Best Ratio for Thinning Tamiya Paint

Thanks for offering your observations. I used AK Real Colors when they first came out and had a similar experience. I liked how they sprayed in addition to the finish being flat. I really like the paint, however, since I do a lot of WWII Soviet armor, I find their 4BO green to be too light in color.

Also, using lacquer thinner does not work for me as my workspace is not well ventilated and it tends to stink up my basement. Maybe there is another thinner I could use instead?

I would definitely consider Real Colors though for other types of armor (like German).

1 Like

Sounds like you need a spray booth.

I consider one of the great advantages of Real Colors to be that you can use 20 buck a gallon hardware store lacquer thinner with perfect results. As opposed to paying 20 bucks a quart for Tamiya or Gunze lacquer thinner. You definitely need to invest in a spray booth to filter out those lacquer fumes.

Can anyone recommend a good spray booth ?
I’m considering getting one

I have this one , I’ve had it for 15 years and I find it irreplaceable. It folds down to the size of a shoebox when not in use and sets up on my bench in seconds. The filter and fan are powerful enough to suck out lacquer fumes. Available from Micro Mark and on Ebay.This way I have a dedicated spray booth but don’t have to have a seperate table for it. You could also leave it set up all the time if you want. Extremely high quality and super efficient. I highly recommend it. Fold Up Spray Booth for Spray Painting Models

1 Like

Does it come with a hose Matt ?

When you click on that link, you’ll see the hose kit right below it for $24.95. Still a huge bargain for what you get.

Excellent thanks Matt.

1 Like

You’re welcome Rich, happy to help! :beer:

Mine came with the hose . Call the vender and see.

I tried thinning Real Colors with Tamiya Lacquer thinner, but my finish ended up being glossy. Is there any reason why this might be happening?

The Tamiya thinner might be too “hot” for the RC paint and it is smoothing out the pigment, resulting in a glossy finish. You need a gloss coat to apply the decals anyway, so you might have just saved yourself a step. That’s something I might do on purpose to save myself having to gloss clear coat the entire model for decaling.

Thanks. I would actually like the finish to go on flat. Do you have any suggestions?

Buy a quart of Klean-Strip lacquer thinner at any hardware store. It’s cheap and I know from experience that it thins Real Colors paint perfectly and gives a beautiful flat finish.

I’ve just recently started using Real Color paints but didn’t get a glossy finish, even though I used mr color levelling thinner. It was more satin than with their own proprietary thinner but it does that with tamiya paint too. The only thing I can think is maybe the paint needs more mixing, I found it to need a thorough thrashing to get it fully integrated, those matt acrylic particles will be sitting at the bottom of the bottle. Also tend to thin it 50:50 and spray around 15psi.

Hope this helps a little, J.

I thin with isopropyl alcohol which results in a flat finish every time. The ratio varies depending on the color as some of them seem to require more than others, such as the white. Generally, I hit around the 50/50 mark when I do thin which seems to help with the local humidity as well.

Thanks for the suggestion. Do you know if it smells more than the Tamiya?

Thanks for the suggestion, J. Yes, I tried Mr. Leveling and Mr. Color Thinner with both AK RC and Tamiya and it came out glossy.

In the past I used Mr, Color Thinner with Tamiya and it came out Satin/Flat. Maybe like you said, I am not mixing it enough.

Yes, the AK Real Color paints are solvent based and have that smell, they are much more similar to the Mr Color range of solvent based paints, while Tamiya paints are similar to the Mr Hobby aqueous range.

In my view there is a rule with paints: the easier they are to use, the more poisonous the solvent. If that wasn’t the case, you wouldn’t use solvents in paints at all.

1 Like

Hey, Mathew, I am sorry, I meant the lacquer thinner you mentioned. Does it smell more that the Tamiya thinner or about the same?