Tamiya Clear Acrylic vs PS Translucent

[Ryz82 160]

Thinking of using some of the Tamiya Clear Acrylics (X-27 Red,  X-26 Orange, X-24 Yellow) for tail lights instead of decals on the couple of bodies I'm working on. Has anyone had any experience using them in this fashion, or should I attempt using the PS variants (37, 43, 42) - which will require more masking - instead?

[Willy iine 18805]

Never mind..  thought you were talking about hard plastic lens tailights.   

[Ryz82 160]

36 minutes ago, Willy iine said:

Never mind..  thought you were talking about hard plastic lens tailights.   

NO, but your post in the other thread is what prompted the idea of getting rid of decals and going with paints onto the lexan body instead.

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

I once used Tamiya's clear acrylics on a Porsche 911 rear lights (red and orange) and it worked extremely well. You will need to back it with silver (or the light cup) behind it, otherwise it would look very dark.

In my case I decided to back it with some foil and attach it with white glue but it didn't turn quite well because of the glue. You can see on the picture below the glue gave it some stained look (specially on the red). If I had to do it again, I would attach the foil with a larger tape piece from the back. If you decide to back it with silver paint, make sure the clear is very dry/cured and the silver has not too much solvent.

BTW, the acrylic clears work fantastically to back clear lenses on any type of plastic (e.g. the lights of the Sand Scorcher).

[InsaneJim69 1584]

I believe Truck Norris did This with alot of his newer builds and backed them with silver light buckets. Turned out amazing tbh. 👍

And yes the picture is of an R/C car !! Some of his creations are amazing tbh. 👍

James. 

[Ryz82 160]

Looks like I'll have to do some tests.

One body, the Sierra, has no light buckets, and I wont be using any lights, I just don't like the look of the decals that came with the body. So may have to try your idea @OoALEJOoO and back with a spray of bright silver after.

The other my MST Civic does come with light buckets, they are black from memory, but will be spraying them either with a Tamiya silver or possibly a generic chrome spray from hardware store.

Now @InsaneJim69 why did you have to go and post such beautiful work, that will only make me more disappointed when I see MY end result haha.

[InsaneJim69 1584]

It's not my work. Just search for member on here "Truck Norris" 👍

James.

[alvinlwh 5895]

4 hours ago, Ryz82 said:

Thinking of using some of the Tamiya Clear Acrylics (X-27 Red,  X-26 Orange, X-24 Yellow) for tail lights instead of decals on the couple of bodies I'm working on. Has anyone had any experience using them in this fashion, or should I attempt using the PS variants (37, 43, 42) - which will require more masking - instead?

It sounds like you are trying to brush paint instead of spraying? My advice is not to. Clear paint usually looks terrible when brushed. I tried brushing them when I do static models but now airbrush them these days. 

If you still want to brush them because you have no airbrush perhaps, try using Vallejo (or Mig or similar) instead, their clear seem to be brushed on better. 

Don't get me wrong, I like Tamiya acrylics, I nearly have their entire range and use them all the time for hand painting to great results.

Just that their clear don't seem to quite work. Years ago, when I asked, all the experienced model makers said the same thing "you cannot brush clears". 

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

I agree with @alvinlwh in that brushing the clear can be tricky because it can result in very visible brush strokes, specially if the area you want to paint is large.

There are two techniques that I've used in the past that greatly overcome this issue:

• Solve the paint a little bit (mostly to retard drying) and then use a brush that is at least as thick as the area you want to paint. Load the brush and paint the area in a single stroke. If the area is long, then load sufficient paint to go all the way to the end.
• Solve the paint a good amount and then load the brush with a very small amount of paint. Place very light even layers. You can combine this with the above and do a single stroke all the way.

It is important you wait for the paint to fully dry before attempting another layer.

@alvinlwh I haven't tried Vallejo transparent red (just their regular model and game color range). Does it achieve the same nice glossy finish as Tamiya? What I like about the Tamiya clears is that the finish looks very similar to candy apple  Might grab a bottle to experiment.

[alvinlwh 5895]

2 minutes ago, OoALEJOoO said:

 

@alvinlwh I haven't tried Vallejo transparent red (just their regular model and game color range). Does it achieve the same nice glossy finish as Tamiya? What I like about the Tamiya clears is that the finish looks very similar to candy apple  Might grab a bottle to experiment.

No, the thing about Vallejo (even when airbrushed) produce, at best, a semi gloss finish and a gloss (or matt) clear overcoat is always required. This should not be a problem on normal clear bodies as the gloss is seen outside, so even matt paint will appear gloss. It is definitely a must if used on RC cars due to the abuse it gets. They are not as durable as PS/TS. The way I paint regular clear body is final color > primer (for protection and backing, they have a wide range of primer colors) and final finish with a clear. Even so, they can get rubbed off by the wires coming out of my RX. 

I use Vallejo for 2 reasons; 1. due to delivery restrictions, it is difficult for me to get spray cans (or any type) and 2. I can easily mix up colors I want. Mixing PS paints while possible, is a pain. I actually hate them when I was building static models but they are great for my RC.

Now on to your candy rush, they produce a range of candy transparent color for RC, look for them in the 62-071 to 9 range. 

https://www.stardustcolors.co.uk/vallejo-acrylic-serie/1206-candy-transparent-colours-acrylic-paints-for-airbrush.html

Even though they are labelled as for airbrush, they also claim to be brushable.

EDIT: I will try and find a model painted with this range to take some pictures for you.

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

@alvinlwh very true the Vallejo acrylics scratch quite easily. I normally use them to paint wargame minis and 1/24-25 figures to accompany model cars. I have to seal them with Tamiya TS-80 Flat clear to prevent the paint from chipping. Tamiya's clear red works wonderfully for blood effects!

4 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

I use Vallejo for 2 reasons; 1. due to delivery restrictions.

I saw your other thread about the delivery difficulties in your area and that you might occasionally come to Singapore. I am currently living in Singapore. If you come visit I would be happy to take you to the Tamiya store (Stargek) and go run some RC . Not many options though, usually every place is crowded

[Ferruz 11702]

9 hours ago, OoALEJOoO said:

 

Wow, this 993 GT2 is absolutely gorgeous! 

[alvinlwh 5895]

17 minutes ago, OoALEJOoO said:

@alvinlwh very true the Vallejo acrylics scratch quite easily. I normally use them to paint wargame minis and 1/24-25 figures to accompany model cars. I have to seal them with Tamiya TS-80 Flat clear to prevent the paint from chipping. Tamiya's clear red works wonderfully for blood effects!

I prefer their Game and Mecha range as they are claimed to resist handling better although I had not tested them properly yet. I used them on Gundams mostly.

Sent you a PM.

[Ryz82 160]

Thanks for the feedback.

I will definitely need to investigate and do some tests - not sure what else my LHS has acrylics (or non spray can) wise outside Tamiya, I think Vallejo but will have to check when I next visit.

@alvinlwh I don't have an airbrush. Have never done enough model painting to warrant it, and typically with RC the PS/TS cans do me well with whatever combination/look I'm trying to achieve. So I was going to look at brushing the acrylics on, mostly as tail lights being so small, as a way to reduce the need to mask, spray, mask, spray with PS. Not to mention, translucents in PS really need to be warmed and shaken well to get a fine even coat - particularly if only going for a light layer and not deep/thick coverage in such a small area - roughly 1cm x 2-4cm depending on if brake/indicator section.

 

[InsaneJim69 1584]

I actually find the Tamiya Translucent a to be a nice even finish when brushed on imo. I did my Lego 911 RSR lights with clear yellow and you can hardly notice any brush strokes, it really seemed to flow and hide any brush marks just fine. 

James

[alvinlwh 5895]

Just remembered, here is a video that actually "re-inspired" me to brush painting. I had not hand brushed large areas for over a decade since getting my airbrush. I used to be quite good at hand brushing before switching over to airbrush and kind of lost my touch for a while. 

Point of interest is around the 5 minutes point upwards. 

To sum it up, from a fresh jar, 2 part paint, 1 part water. DO NOT USE X-20A THINNER AS IT DRYS TOO FAST! If you have decades old paint like I do, then you will have to thin it down with thinner, but using water after is important as it allows the paint time to flow to hide the brush marks. 

If you have acrylic retarder, a drop or two will not harm but paint will be sticky for longer. This video shows the quick and dirty way that still produce great result. 

Still the usual disclaimer, general advice from the static model crowd is to never brush paint clear colors. I never had good results with brushing my 24 scale windows smoke. You may do better than me. Good luck. 

A side note, I tried the same thing with Mr Color lacquer, using their thinners not water of course, results wasn't too good. 

Now I feel like going out to get a bike to brush paint again. 

[Ryz82 160]

13 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

To sum it up, from a fresh jar, 2 part paint, 1 part water. DO NOT USE X-20A THINNER AS IT DRYS TOO FAST! If you have decades old paint like I do, then you will have to thin it down with thinner, but using water after is important as it allows the paint time to flow to hide the brush marks.

Will give it a shot, thankfully I have plenty of small Lexan cutoffs and scraps left laying around. Not big enough for PS paints tests, but more than big enough to test the acrylics.

TBH I'm not looking for shelf queen level quality here, just something that doesn't give the cheap - cartoon/illustration - look the decals give, so minor brush strokes wont bother me too much. 

Wonder if using a foam/sponge brush would be any better, may test that also.

[alvinlwh 5895]

5 minutes ago, Ryz82 said:

 Wonder if using a foam/sponge brush would be any better, may test that also.

Take it from someone who had tried it, no. 

[Ryz82 160]

3 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

Take it from someone who had tried it, no. 

Haha. Noted.

[alvinlwh 5895]

After all these to and fo, I cannot believe I completely forgot this: YES, YOU CAN IN FACT BRUSH PAINT PS PAINTS! If you have the color you want in PS of course, and frankly, it will be better as they are the right paint for doing the job and paint from spray are well thinned down ready to go.

https://www.timetunnelmodels.com/live/catalog/tamiya-polycarb-brushpots-c-60_154.html

"Tamiya now recommend that for missing colours you use the PS spray paints and simply spray into the cap for brushing."

[Ryz82 160]

1 hour ago, alvinlwh said:

After all these to and fo, I cannot believe I completely forgot this: YES, YOU CAN IN FACT BRUSH PAINT PS PAINTS! If you have the color you want in PS of course, and frankly, it will be better as they are the right paint for doing the job and paint from spray are well thinned down ready to go.

https://www.timetunnelmodels.com/live/catalog/tamiya-polycarb-brushpots-c-60_154.html

"Tamiya now recommend that for missing colours you use the PS spray paints and simply spray into the cap for brushing."

Yep, I've done this for a F1 shell for the driver.

I used a straw taped to the nozzle, and just sprayed into a glass vile. Worked relatively well, so I could do that again for translucents, but not sure. For solid/opaque it seemed ok.

 

[alvinlwh 5895]

7 minutes ago, Ryz82 said:

Yep, I've done this for a F1 shell for the driver.

I used a straw taped to the nozzle, and just sprayed into a glass vile. Worked relatively well, so I could do that again for translucents, but not sure. For solid/opaque it seemed ok.

 

I had done this in the past to get paint out of a spray can so that I can spray it in an airbrush. Yes, sounds silly but for some reasons, some color are only available in spray cans.

Will it work well for translucents...? That is a question I cannot answer, so try some out scraps and see. I think it may work better than using Tamiya X paints as they come out ready thinned. I never had much luck thinning smoke for brush painting.

All this talk about the hairy stick made me took a kit out of the loft to see if I still have my brush painting skills. Good timing as my compressor had broken a belt and is out of action.

[SuperChamp82 743]

Painting lexan lights - esp if multicoloured - can be difficult 

Sharpie pens in red or orange often work v well - esp when backed in PS clear or translucent silver 

Trimming textured / coloured lens tinted stickers can be even better - with the best stuff probably from Wrap Up Next 

Who also do v good grill decals 

I think Adrian / Truck Norris uses them for the masterpieces he creates - so you’d be in good company 👍

[Ryz82 160]

9 hours ago, SuperChamp82 said:

Painting lexan lights - esp if multicoloured - can be difficult 

Sharpie pens in red or orange often work v well - esp when backed in PS clear or translucent silver 

Trimming textured / coloured lens tinted stickers can be even better - with the best stuff probably from Wrap Up Next 

Who also do v good grill decals 

I think Adrian / Truck Norris uses them for the masterpieces he creates - so you’d be in good company 👍

My mates son just did his first slot car shell using sharpies why didn't I think of that haha .. but yes they probably would work also.

I've seen some of that Wrap Up Next stuff listed on RC Mart, I picked up some of their chrome/silver and honeycomb grill for my Mustang already, may have another look and see what their tints are like.

Looks like I've got a weekend of paint - and marker - tests ahead of me. Thankfully I have a few translucent PS paints still, even though different colours, that will let me test how they brush on per previous comments with @alvinlwh I will have to pickup at least one of the clear acrylics to test them, and probably some sharpies.