Tamiya clear paints

[Joetrain59]

Hi, does anyone know of an online dealer that stocks the Tamiya clear paints (tints)?
 MBK, N Scale Supply, Hogtrainz do not list them.
 Thanks for any help.
 Joe D

[C855B]

Mark Twain Hobby Center stocks Tamiya. They're my go-to for Vallejo, as well. They appear to be out of Tamiya Clear Red X-27, but the other colors are in stock. Red seems to be a problem everywhere, BTW.

Tamiya isn't really the domain of MRR stores, you want to be browsing general hobby shops, especially those with a concentration in military models.

I did find red and the other clear colors in the "mini" bottles (1/2 oz.) at https://cloverhouse.com; just do a search for Tamiya and the page with it will pop up. I would go there first if you needed red right away, otherwise there was mention at another site that red wasn't going to be replenished until February.

[peteski]

While the clear red is clear red, the 1/2 oz. bottles are totally different paint than the round glass jars.  Glass jars are "acrylics" or water and alcohol based paints.  The small glass bottles have solvent-based paint. But both are plastic compatible.

Lots of automotive modelers (including me) use those paints for tinting taillights (red) and directional lenses (amber).

Alclad II and Humbrol also make transparent red paint. Alclad II is designed to be airbrushed (and it is a bit on a "hot" side). Humbrol comes in little metal tins, and is plastic compatible.

Like Mike said, those paints are usually found in general hobby stores, not ones that specialize in model RR.

[Spades]

I order a lot of supplies I can't locally from https://store.spruebrothers.com/

Of course there always Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=tamiya+clear+red+paint&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

You can tell the difference between acrylic and lacquerer paint as pointed out by Peteski

[MK]

www.amainhobbies.com

They are a full stock mail order hobby shop.  If you are in California they have a store too.  Prices are pretty good, if not the best.  They are mainly radio control but do stock MRR stuff.

Their website is designed really good and ordering is a breeze.  Small items are shipped for $1.99.

They carry a full line of Tamiya paint.

Not associated with them, just a happy customer.

[C855B]

While the clear red is clear red, the 1/2 oz. bottles are totally different paint than the round glass jars.  Glass jars are "acrylics" or water and alcohol based paints.  ...

Both are labelled "acrylic paint" and "X-27".

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I've gotten a bunch of Tamiya from Ryan at White Rose: https://www.whiterosehobbies.com/

[Frank Amato]

I love Tamiya paint, and am fortunate my LHS carries the full lineup.  @Joetrain59 make sure to grab some of the retarder, especially if you will be using an airbrush.

[SkipGear]

While the clear red is clear red, the 1/2 oz. bottles are totally different paint than the round glass jars.  Glass jars are "acrylics" or water and alcohol based paints.  The small glass bottles have solvent-based paint. But both are plastic compatible.

They are exactly the same paint in different size jars. We carry the Mini's in our shop and order the larger to fill in sometimes, exact same stuff.

That said...Tamiya has a laquer paint system coming but it is not in the states yet. We have the rack, just no paint yet. Covid forced the release to be pushed back many months.

[JoeD]

I love their primers in spray bombs...even when I'm modifying or scratching N stuff, it's my go to primer.  The white is especially good for undercoating bright colors.

Joe

[SkipGear]

BTW - Reordering paint for our store today, clear Red out of stock till the end of February.

[peteski]

They are exactly the same paint in different size jars. We carry the Mini's in our shop and order the larger to fill in sometimes, exact same stuff.

That said...Tamiya has a laquer paint system coming but it is not in the states yet. We have the rack, just no paint yet. Covid forced the release to be pushed back many months.

Interesting.

I have both types.  Bought years ago.



The round jar was purchased over 20 years ago in a local hobby shop.  Back when MRC was still Tamiya's distributor. Label states "ACRYLIC PAINT", and the other end of the label shows "WATER SOLUBLE".  This paint has that distinctive mild alcohol smell of Tamiya's acrylic (enamel?) paints.

I purchased the small glass bottle in 2005, when I was visiting Japan (as you can see, the label is in Japanese).  This was years before those small bottles were made available in USA.  It does state "ENAMEL PAINT", but not "WATER SOLUBLE".  It also has a very strong smell, totally different from the mild alcohol smell of the round jar paints. It smells more like the Tamiya's spray paints. Yes, both are identified as X-27 but the chemistry seems different. 

That is why when the small square bottles were mentioned, I thought that they would be like the paint I have.

Tony, have you actually given the small square bottle paints you have a sniff test?  Do they smell identical to the paints in round jars?  Most paint manufacturers are not very forthcoming in providing more detailed info about their paints, so things often get confusing.

[SkipGear]

The current Mini bottles are not square and are water based. They are bringing laquers to the US but are not here yet so I don't know what the bottle looks like.

Currently available in the US are....from Tamiya USA website.

X - Acrylic Gloss brush (water/alcohol base) in Mini and Std. Bottle
XF - Acrylic Flats brush (water/alcohol base) in Mini and Std. Bottle
TS - Lacquer Spray
AS - Lacquer Spray (Aircraft Colors)
PS - Lacquer Spray for Lexan

LP - Lacquer paint for brush (coming soon)

[peteski]

The current Mini bottles are not square and are water based. They are bringing laquers to the US but are not here yet so I don't know what the bottle looks like.

Currently available in the US are....from Tamiya USA website.

X - Acrylic Gloss brush (water/alcohol base) in Mini and Std. Bottle
XF - Acrylic Flats brush (water/alcohol base) in Mini and Std. Bottle
TS - Lacquer Spray
AS - Lacquer Spray (Aircraft Colors)
PS - Lacquer Spray for Lexan

LP - Lacquer paint for brush (coming soon)

OK then - I should learn to keep my fingers off the keyboard unless I'm sure what I'm talking about.    Looks like the small (Testors-like) square glass bottles I have are something that is available in Japan only.

[SkipGear]

@peteski  - I'm watching daily to see when the Laquers are going to ship. That is the day the Modelmaster rack goes in the trash. Right now we have no solvent based options in the store with Model Master stuff going, going, gone. Have tried TrueColor and it didn't sell well. Starting to look at the MR Hobby stuff to fill in if Tamiya doesn't get on the ball and get this stuff here. Been waiting close to a year for it at this point.