Thanks for sharing! What do you use to thin your clear coats if using Tamiya clears? Thanks!

Tamiya Acrylic is actually a hybrid acrylic paint. It's IPA based, so IPA as a thinner is a no-brainer. Tamiya X-20 thinner is basically IPA mixed with water, hence the longer dry times and the more even coat. longer dry times allow for better leveling properties....However, being hybrid, it takes on the properties of whatever you use to thin it, so if thinned with IPA, it retains acrylic properties, if thinned with lacquer thinner it takes on the properties of lacquer paints. Tamiya Lacquer thinner will work well, however Mr. Hobby's Mr. Color Leveling Thinner is the best. It allows for solid coverage, and a nice smooth surface, and the better durability of a lacquer finish over an acrylic finish. Regardless of what thinner you use, the best ratio for airbrushing Tamiya paints is easy to acheive. Just open a brand new jar, fill with chosen thinner til it reaches the rim...boom! Proper ratio acheived. You can thin more at time of painting if needed for things like spraying multiple light coats over a pre-shaded model to avoid over-coating the model and losing the pre-shaded effects.

Thanks for the analysis.  Helpful information.

Thanks

How slow are we talking on the x-20A?

By what you are showing it looks like theX-20A is lighter then the other two or is it just the way the pitcher turn out??

New sub here. Finger Lakes Paul sent me 😎

What ratios were you using for each or were the amounts the same?

The chalky feel is your breaking down the paint ....dont thin with something you use for paint stripper....

Thanks, saved a lot of people testing the products to find the best results. Good product test.

One thing to note . Using the lacquer thinner give the paint a lot more bite . Quite a few people out there in the web , say they don't use a primer at all . The paint bites well to bare plastic . I use primer for my armor modeling . But the main reason is for pre shading before base color . This can help with shadow effects as well as brighter areas that the sun and weather affects more . Other wise I might not use Primer when using lacquer thinner

Thanks for the comparisons. Tamiya USA says that using their lacquer thinner gives a harder finish with their acrylic paints.

Great comparison, can I use tamiya acrylics without a primer?

great video glad I found it!.  I'm new to Airbrushing glad you showed the difference in all 3 and explained your views on them, why does no one else do it. I will stick to the X20-A for now maybe try the Tamiya orange cap retarder type Lacquer thinner and see what the results will be.

I had similar results testing this type of thinners. With IPA, Tamiya paints dry VERY fast but the finish with X-20 is better, smoth and soft overall (but it dries a bit slower) You can use Mr.Color Leveling Thinner too for Tamiya Acrylics and Tamiya LP and works great, it adds a strong sheen and glossy colors look like a mirror.

Just a small note that probably have small applications. Mr.Color Leveling thinner plus Tamiya Clears for candy effects are risky, since the clear paint + that thinner tends to eat the color beneath. I tried many MANY combinations, drying times and so on and 99% of the time the paint beneath showed weird circles or dots, ruining the overall work. I learned that the hard way, destroying a Samus figure that took me a lot of work haha. Even using strong Lacquer paint metallic bases, fully cured gave me that issue. Later on i tried Gaianotes with Leveling Thinner and 0 issues, worked amazing. Great video by the way, i love this very niche tests that are ideally for people like me that want the best for their projects.

I'm using Tamiya paint on a large scale on a lot of things like model train cars, structures, etc. I'm always thinning it with 70% IPA and I like the result. 99% of the paint finish I'm using is flat. I never put more than 35% of thinner. It dries very fast, it can be masked 5 minutes after one or more thin coats and it never chipped out when removing the tape. But at the end, it would've been interesting from you to test the paint resistance on every sample you did. This is the main issue with model paint. How strong it sticks on plastic and keeps on it's flat finish.

Very good comparison, thanks for sharing you opinions on the uses of IPA vs X20A

Thanks for this. I've always used X-20A,  and been happy with it. But I wondered about the Lacquer thinner.   And anything that makes airbrush cleaning easier is great!   I do wonder how the lacquer thinner or IPA would effect the 'hairspray chipping' technique.

Nice video. Many thanks!

what ratios did you use with each?