How to airbrush Tamiya paints!

In this video, I cover how to airbrush Tamiya flat, gloss, and clear paints.

[@falconflying1145]

This is almost a life changing video and I don't mean to be hyperbolic. I have been using an airbrush and Tamiya paints for 26 years now. I have always had so much trouble with automobiles and gloss coats, so frustrating that i keep falling back to spray cans. I have watched HUNDREDS of videos and not a single explained what you just did in 19 minutes. I had my air pressure and thinner ratio ALLLL wrong. Last night i watched this video and immediately went down to the garage and airbrushed an auto body with your settings and its one of the best paint jobs that I have ever achieved. I can't thank you enough for this video. Its crazy to think how long I have been struggling and had things so wrong all these years. It really had nothing to do with my skill, i just had my airpressure WAY to high and my thinner ratio WAY too low. Thank you so very very much.

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

Wow, thank you so much for the kind words. I’m glad to hear the video was useful for you.

[@pawpawstew]

My only issue with Tamiya paints is after all these years, they still refuse to formulate and label their paints in accordance with established federal standard (FS), RLM, RAL, VVS, and NATO colors. YES, you can mix paints to achieve said colors. However, when your competitors follow these standards out of convenience to their customer base, it makes you wonder why Tamiya hasn't gotten on board with it.

[@gixrman]

When I got into airbrushing a few years ago a friend told me a few great trick for Tamiya paints. Never shake, stir the bottle to mix. This solves the paint getting trapped and drying on the bottle lip. Use a pipette to remove the paint. When the bottle is brand new, open it fill it almost to the top with lacquer thinner for acrylics, and it will be perfectly mixed or thinned.

[@johntaylor1435]

Good video. For those new to modelling nozzle size may have been useful. Cheers

[@AsimPaints]

Only complaint I have with Tamiya is they haven't updated their color line in some time and mainly cater to the traditional scale modelers, and not other hobby painters like gunpla (which is odd considering it's a Japanese company). So, Mr. Color is my new go to, along with Vallejo.

[@mikloowl4899]

I would agree, i have explored Vallejo air for a bit for the simplicity.

[@gregglistrom2483]

I like the jars. I just use a pipette to transfer the paint and you can be just as accurate as if it were a dropper bottle.

[@57hound]

Yes-this! I personally dislike the squeeze bottles-what if you need to return paint to the bottle? Pretty much impossible with a squeeze bottle. Disposable pipettes are the way to go. And if you’re opposed to the waste of disposables, use glass pipettes and rinse after each use.

[@alonespirit9923]

And the jar is stirrable while the dropper is not. You never know, Is the dropper paint bottle mixed well or not?

[@jamescreswell9037]

Same. Another advantage is access with a standard electric mixer without modifying the blade (grinding down). e.g. Badger or Trumpeter.

[@natalebabbo-gunplaanddioramas]

Very comprehensive guide! In my initial days as modeler (1970!) the only paints available were Humbrol’s enamels. Then Tamiya appeared on the Italian market and they were a game changer back then. I use to thin Tamiya with its thinner and this technique I learned from other modelers: filling up the bottle almost to the rim with thinner and give it a good shake. Using this method I rarely had problem airbrushing Tamiya even though I have admit that I do not use them as much as I used to. It’s been at least 10 years I’ve been using true acrylics (Vallejo, Mig).

[@MrMYAWH]

I just bought an iwata M2 and a bunch of tamiya paints - I'm sure you've saved me hours of trial and error. Awesome video!

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

Glad I could help!

[@willwoods6466]

Thanks, lots of great information. I too love Tamiya paints and use thew specifically. I have the whole collection. Something I have learned recently is to fill up the bottle with thinner as soon as I open it the first time. I use a hand held stirrer and keep the lid clean after each use. About two years ago I bought a package of about 50 plastic squeeze bottles and started using them. I now find that to be more of a pain and have gone back to using the glass bottles. They are much easier to thin and mix in.

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

I’m noticing a lot of Tamiya users are thinning their paint in the bottle and transferring into dropper bottles. I’m somewhat tempted to do the same 😂

[@bsuli76]

Your channel is a great example of how educational videos should be produced. Well edited, straight to the facts, and useful information without any bullshite. I’ve been using Vallejo Air paints (using your custom thinner/flow improver/retarder formula), and I’m happy. I’m trying to create gloss surfaces which I can polish to high gloss (like car models), and I haven’t found good infromation about the Tamiya polish compound’s compatibility with acrylics. I did read a lot that Vallejo is not really a good base for high gloss finish due to the paint peeling up when applying wet sanding. Cars and high gloss may not be your interest, but it would be really great if you could add a video about using gloss clear coats (maybe Tamiya vs Vallejo) and demonstrating how well they can be wet sanded and polished. Anyways, thank you again for this great video and I can’t wait for the next one!

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

Hey, thank you for the kind words and I am glad you liked my videos. I am not a car builder so never had to worry about high shine before. But this is a question that keeps coming up and I have been researching into it. One thing that another modeler discovered recently is that the Vallejo gloss in a can, provided the highest shine and looked as good as any lacquer/enamel. I posted his findings in the Facebook Group I created called "Scale Modeling using Acrylics". I highly recommend joining! The goal is to help other scale modelers using acrylics get the best results. But I will be doing a video on high shine builds soon, so keep an eye out!

[@matthewhudson9435]

I just want to add for brush painting - from my own experience, if you use tamiya acrylics with Distilled water, in approx a 1:2 part ratio, 1 drop of water per 2 drops of paint, the results of brush painting can be excellent. It may take a few coats but it does work

[@christopherlindloff8331]

Really great content, thank you!

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

Thank you for the kind words. Glad you liked the video.

[@mariojulien001]

Great video !!! Thanks !!!

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

Thank you! Glad you liked it.

[@MX5Fanatic]

A great tutorial. I have saved this to my favorites.

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

Wow, thank you that means a lot! I am glad you like the video. If you have any suggestions for videos you would like to see, let me know.

[@thomasjenkins9758]

Great video, once again! Very informative! Tried to use Tamiya paints and had very good luck with they when practicing spraying them. I usually would add approximately 25% thinner to the paint, and it worked. My only problem with Tamiya paints is the fact that I had to spend so much time mixing to try to get the color I needed to get for a particular model. I realize that there are many sites on the internet which give mixing formulas but having tried many of these mix formulas, I could not get the color I was after. This is why I gave up on Tamiya paints and went to other brands (Vallejo, AK, etc.). This problem with having to mix colors almost constantly, is about the only issue I have with Tamiya.

[@mikloowl4899]

All the cons you mentioned with the bottle style i am guilty of. It was one fo the reasons why i started exploring other options for a time.

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

This is why some modelers have started pouring Tamiya paint into squeezable tip bottles. I am just to lazy to do that haha

[@colonelklink53]

Thank you. This was a very nice and informative video.

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

Glad it was helpful!

[@MrMirkfallon]

I like the bottles. As som other guy said, use a dropper to transfer paint to a pallet or a mixing pot. For precise measurement for mixing I use a scale.

[@4englishlies875]

Very cool information, and here I just thought that I sucked at it when I used these paints...😊

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

Glad it was helpful. And we all suck when we start

[@johnmunns5964]

If they go to a plastic bottle they'll just evaporate like the rest do and if you wipe the top you dont get the dry paint plus you can't easily knock over a tamiya pot 😊

[@dwightatnorthernstar1820]

Bottle design: recyclable glass, holds much more paint than squeeze bottles.Others have throw away plastic. Yes, top of bottle is a problem with drying . Does smell.....Badger paint stirrer works the best, that's how the paint manufacturer does it.

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

Definitely like recyclable glass, and the more paint. But definitely disagree on the stirring sticks to mix the paint. The vortex will permanently change your color mixing game.

[@wrinkledm]

Nice job, while I like the Mr.Leveling Thinner, I lean to the yellow cap'd Tamiya Lacquer thinner for airbrushing their acrylic paints. The lacquer thinner seems to have a bit more bite on the primer and helps make a tougher finish IMHO.

[@DS-gk8vr]

Great video! Can you also do a video for Acrylic Paints?

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

Hi DS, did you any particular acrylic paint in mind? I have on my channel a video on how to airbrush Vallejo and Ammo by mig paints. The thinner mixture I use with both paints can be used with all water based acrylics. It will permanently change your acrylic airbrush game.

[@DS-gk8vr]

@@arewethereyetmodeling2196thanks for your reply, I will check out your video on Acrylics.

[@jmf230462]

For painting modern jets windshields, Tamiya clear paints are quite good, but can I brush them too for this purpose instead of airbrushing? (Due to the small size of a windshield in 1/72, for example)?

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

Hi, you can but I would only do it if you’re pretty good brush painting. Otherwise you risk brush marks. I personally recommend you mask the area of the canopy you want to tint and gently airbrush it for the best look. Hope that helps.

[@jmf230462]

Thank you, and congratulations for your videos!!

[@raytheron]

I always add at least one stainless steel ball (available from AK) to each Tamiya jar and find I don't neet do stir the paint to mix the pigments with the cellulose. If I need a very precise mix, I use cheap plastic pipettes to measure out drops.

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

Ray, recommend not adding in the stirring ball into Tamiya paint bottles. Unfortunately one time I had the stirring ball chip the bottle and there were glass flakes in my paint.

[@donmehl556]

I no longer shake Tamiya acrylic bottles. I find that this causes the paint to be globbed up on the sides of the jar and the lid. Later, dried chunks of paint fall into the paint and ruin it. I use a Badger paint stirrer. When I brush Tamiya paints, I do not even wipe the brush on the jar. I squeeze a few drops onto a mixing bowl and paint from there. I do put SS balls into Vallejo bottles.

[@midnightmodeling1639]

Tamiya makes good paint, but I prefer Revell , and AK paints.

[@andrepierlot3098]

Is the X-22 clear airbrushed in the same way than tamiya gloss paints ?

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

Yes, X-22 sprayed exactly like the gloss paints. Make sure it goes on wet and it leave a nice beautiful gloss finish!

[@andrepierlot3098]

@@arewethereyetmodeling2196 Thank you 50 thinner 50 paint 12-15 psi Near the model And wet coats

[@catlady8324]

Don’t forget a little Tamiya Retarder to help it level.

[@kenm6533]

This may be a stupid question but I’m trying to understand certain terms correct me if I’m wrong but a 70/30 mix to me sounds like (using 10 drops of paint) 7 drops of thinner to 3 drops of paint, so am I to believe then 50/50 mix (again using 10 drops of paint) 5 drops of thinner and 5 drops of paint?

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

Hi Ken, I am not sure I fully understand your question. When I say 50/50, I mean half paint/half thinner. When I say 70/30, I mean 70% thinner and 30% paint. Does that make sense? Again, I am not sure what you are asking exactly.

[@kenm6533]

@@arewethereyetmodeling2196 ok maybe Im not explains myself….if you were to use 20ml of paint how much thinner would you use?

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

@@kenm6533 I would use 20 ml of thinner. so 1 to 1 ratio. But that is if I am doing just general painting. If I want a more smooth finish, for example a car model, where a smooth finish is very important. I would do 70 parts thinner to 30 parts paint. Does that help?

[@kenm6533]

@@arewethereyetmodeling2196 yes it does thank you so much , Also are you saying thinner the paint would give a smoother finish? I would guess you would do multiple coats as well

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

@@kenm6533 yes, you got it! For general painting you can do 50/50 thinner to paint. But if you want a smooth finish for example for car modeling or a polished airplane model, you want to do 70/30 thinner to paint. But you will need to do more coats.

[@DreadnoughtDave]

I've always used Tamiya acrylics but the range lacks tremendously.

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

I completely agree with you and after I uploaded the video I wish I had added that part in.

[@DreadnoughtDave]

@@arewethereyetmodeling2196 still a helpful video! Thanks for it. 😀

[@donmehl556]

Does anyone else have coverage troubles with Tamiya red, yellow and white? Seems like it take 5 or 10 coats to get complete coverage.

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

Don, do you paint over a primer? In particular yellow is incredibly hard to get good coverage with. So the best way is to prime with Pink (yes I said Pink). Mr. Surfacer pink primer works really well for this purpose. You can also uses pink primer with Red. For white, primer with light grey and that will help alot.

[@donmehl556]

@@arewethereyetmodeling2196- I am using Mr. Surfacer grey on almost all. I have some Tamiya rattle can pink, I'll experiment with yellow over pink tonight and let you know tomorrow.

[@alonespirit9923]

What are you trying to cover? Works well with a white or tan undercoat.

[@catlady8324]

I have a recommendation: I do jar cleaning maintenance on jars, lids and threads every time I open a jar. In the 70’s my Dad would have been mad as hell if I put the jars away like that!!!

[@arewethereyetmodeling2196]

Catlady....first, hello to a fellow cat lover! I have two chubby brats of my own and foster kittens. Is your profile picture that of your cat? But in regards to what you said. I also try to keep my jars clean! And if there is build up I try to clean it out before I put the bottles away. These are bottles I bought from a fellow modeler who wasn't as through on his cleaning.

[@catlady8324]

@@arewethereyetmodeling2196 Meow that makes sense! You don’t seem like the type to keep messy jars, or “Pots” as our Brit friends across the pond say. 🇬🇧 ☕️ 🫖 🌂 Yes, that was Heterochromia from many years ago. He was a real character and knew he was something special!

[@57hound]

Use a disposable pipette to remove paint from the bottle-paint never gets on the jar threads, therefore no problem with dried flakes falling into the jar. Also, never shake the bottle to mix the paint-always stir. This also helps with not fouling the lid and jar threads

[@sbaliensarereal]

I grew up on food 😂

[@alonespirit9923]

Mmmm, it is possible to 'hairy stick' brush paint Tamiya's acrylics, but you gotta reach an understanding with the paint, on its terms. And, I didn't try to brush paint anything bigger than 1/72 wings for little WW1 airplanes & 1/35 tank crew people.

[@barrybradfordlocksport]

Tamiya is the dirtyest pot rubbish lids and dries out in the pot youd think they would sort this out