I went to a modelstore today that I worked close to today. I was looking at a M10?? Hummer and noted the colors needed. I was thinking of doing the desert scheme and noted the color used was TS-46 Light Sand. Went over to the color rack and to my surprise I didn't find TS-46 amongst the small jars. Strange I thought, so while turning to go back to the kit I noticed a bunch of Tamiya spraycans, and bingo TS-46. What is this madness??? Separating Acrylic colors from those available in spraycan format??? I have two airbrushes, why would I want to buy a spraycan??? I just don't understand the reason for this. Well I guess I could venture a few, but I have a hard enough time getting decent paint without having to order of the internet...

Out of curiousity, did the instruction sheet have call-outs for both the TS (spray) and X(F) (bottle) paints? I notice that some of their kits only list the spray for the main body colors, while some others have both the spray and bottle alternative listed.

Spray colors http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/list/spray.htm
Bottle colors http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/list/acrylic_2.htm




Not all colors are available in both lines!!!!!!!!

Guys,

This is all pure speculation: I think maybe Tamiya is trying to reach out to those who don't have airbrushes.

Perhaps too many have had problems mixing XFs for spraying, and spray cans are always the correct ration of paint/thinner (properly shaken...).

Maybe on a less philantropic note they can make a greater profit from spraycans?

Dunno...just dunno...

Sorry but I was looking at the model in the store. So I don't really have any idea...

Hey there ZZZGuy...

If your nailgun compressor is like mine, then it has a quick connect for the airhose, all you have to do is get the male end to attach to your airbrush, and it will hook up to the compressor fine.

I have a small compressor for my airbrushes, but it got too hot and shut down while I was in the middle of painting, so I dragged out the big nail gun one, to finish the job.....noisy as all hell, but still works fine.

There is a similar problem with Tamiya's new "AS" colors that are supposed to be aircraft standard, but ONLY come in spray can????

I was thinking about this a little more and the thought keeps popping up in my mind that it shouldn't be difficult to have the same colors in enamel/spray/acrylic lines shouldn't it???

Or am I totally off the wall? (Well don't be too candid...)

In my days of college I took art courses where we made our own paint. We had the pigment and we got to choose the medium ourselves. For a long while I had all of my different paints in each of the different mediums...

I guess the bottomline is it is not worth it from econonic standpoint for the buisness side...

It shouldn't, but it seems to be a great marketing ploy on their part. To take that a step further, Tamiya only calls for using those sprays, both the TS (armor, carts, etc) and AS (aircraft), for the main body of the kit. I have a feeling that their thinking is that using the spray is a good alternative to an airbrush for the main color(s).

For me personally, I see this two ways: 1) you're not stuck using Tamiya's colors. There are some good cross-references on the 'net that will allow you to find a similar color in another line; 2) as a modeller who doesn't use an airbrush (not for the near future, anyway), the cans provide me with the ability to have a nice even paint coat on the large surfaces of my model.

For the record, the sprays are very good. They're an acrylic lacquer that's tough as nails, dries quickly and evenly. Stinky when spraying, but good stuff overall that's allowed me to create some nice work given my resources.

I personally think that manufacturers should include more cross references to other brands on the color call-outs, but I also can see that doing so goes against their own brand marketing beyond the kit itself.

It's a "bottom line" deal. If Tamiya calls out a color for a spray can that is not availble in bottle, you have to give them mopre money. Best solution to this, get the color references you need from relaible sources using FS numbers if possible, go to your hobby store/online dealer of choice and get someone else's paint.

At least in these parts Tamiya is the only readily available acrylic. Vallejo has started to show up, but still a bit pricy for my likes. I do have a hood, so I guess I could convert over to Humbrol, their paints are found everywhere. I just don't think their tins are practical to work with...

I haven't really looked all that hard, but buying paint over the internet seems to be difficult as paint is a hazardous material...