Hello this is my first post here on Armorama and also my first post after returning to the hobby after 5 years. I have some Tamiya acrylics still looking good in the jar.

Now I want to know if there are any modellers out there that have been brave enough to use their old paint. What are your results? Are they behaving okay on the model?

I guess I just can buy new ones to be on the safe side but I have to order them by mail and I also have alot of them still.

Andreas Ståhl

Sweden

Yes - on in a few instances to restore or repair a damaged model.

The only way I've been successful in keeping Tamiya Acrylics this long is because I thin them heavily and store them in Badger airbrush bottles instead of their original containers. Perhaps once a year, I do go and stir them and I keep them in a cool, dark, storage bin.

I haven't been successful storing paints like Aluminum and Gun Metal for this length of time, though...

Gunnie

I'd simply load some into the airbrush and do a practice run on some scrap plastic. If it works well, you have a base stash of paint. If not, nothing lost but a few minutes cleaning the airbrush.

If you mean that they are still in the tamiya paint jars and they are still mobile, I have been using paints that are over 10 years old and they thin and spray like they did 10 years ago. I am glad I bulk bought as these new tiny jars are not the same value for money.

John

I frequently use humbrol paints that are older than I am. I even use the metallics, and they are about as good as any other paint. The Sherman of mine in the RRB has headlights painted with a 16-17 year old Humbrol Nr.11.

Here's a picture...

I had quite a bit of old Tamiya paint when I got back in the hobby 2 years ago. Most of it was in pretty good shape considering it spent 12 years in a box in the rafters of my parents unheated garage.

Some of the metallic stuff didn't fare so well but lot of the other colours were still pretty good.

Make sure you test it!

Jeff