Hello
I would like to try tamiya's acrylics with lacquer thinner, however tamiya's own lacquer thinner is really hard to get hold on in Europe , so I was thinking of using humbol's lacquer thinner. Has anybody any experiences in this regard?

In advance thanks
Erik

Hi Erik
Of course you can give it a try,but...According to my experiences, Humbrol thinner is nothing more than very refined white spirit, while Tamiya laquer thinner is a combination of acetone with some sort of retarder. When I added some Tamiya paint into Humbrol thinner, there was no reaction. It all turned into greasy bubbles of paint floating in the jar.
If you want your Tamiya paints to work best, here is my recipe: take 1 litre of isopropyl alcohol and mix it with 25 ml of glycerin (it would work as a retarder).
HTH, Paul

Hi Paul
Thanks for the advice, I'll try try IPA/glycerine mixture. Do you experience nozzle clogging if not using a retarder?

Thanks again
Erik

I use lacquer thinner found at the local home improvement/ DIY store. Works just fine.

The recipe I told you about is an almost direct analog of Tamiya's own thinner for their acrylic paint range. The retarder is useful for two reasons: it DOES HELP to keep nozzle unclogged (my AB has 0.3 mm one) and it gives smoother and steadier flow to paint, which leads to more even coverage. If that's what you need, go for it !

Thanks Paul and Jesse
I tried IPA know, and the flow is very good, but the finish seems to end up being very matte and kind of ruff. How about you Jesse, what finish do you obtain with the home depot lacquer thinner?
As I understand the Tamiya lacquer thinner is actually very diluted lacquer thinner, which I find desirable, as I wan't to keep the exposure to the lacquer thinner/cellulose thinner (acetone, toluene, 2-Pentanone and naphtha) stuff to a minimum.

Erik

Guess the right term is rough not ruff!
So I now I have tried out a mixture of isopropyl alcohol and lacquer thinner in a ratio of 9:1 as thinner mixed with tamiya acrylics in a 1:1 ratio, and it sprays very good, no clogging, and the resulting surface is not rough as experienced with 100% IPA. When going to 100% lacquer thinner mixed with paint in a 1:1 ratio I didn't experience any improved spraying or finish of the resulting surface. So for now I'll stick to a IPA diluted lacquer thinner, and maybe it's possible to use a even higher degree of dilution!

Erik

I like Tamiya Laquer Thinner, and recently ordered from Hong Kong to the UK. £9.50 and it took 8 days. The only reason I can suppose that UK vendors are put off from stocking it is the increasingly restrictive rules on what you can post out via Royal Mail. Grrrr

Thanks Ken
I'll try to hold on it from Hong Kong.

Erik

IPA on it's own tends to dry too fast, hence the rough finish.

That is why Tamiya put retarder in their thinner.

Tamiya lacquer thinner, or even better, Gunze Mr Levelling thinner is a great improvement, but does smell pretty bad.

Adding a couple of drops of Tamiya gloss X22 to the paint also helps reduce the roughness.

Thanks Phil
I have just finished a priming session using acrylic primer, and the constant clogging is just to annoying, I guess the primer could use some retarder as well. Just ordered some Tamiya lacquer thinner, actually from a Danish shop!

Erik

Ever try sealmodel.com ?

Thanks Edmund
Nope, but it looks like they have everything one could ask for. How about shipping, tax and custom fees?

Thanks again
Erik

Their prices are real good , you put in your order and they tell you how much shipping is then you pay . Their drawback is they ship the items correctly . Say aerosols have to be shipped surface freight so they tend to be slow . But they were the only place that I found a Mr Hobby Red Oxide surfacer 1000 in aerosol , from what can gather it's a very good match for the German red oxide primer on their vehicles . They shipped to me in the USA and there was no taxes or customs for me . Now I have also bought Tamiya lacquer thinner off eBay and the sellers were advertising free shipping from Hongkong or Taiwan .

Yes their prices are very competitive. I once tried to have the custom pick out my package from overseas, and I ended up paying 120$ for an etch mate. The prices listed is without tax, and any package from outside the EU will be in risk of being picked out in the customs, and huge customs fees will be added, which you'll have to pay at the post office. However I'm not sure if airmail is in greater risk of being picked out compared to surface mail.

/Erik

And people complain about living in the USA . The taxes are not as high as living in Europe .

It might be too late but here is a link to a home-made thinner that seems to work :

http://www.cybermodeler.com/tips/thinner.shtml

Just thought it might be of use for someone...

Good to hear that you ordered the Tamiya Thinner, it is the only way to go when using Tamiya

I've tried mixing my own batches of thinners for Tamiya, but it never seems to work Their thinner is perfect for the paints.

Some say Tamiya and Gunze paints are both product of the same factory, so Gunze thinners work equally well with Tamiya paints, besides, the two brands can be mixed safely (although Gunze paints have finer pigment)

Cheers, Paul

I tried Crown lacquer thinner and it didn't mix. I got bubbles and separation. I have had good results with Floquil lacquer thinner, Tamiya lacquer thinner, and Testors lacquer thinner. To use IPA, just mix in a few drops of glass cleaner. This will help retard the paint.

so why use the Tamiya lacquer thinner for their acrylic paint, and not just use their acrylic thinner?

Because their 'acrylic' paints are really lacquers, and the lacquer thinner just works better.