid helped me in a HUGE way this evening, especially after I had no luck with your "How to airbrush Vallejo Model Color" method did not work for me. Tamiya is just so much more consistency of viscosity, it just air brushes so much better.

[@longlance67]

I personally prefer vallejo for ease of use I am just so more used to that paint, as Tamiya is still the one which is new enough to me. But that is awesome thing about multiple paint brands we can find one that suits us all! :) cheers mate!

[@SmallSoldier]

Good tutorial Shane. Tamiya paints are awesome you just need to know how to use them and you explain it well here. Cheers man!

[@longlance67]

thanks Scott!

[@junglelands9119]

I find Tamiya very easy to airbrush Shane, I just fill the Tamiya jar a couple of mm from the top. I sometimes thin Tamiya 50/50 and still get great results.

[@azsafc]

Excellent. As are all your videos. Thanks for sharing your knowledge mate, great help for people like myself!

[@longlance67]

thanks very much for your support mate! and always happy to share what little knowledge I have that it might be helpful to someone :) thanks!

[@jackdemask4177]

Thanks for this very good, as well as specific, lesson on airbrushing Tamiya paints. I am somewhat new to this and appreciate your specific information.

[@longlance67]

Glad it was helpful! If you run into any trouble let me know :)

[@wilhelmhuber3270]

Thank you Shane. Excellent video. I use Tamiya almost exclusively as once you know a few secrets, like you show us here, they are much easier than Vallejo paints. I only use these now for brushing details etc. Cheers from Texas. WH

[@longlance67]

Greetings from Ireland! Really glad you enjoyed it! Funny I really like airbrushing Vallejo too its my go to along with Tamiya, I should really do an Airbrushing video with model air at some stage in the future!

[@claytonmcclain182]

Great video Shane. I do like my Tamiya paint. My only gripe is not enough military colors. I bet I have to mix 40% of the colors I need. But that said you'll never find an easier paint to work with. Anyway great video my friend.

[@longlance67]

that is true, the only limiting thing about their paints is lack of military colors but they are slowly adding more and more purpose colors to their ranges now

[@dar7578]

I'm about to airbrush for the first time ever and with Tamiya paint! I'm nervous I'm going to make a mess of my Sherman but thanks for this heads up 👍

[@bugler75]

Like Shane says, keep it thin and and build the layers up! You’ll be fine and you’ll be proud of it! Good luck!

[@dar7578]

@@bugler75 cheers buddy

[@longlance67]

as Bugler said, try to keep your coats of paint very light with little paint coming out of the brush, and slowly work your layers up not rushing yourself as it will help avoid flooding the model with paint :)

[@davehardie4991]

Practice on an old credit card or hotel room key first before you spray onto your model.

[@Adol666]

You can prethin whole jars. When you get a new jar just put thinner in up to the top lip. You can see it on the inside of the jar. This will also leave a little air gap. Just shake it well.

[@Mike-mm4mx]

very useful. Never been keen on using Tamiya acrylics for airbrushing but might give them another go after seeing this video.

[@longlance67]

cheers glad to be of help :)

Perfect Educational Video! Thanks for sharing! I go back to modeling and I want to use the airbrush technique instead of the old method of brushing. I'm looking forward to trying your precious advice. Greetings from the Czech Republic :)

[@longlance67]

cheers thank you!

[@ramtiger10]

Hi Shane, good video. To help control your Thinner pours use the plastic eyedropper with thinner to the thin the paint in the shot cup.

[@longlance67]

this a great bit of advice and something I used often just didn't have any to hand for this tutorial

[@cdpgbc-mw2kz]

Canadian viewer. I liked the video. Tamiya is a great paint for airbrushing. Tamiya works great with lacquer thinner...better, in my opinion, than x20a thinner. You should try it. I think you may call it cellulose thinner on your side of the pont?

[@longlance67]

I've seen some very lovely end results with cellulose thinners on other channels, though I've found it pretty hard to find it both in hobby shops or in hardware shops too

[@friktionrc]

You have no idea how much of a help this is. I’ve finally decided to give airbrushing a go after using spray cans to paint my Rc body shells (polycarbonate) and got an entry level wireless airbrush (only about 29psi max) from the rainforest and got some acrylic Tamiya paint. Aside from the worry of using of the airbrush, the other worry is knowing how thick or thin to mix the paint. I’m not going for weathering yet…just the ability one gets to paint detail designs on body shells you can never get with a spray can unless you’re some kind of graffiti god or goddess lol Ps - sorry for the personal question but do you have diabetes? I only ask my father and a cousin both do, and they have the same looking fingernails as yourself.

[@bugler75]

Great straightforward tutorial with great hints! I’m in the middle of a 1/72 Vulcan bomber using Tamiya paints and I can vouch for everything you’ve said 😊 from an expat abroad who loves to hear the aul accent 😊 Ian

[@longlance67]

thanks Ian, I've been using Tamiya for about a year now I must say I am really liking their colors so far, cheers mate !

[@bugler75]

Shane Smyth - scale models I must say I always come back to Tamiya and really only use other makes for specific colours or bare metals

[@longlance67]

myself I tend to use mostly Vallejo and Tamiya as my go too paints now, though I really want to give mission models paints a go at some point too

[@bugler75]

Shane Smyth - scale models never tried Mision Models , I must give them a bash😊

[@longlance67]

a lot of a modelers a raving about them!

[@liamgray9805]

Thanks Shane, very useful as im about to try and start airbrushing 🙈🤣

[@longlance67]

You will have great fun with it once you get used to it! The trick is don't be scared to experiment with mixtures and pressures. I would recommend using a test/old model to practice on and get used to how the airbrush behaves starting out. Just keep the paint thin, and paint layers light and you will spraying like a pro in no time!

[@thanatosstorm]

Lovely work for a lovely little model. Well done Shane

[@longlance67]

thanks mate!

[@FighterDoken]

From my experience, 3:1 thinner:paint might be a bit too dilute. I recommend people try dilutions from 1:1 to 3:1 and see what works best (start with 2:1 as a baseline).

[@jimdeshiro9067]

Thank you for the great Tutorial. I've not airbrushed Tamiya yet. I am very nervous as I'm building the 1/350 TOS Enterprise with lighting and 3D printed parts. I want the paint to come out good.

[@joburg76]

Cheers Shane great video, thanks for posting

[@longlance67]

thanks my friend glad you enjoyed it

[@FezzantPlucka]

I always do 50/50 and it works out fine.

[@longlance67]

cheers, does it work ok with fine needle too ?

[@josemasd]

@@longlance67 I also use P50/50T and no problem with 0.15 needle. And P2/1T with tamiya lacquers also works fine

[@corkcamden9878]

Just say the word, Shayne, and we'll get you some gloves. In fashion colors, too!

[@montlejohnbojangles8937]

Honestly I always found my Tamiya paints really nice through the airbrush, but I guess it's a mixed bag. Quality stuff though, especially their flat paints for doing tanks and planes and the like. Great video though, very helpful! Thanks!

[@longlance67]

its a great paint system! its even better with their Lacquer thinner

[@sabotup7442]

@@longlance67 So you can use Tamiya acrylic paint with their Lacquer thinner?

[@philRminiatures]

Realistic and beautiful, have to try this on my 15mm vehicles...

[@longlance67]

haven't tried it on 15mm vehicles but it worked very well 28mm stuff, the only thing I'd say is lay even lighter coats on the model that small and other than that it should be fine

[@Carlosradion]

perfect, I was looking for a video explaining how to dilute tamiya inks and with Portuguese subtitles. thank you

[@longlance67]

Glad it was helpful!

[@flick_shot_5625]

Mr Hobby Leveling thinner gets an overall better result for me. could be helpfull

[@galazkowa]

Mr. Hobby Levelling Thiner. I use it and works well. 50:50 or P40:60T.

[@NeAr1986]

Even if Mr Hobby Thinner is made for enamel?

[@donovangladden9074]

Thanks for the very informative video! Plastic shot glasses, leave it to an Irishman to give such a good tip 😁

[@longlance67]

its how we roll ;)

[@wildsau1965]

all i use are tamiya paints. ive alsofound out that adding two or three drops of retarder to the paint makes a big differenceon how the paint will come out of the air brush

[@longlance67]

solid bit of advice cheers!

[@sallyashby8037]

Great tutorial Shane. Thank you for the informative video.

[@longlance67]

your very welcome glad you enjoyed it!

[@martindaredare]

Excellent Shane , thanks for your help. All the best.

[@longlance67]

thank you!

[@TheGreywulff]

Thank you Shane. Well done !

[@longlance67]

thanks mate

[@Jules72Bear]

Quick and informative!

[@longlance67]

Glad it was helpful!

[@timwingham8952]

Thanks for this. I'm going to buy and try Tamiya now (after a mind numbing series of disasters airbrushing Humbrol and Vallejo acrylics). I'm really surprised you're recommending 70 thinner 30 paint. But I'm going for it. Will let you know how I get on. Thanks again for this video.

[@longlance67]

glad you found it useful! I tend to go with high ratios of thinner in my paints, but a good starting point is about 60% thinner to paint and add or take thinner/paint till you get the spray fidelity you wish

[@adamstein5773]

Great video! I’ve been using only Tamiya and mixing with 99% ipa 50/50 never an issue and alcohol is less expensive than thinner. Cleans up much better as well.

[@Fattrac]

Thanks for posting! Great info!

[@longlance67]

Glad it was helpful!

[@panzerpete4389]

Thanks Shane,I’m using the same ratio paint and thinner it works well all the time.👍

[@longlance67]

it seems to be best ratio for a lot of paints as a starting point :)

[@alwoodsmodellingmayhem]

Thanks very much Shane, appreciate this tutorial mate.👍

[@longlance67]

cheers bud!

[@williamfotiou7577]

Great tutorial my friend.

[@longlance67]

thanks mate! glad it was useful!

[@sebastianrubio928]

I just wish it was a drip pot. I paint mainly with vallejo, some AK, some citadel (in the past was mostly citadel, I switched to vallejo mostly), I do have some mrs hobby and some tamiya, but these last 2 I use for airbrush only use and I really wish it was less troublesome to airbrush with, but at the same time, they're smooth, fairly easy to use with airbrush. This is why I love vallejo or AK, the drip bottle, if I want to airbrush, it's easy. I switched some of my citadel paints to drip bottles, pre thinned with airbrush thinner, it's easier, it's paints I use a lot, I don't bother with paints I barely airbrush with. It can be a pain to work out the ratios, that's why I pre mix some paints, some vallejo I also switch to a second drip pot to pre mix it with airbrush thinner. For statues, non moving miniatures, vallejo, or any acrylics is the better choice, but recently I went into painting action figures and that's where I needed some other type of paint.

[@lospolloshermanos2692]

Very informative thank you for the advise. Greetings from Corona CA.

[@longlance67]

thanks and greetings from Ireland.

[@chunkspunk]

Hey Shane, this video is fantastic! I wanted to ask, how much time should I let my paint coats dry before applying another? Can I do it immediately or must I wait some time? Thanks, great video.

[@longlance67]

So it depends on the paint and how thick the layers you are applying, but a good rule of thumb is leave each layer till its dry to the touch. I found this in my climate to about 10-15mins. But in warmer conditions, Tamiya paint will dry much faster than this.

[@ScrubbersGhost]

Well done on the pronounciation of Tamiya too....surprising how many people dont know how the Japanese pronounce it.

[@waltervanvooren994]

Great video Shane!!!glad to see that tamiya acrylic paint is still in use by pro modellers like you!!just one question shane,the new ammo real colors,people say they are just the same paint???

[@longlance67]

don't know about me being much of pro, but thank you for the kind words. I haven't really bothered with Ammo colors if I am honest as I've must of their paints not to be funny user friendly so I never went any further with their paints after that

[@junnyq23]

Great info. Erin go brah

[@calvin14888]

Should that be the other way around? 70% of thinner seems making the paint too thin. I use 2:1 Paint to Thinner.

[@longlance67]

Minimum of 50/50 ratio is good in my experience but even then its a little thick

[@charlietingley3122]

This helped a ton

[@longlance67]

glad to be of help mate!

[@fennexx5796]

Do I need thinner? Complete beginner, got an airbrush from Amazon, metallic blue tamiya paint from a local model shop, didn't get thinner since he said it would be fine, can I just pour some paint in the airbrush and have at my hot wheels car? I've sanded and degreaser it

[@longlance67]

I would personally recommend that you do pick up some X20A thinner as even do you might get away with not thinning clearing paints. Your finish will suffer for it, as it will do go down far too heavy and will flood your model. I would always thin most paints going through my airbrush if just a little

[@voodoonights1671]

Nice demo Shane.

[@longlance67]

cheers mate

[@jr7392]

Get yourself a cheap P1000 scientific pipettor and some disposable tips. Also get some cheap 1.7mL "eppendorf" type tubes. This allows you to make exact, consistent mixes and you can store them a long time in the 1.7mL tubes. Total investment: about $40-50. The paint you save will pay for it.

[@rynn06]

finally a detail vid

[@longlance67]

thank you!

[@neilmackay7475]

Cheers for that Shane take care my friend 👍✌🐑😁

[@longlance67]

thanks mate, glad you enjoyed it

[@hyperian_one]

Excellent video. Your tips are awesome. Thank you!

[@longlance67]

Happy to help!

[@davidlanham5914]

Have you had any experience with brush painting Tamiya paint? Would love to see more videos for brush painting Tamiya, Vallejo Model Color, and Model Air paints. Enjoy all your videos.

[@longlance67]

I haven't tried brush painting Tamiya but I've seen others do it, so it is possible though I cannot offer much advice how to go about it unfortunately. I do intend do more videos on other brands, but if your looking for tutorials brush painting Model Color and Air checkout my figure painting videos as I use these brands a lot

[@MotoActionADV]

Good video. Thanks mate.

[@longlance67]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@viper341]

Thin tamiya 1 part paint 2 parts mr color leveling thinner its magical.

[@3D_printer_guy]

Great video. Is it acrylic or another kind of paint?

[@longlance67]

It is alcohol based acrylic

[@TheDemon190]

Good solid tutorial

[@longlance67]

cheers mate!

[@donstaunch7895]

My goodness man...no wonder you mix by eye. That pipette is gross! Thanks for the advice. Learning to use airbrush and your info has been very helpful

[@longlance67]

haha I really need to buy some new pipettes but I don't really use them much lol Glad the tutorial is helping!

[@zzodr]

Great Video. I've also discovered Tamiya Acrylic Paint Retarder, so I can actually brush paint with Tamiya acrylics without it being a disaster. :-)

[@longlance67]

thanks mate! I have yet to give the retarder a try and see how it works!

[@vojkotravner6413]

Tnx for helpful video!

[@longlance67]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rossfehily5354]

Nice video Shane, what airbrush would you recommend for beginners? Doing a few 1/72 scale models. Cheers

[@longlance67]

So it depends on your budget as Airbrushes can get very expensive but for a very good and affordable Airbrush. I would recommend the Iwata Neo which is a great all rounder and can do fine spray lines which is prefect for 1/72 work. Sparmax are another good budget airbrush for under $100. either would be good starter brushes are they good quality and easy to use. The most important things to bear in mind when looking for an airbrush is, make sure the brush is double action and gravity fed. These brushes give the most control for all jobs. Also the finer or smaller the needle point the finer the spray line you get. Hope this helps

[@kenshin73himura70]

Great tutorial! Have a question if you have the time broham. Becouse if the small confined space I have to work with. How strong are the tamiya fumes and can I get away with using a mask, or does a paint booth be better (by the way, no window in my little cave) Thanks!

[@longlance67]

So really want to have a well ventilated area for spraying, as these vapors can be harmful especially lacquers and enamels. So if you can't get a flow of air or an extractor then a mask is your only option, but do make sure its filters to screen out those fumes otherwise you still exposed to them.

[@kenshin73himura70]

@@longlance67 thanks for the reply! I was afraid of that. Brainstorming the problem, I came with the conclusion that a vent needs to be cut into wall for paint booth. Weekend project. Thank you so much.

[@neilmacke4039]

Great video. Can I use de-ionised water rather than Tamiya thinner? Cheers

[@longlance67]

In this case no, Tamiya is alcohol based paint, but you can use isopropyl alcohol if you can't get their thinner

[@neilmacke4039]

@@longlance67 thanks for advice 👍

[@shanesmith7672]

Cool vid!

[@longlance67]

cheers mate!

[@lylejohnston4125]

I need to spray a glass tail light lens for my '36 Chevrolet coupe due to some fading. I'm going to use clear red (and NO primer!) I've used clear orange on bulbs. Just dipped them in and let it drain off. But, I need a lighter coat the inside of the glass lens. Any tips before I try it?

[@alanwalsh4021]

Thanks for the video Shane. Have you checked out Tamiya's new German late war colours XF88 XF89 & XF90. They're not bad except XF90 is slightly darker than I'd like. Cheers.

[@longlance67]

I haven't had a chance as of yet, I have one of their late Panthers in the stash that I've been wanting to do as an Addrennes machine for a while now so might have to pick up a few jars to try them out

[@rgcustomz83]

I've used these paints for years. Random question. But does anyone else seem to think there is more than 10ml in these little jars?

[@longlance67]

I've jars with both a little more and less than 10ml in them

[@1337flite]

I just use methylated spirits for thinning Tamiya

[@musicmate70]

I have just ordered some Tamiya paint for the first time I am starting to think I have opened up a whole bag of problems I have been using Vallejo model air without any problems

[@longlance67]

I started off with Vallejo Model Air too, and I love those paints and use them as much Tamiya both being my top two paint systems. The thing with Tamiya it behaves a little different from model air, being a little more sensitive to thinning ratio and air pressure. Once you get used thinning it right and spraying in fine coats its a great paint to work it, just have get into the mindset of being delicate it with I found

[@stanleygeorge7781]

Nice video !

[@peezebeuponyou3774]

Uncanny- that could be me airbrushing, even down to the shot glasses, lol (40 in a bag from the £ shop). Not sure if we've found the definitive method, but we're definitely on the same page. Only difference is I've switched to the cellulose thinner- I'm actually waiting on the thinner/retarder coming over to Blighty from Japan, but it's taking a long time... Thanks for the video.

[@longlance67]

cheers mate, I honestly don't think there is a definitive method for painting any paint system its just really down to finding your own happy medium. I've heard good things about the cellulose thinner but like you said it takes so so long to get it from Japan, but I might try to get a bottle of it sometime in the future to to see how it works :)

[@longlance67]

nice bit of advice for the lads who go with lacquer thinners cheers

[@peezebeuponyou3774]

@@grimfist79 I use plastic ones- cheap and flimsy, but they do the job. Use once then bin.

[@TheMrXtreme25]

Hello Shane! Nice tutorial.. i ordered some tamiya paints at the moment.. do u know if i can use the vallejo german red brown surface primer? And after that the tamiya paints? Or is it not gonna work or messing it up? Thx Peter

[@longlance67]

so the trick with vallejo surface primers is to lay them in short blast in high pressure (20psi is good) shake them well and add a few drops of vallejo airbrush thinner and you should be ok, but be aware they tend to build up on the needle so you will need to wipe it clear every few minutes

[@jeannesmith2636]

I am planning to paint a guitar with the acrylic paint thinned with 91 percent alcohol..Can this be applied with a mini hvlp gun ? How durable are these paints?

[@domesticfoxy]

Great stuff thanks

[@longlance67]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@cobusprinsloo]

How long do you wait for each coat to dry before applying the next one?

[@longlance67]

I tend to leave each coat about 3 - 5 minutes to settle before applying another coat and especially a new color. This number may vary depending on the humidity in which you are working. But you are looking for the paint to lose that slick or glossy appearance when it begins look more solid or matt but always keep in mind that you spraying on still drying paint and can be easy to flood a model if your not careful

[@cobusprinsloo]

@@longlance67 thanks for the feedbac. At least it’s not hours to wait.

[@taxidermypolarbear1724]

Hey! If I were to use water instead of acrylic thinner would it be a different ratio of water to paint? Yes I’m too broke to want to buy thinner :(

[@longlance67]

In theory yes you can however I can say what kind of results you will achieve, I would recommend using isopropyl from the pharmacy if can as it will behave much the same as their own thinner. If you have go down the water thinning route then best try it on a test model first to be safe

[@taxidermypolarbear1724]

@@longlance67 oh thanks I’ll try that out when I get new nozzles Just broke them :/

[@1964wingman]

When i open up a new bottle you will see that there is a space. What i do is fill it up with thinner almost to the top put lid back on and shake well . Now the whole bottle is ready to spray. I spray at 20psi and with this method i have had no problems at all See Andys hobby headquarters for a great tutorial on Tamiya paints.

[@skylordianandy2644]

Thanks for the vid, the ratio you put has helped me out already! I have a question though. Is the Tamiya Lacquer thinner better than the acrylic thinner or is it about the same in terms of effectiveness?

[@longlance67]

I've been using Lacquer thinner more and more since making this video and would recommend it over the acrylic thinner

[@skylordianandy2644]

Good to know! I'll thin the acrylic with that instead.

[@eagle5600]

Great video. How long should I wait between coats?

[@longlance67]

Till it seems somewhat dry to the eye. I would recommend about 5 minutes at least before coats. With thinner coats it will dry a little faster, but you want to avoid having the model surface flowing with a thick coat of paint

[@eagle5600]

@@longlance67 Thanks so much!

[@iforce2d]

I asked about 'tinning' at my model shop and they directed me to soldering supplies :p

[@longlance67]

an;t got time for those "th's" :p

[@darkgladiator27]

Can I thin Tamiya colors with Mr Hobby thinner?

[@longlance67]

yes it should work fine

[@ferguskenny4578]

Have you ever tried idmodels.ie or marksmodels.ie for Tamiya? They stock up every so often with paints and thinners, even the lacquer thinners. At that 3:1 ratio, do you ever find the need for retarder? I bought some for a Trumpeter Prinz Eugen I'm starting, but never used Tamiya yet for airbrushing, just AK interactive, which I found clogged the airbrush at low psi.

[@longlance67]

sorry for the late reply, I've done a lot of business with Marks Models for paints and never had any issues with, also hobby mad and diecast models4u also have good stocks of paints. As for paint ratios I've never found a need for retarder agents especially with the use of lacquer thinner

[@ianmontero27]

Can i use water to thin my tamiya paint?

[@longlance67]

Unfortunately no. Tamiya is an alcohol based acrylic so water will not work. You will have to use either Tamiya X20A thinner or isopropyl alcohol from the pharmacy

[@kieranb1275]

Hi mate just getting into airbrushing and i have a cheap single action airbrush will these paints work with it?

[@longlance67]

yes these paints will work with a single action if you thin it correctly, though be careful with single actions as they tend to dump a lot of paint onto the model

[@TonyStark-rz5gr]

What air pressure did you use?

[@longlance67]

15psi Mr Stark

[@Chamb3rs]

Hey Shane! Any tips on thinning Tamiya varnish? I have some semi gloss that seems to dry to an almost powdery finish. I understand this is also down to airbrush psi. But wondering if you had any tips or even recommendations for a good semi gloss and clear varnish to use?

[@longlance67]

I've only ever used Vallejo Premium varnishes which work very well,I believe there is a few threads dealing with Tamiya Gloss and Semi Gloss over on Armorama which I would recommend googling

[@Chamb3rs]

@@longlance67 thanks for the reply! Would these be in a rattle can then or would you apply through airbrushing?

[@longlance67]

the Vallejo products I airbrush with there airbrush thinner, thinned about 50/50 or little more. Tend to get good results with short blast at about 20 psi

[@apocalypsenow7136]

Hello Shane ! Thank you for this video i’m still strugling with my tamiya paint and this will help a lot ! And I have a question for you, in your video of the british commando on d-day where did you buy the vail mesh for the helmet ? Thank you !

[@longlance67]

I got it from some gift packing myself, but I imagine you could easily find rolls of the stuff in a material or fabric shop, failing that online is your best bet

[@apocalypsenow7136]

Thank you for the answer and keep up the good work !

[@Android-rz8mb]

awesome tutorial thank you very much.... Which Brown did you use when putting down the base coat ?

[@longlance67]

thanks! I used XF-79 Deck Brown mixed with XF-60 Dark Yellow to make the sandy brown color, and for the straight brown shadow it was just XF 79 on its own

[@Android-rz8mb]

Do more videos you’re very informative thanks maybe you can do one on Vallejo model air

[@longlance67]

I'll add it to the list of tutorials thanks for the idea !

[@erikaguirre4320]

Will the ratio of 70% thinner to 30% paint work with hand brushing?

[@longlance67]

you wouldn't in theory have to thin it so heavily so brush painting, though I only really Tamiya for airbrushing

[@andypreston2982]

@@longlance67 Tamiya a do a retarrder thinner which is ideal for brushing Tamiya paints

[@johngalt7536]

Thanks for the vid - very helpful. Is there no concern regarding getting these products on your hands?

[@longlance67]

thanks mate! I honestly don't, though if your concerned with exposure then latex gloves are the way to go

[@cursedmonkey1033]

Hi Shane. Do you use any safety gear while using Tamiya?

[@longlance67]

a mask if I am dealing with cellulose based paints and for the acrylics I have a well ventilated setup

[@Saicustomfigures]

Do you have a hand brushing video tutorial?

[@longlance67]

Not yet, as I tend to use Vallejo for my brush painting

[@zitimotleyxxjmxx]

What is the brand and model of the airbrush you are using?

[@longlance67]

I am using a Harder and Steenbeck Evolution CR Plus

[@bansheeboys7839]

I am looking to get into airbrushing. What airbrush primer would you recommend to use with tamiya paints

[@longlance67]

So when it comes to primers I found that Tamiya's own fine rattle can primer is very good! Also. R. Surfacer is also great