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  • OniMun posted an update in the group Group logo of Airbrush and Gunpla!Airbrush and Gunpla! 7 years, 7 months ago

    Hi guys, I recently bought Tamiya paint retarder to slow down the drying the process and hopefully even out the paint layer. My question is what should the thinner to paint to retarder ratio be and, in what order should I mix them in? Please and thank you!

    • That’s a rather tricky question in terms of paint to thinner ratio. Most paints from even the same brand have a different viscosity. It’s mostly trial and error before you get a consistency that works for you and your airbrush. The thicker the paint, the higher you should set your pressure.
      A good starting point for acrylics like Tamiya is 60% paint/40% thinner and then adjust accordingly. Some times it even goes to 40% paint. Had this ones with an older bottle of Tamiya green paint.
      For enamels this is mostly 45% paint/55% thinner, but what goes for acrylic thickness also goes for enamels. A milky consistency is what you are looking for. In other words, a drop of paint needs to run down the wall of the airbrush cup like nobodies business but has to leave a tiny amount of paint left behind. I hope that makes a bit sense…
      As for the retarder, myself I’ve got the Mr.Hobby equivalent and I use a few drops per filled cup in the airbrush. You have to experiment a bit since I never had noted the exact amount and I wing it. I guess a ratio of 1 drop of retarder to 100 drops of paint. That stuff is rather potent.
      If it is available to you, I suggest getting Mr.Hobby Leveling Thinner. It has the retarder mixed in the thinner with the exact amount mixed in. Keep in mind, it is for the Mr.Color range, these are lacquers, but can be used for the alcohol based acrylics (like Tamiya and Mr.Hobby Aqueous).
      I hope this answers your question

      • Awesome, this actually helped! I haven’t tried it yet but, I’ll try 70% thinner, 30% paint; adding 5-10% retarder.

        Would you happen to know if it is ok to use Tamiya TS-80 flat as a top coat?

        • Glad I could be of some help 🙂
          I wouldn’t recommend it. The Tamiya spray cans are solvent based paints, in other words, they are lacquers. I had mixed results in the past spraying lacquers on top of acrylics. Sometimes it went well, other times the paint started to crack. I guess it had to do with the curing period of the acrylic and how heavy the first layer of the lacquer went on. A few light misted coats on a fully cured acrylic may do the trick, but I can’t guarantee any success….
          Nowadays I spray an enamel gloss clear on top of the acrylic paint, let it dry for an hour or so and then spray a lacquer based gloss on top of that. Again first a light coat before a thick coat and let it dry for half an hour to one hour between the layers. Didn’t have had any problem with it so far and I’m using this technique for half a year ( 3 MG’s) now.

          • Well that’s good to hear then. One more thing, how does TS-80 effect decals?

            • If you don’t spray the first layer on too thick and let it dry before the next one, it won’t effect them at all. Should you spray it on too thick, the decals will start to wrinkle

            • How about when spraying on bare plastic and on Gundam Markers, Copik modeler markers, and the like? I want to spray it on some RG kits but, am worried that the lacquer spray will kill them. 😛

    • Sorry for my late reply, hope it reaches you in time.
      If you let the Gundam Marker dry for at least 24 hours and then use the same technique as in spraying two very light coats, give it a drying time of 10min between coats before laying on a thick all covering coat it’ll be fine.
      As for spraying it on bare plastic, did it in the past myself, didn’t have had any problems with it whatsoever. Just try to not lay the a too heavy coat on it at once, as the bare plastic is really smooth and the clear coat can sag really easily and try avoiding thick coats on ABS plastic. Some people had some problems with it crumbling or getting brittle