Tamiya Spray Banned in Canada?

[guggles]

@alvinlwh Thats adhesion promoter, which is used to increase the paints bond with flexible materials. I was talking about actual car paint they use for the color. I get it for about $15 for 5oz. Its used to paint cars which can have a lot of plastic pieces that are subject to flex. It seems to hold on the lexan very well, but I am not sure if every color or brand will work as well. 

[svenb]

On 9/27/2024 at 8:27 PM, alvinlwh said:

Which reminded me to make up a shopping list of paint to buy in Asia where these nonsense don't exist. 

Do import or bring it back with you? 

Only ask because I believe you do travel there occasionally, if you do bring back with you is there any problems regarding them.on the plane?

[Ferruz]

The Canadian ban on Tamiya rattlecans is still very real. This morning I realized that I needed some black PS paint for an upcoming project, and therefore started calling pretty much every hobby shop in the province to check for availability. 

All the answers i got were along the lines of "forget about it", more so since I needed black which apparently is always in high demand.

The very last place I called still had quite some stock left, including black so... (sound of screeching tires and car driving away) fast forward 45 minutes and there I was getting my precious PS black can. I was of course tempted to buy a few more off his PS stock, but ended up resisting the urge.

I lucked out, but the situation is really not looking good. Hopefully it'll somehow get sorted out sooner than later.

[SlideWRX]

On 9/27/2024 at 3:00 PM, Superluminal said:

There seems to be a number of threads appearing in the last few months of people with paint issues caused by one layer of paint reactivating and staining the previous layer. I wonder if something in the formulation is being changed that stops the paints curing properly. I never heared of it being an issue before.

Yeah, I just had some Traxxas white mix with my Tamiya paint that had been sprayed ~20 hours prior.  I noticed the Traxxas smelled a lot less than the Tamiya - different formulations seem to be messing with things...

[Sayer]

Why is every single thing in life getting progressively worse?

[Wheel_Nut]

2 hours ago, Sayer said:

Why is every single thing in life getting progressively worse?

It’s because the general population are losing the ability for independent thought and proper judgement. Really unfortunate.

[DaveBuildsRC]

What ps paints from other brands are good in Canada?

[TexVan]

I realize this is an old thread, but I would also like to know of an alternative brand for painting.  I live in a small apartment, so airbrushing is out.  I just don't have the space for an airbrush station.  I made a low-tech cardboard box booth on my balcony and was able to use the Tamiya spray cans.  But now, I'm not sure what to use.   Does Mr. Hobby make spray can paint for lexan/polycarbonate car bodies?  Any other brands?

[alvinlwh]

1 hour ago, TexVan said:

I live in a small apartment, so airbrushing is out.  I just don't have the space for an airbrush station.  I made a low-tech cardboard box booth on my balcony and was able to use the Tamiya spray cans. 

This is where you are wrong. Airbrushing is much better suited for limited space spraying than spray cans. Let me explain why. 

Airbrush has a much tighter spray pattern, say a diameter 1 - 5cm whereas a spray can will throw a load of paint about 20cm wide. This means there are far less overspray and you can easier control am airbrush to accurately place the paint with minimum wastage. 

An airbrush works at lower pressure, meaning stray droplets do not get blown everywhere. When I used to spray canning, I will find "dust" in other rooms, which are actually very fine paint. However with an airbrush, the place is cleaner. Note that this "dust" is almost impossible to clean off as it is in fact paint. PS paint are worse for causing damage as they etch themselves onto plastic, permanently. 

You do not need an airbrush station, your box works just fine. I had worked with such a setup for years. In fact when airbrushing 1/35 tanks, I just use the bottom box of the kit to catch overspray. They say the proof is in the pudding, or in my case, the carpet. I had never been hit for damaging the carpet from my airbrushing activities in my rentals. Spray cans on the other hand will be obvious once the box (or furniture) is moved. 

You mentioned you airbrush in the balcony. The only problem with airbrushing outdoors is due to the lower air pressure, in higher wind (say >20mph), the paint may get blown back into your face. I now airbrush in my shed, shooting out the open door with no backstop. However in higher winds with the wrong direction, I shut the door and spray inside (with the door as the backstop). It is messy but it is a shed so... 

If power is a problem, place the compressor indoors, get a long 2 - 5m air hose and some kind of airbrush stand/holder to hold the airbrush while you prep, and you are ready to roll. 

1 hour ago, TexVan said:

Does Mr. Hobby make spray can paint for lexan/polycarbonate car bodies?

No. 

1 hour ago, TexVan said:

Any other brands?

I am not sure what you can get in Canada. However, if you decide to go down the airbrush route, "real/true/pure" acrylic paint like Mig, Vallejo, etc can be used on PC bodies. They can be hand brushed on or airbrushed on. Their downsides are they are not very durable and are a pain to airbrush in my experience although there are some expert at using them. I just don't get along too well with them. 

An alternative suggested to me by a professional painter; get some plastic primer from your local motor factors (motor parts shop, or DIY shop), spray it on. It is effectively PS-55. Then spray whatever you want using regular paint. Here is a build thread of me using plastic primer under Mr Color paint. 

 

[TexVan]

Hey there...thanks for chiming in!

Just to clarify, I said that I use spray cans outside on my balcony--not an airbrush.  I don't even own an airbrush.  It can get windy out on my balcony.  I'm on the 15th floor.  So I have to pick the not-so windy days to do some spray painting.

When it comes to airbrushing, I guess I feel that it's just more of an investment in equipment--the compressor, the airbrush, etc.  I also don't have much space to store this stuff when its not in use.  I don't have a dedicated room.  I wish I did.  Whereas with the cans, I can just buy a couple of cans and start spraying.  If I worked on a lot of models, an airbrush might be worth it.  Airbrushing is awesome, and ultimately the way to go--they are more precise like you pointed out--I just don't think its feasible for me.  The other issue regarding airbrushing is ventilation.  You have your shed with the door open, and that's great.  I just don't have the space.   

 

[mtbkym01]

Wonder if this will be available in Canada?

https://www.prolineracing.com/search?q=spray+paint

[TexVan]

1 hour ago, mtbkym01 said:

Wonder if this will be available in Canada?

https://www.prolineracing.com/search?q=spray+paint

I hope so.  I'm sure they will have to get it past the same inspectors that Tamiya had to deal with.

[alvinlwh]

9 hours ago, TexVan said:

The other issue regarding airbrushing is ventilation. 

Airbrush produce far less fumes (smell) than a spray can due to the fact that they pushes less paint through at a lower pressure. While I normally spray with the shed door open, also read the part where I shut the door in windy conditions. To be honest, in the past, I used to spray indoors (spray cans and airbrush) with no ventilation at all, not even an opened window. 

Further more, if you use acrylic, there will be no fumes and totally non toxic, that you can even spray indoors. 

As for the cost and space, that is up to your individual circumstances. If you decided in the future to go down that route, I will be happy to help. 

[Re-Bugged]

Apparently On Point paints are made and available in Canada for Polycarbonate bodies @Ferruz & @TexVan  

https://onpoint-rc.ca/products/paint-supplies/

Fil of Poor Boys RC gave them a mention in one or two of his YT vid’s..

 

[Juggular]

On 11/27/2024 at 8:20 PM, Wheel_Nut said:

It’s because the general population are losing the ability for independent thought and proper judgement. Really unfortunate.

If the government is getting a kickback by putting on a tariff or something, we should question more than usual. By definition, tariff is an inflation by taxes. Living things need potassium to survive. It is in every plant (even beef and chicken, because of they eat grains).  Farmers have to import 90% of potash, mostly from Canadian mines = American brains run on 90% imported stuff. Tax on stuff we just don't have, raises a lot of questions (and prices). But I digress...

Usually a ban like this isn't to protect the sales of Traxxas. It's about the health or the environment.  Independent thinkers already know paint fume is bad for health.  One source says Butoxyethanol content was too high. It messes with red blood cells that carries oxygen.  Some gas (like carbon monoxide) can bind to hemoglobin in the red cells instead of oxygen. No oxygen to our brain, we die.  Unlike CO, Butoxyethanol just rips hemoglobin away from red cells. Our blood carries less oxygen.  If a person keeps killing red cells by chemicals, he might develop blood cancers like leukemia or lymphoma.  

In warm states like Florida or Arizona, we can spray outside.  But Canada is up north. Tamiya recommends 60-60 (Higher than 60F temp, lower than 60% humidity). Quebec goes above 60F only in June, July, August.  Canadians would be tempted to spray indoors during the colder 9 months. Air circulates until all the chemical are absorbed by human lungs.  That might have been the reason why Canada banned it when the US hasn't (yet). It seems the EU and Australia are also considering banning Butoxyethanol.  

Tamiya can use slightly safer things like acetone (which is cheaper--but any change in the manufacturing process can raise the price temporarily).  

During the industrial revolution, there was far less regulation.  Arsenic creates vivid green color, so they used it on wallpapers. Babies died in green rooms. Rich factory owners didn't want it banned (so they created the "big bad government in your bedroom" narrative). Combined with coal exhausts and everything else, the life expectancy was just 40 years old for men. Eventually, one thing after another got banned. The result is that the life expectancy is now 77 for the US.  For Canada with all the regulations, it's 81 years (Montreal even banned wood burning fireplaces, because that's like cigarette x100). 

81 years is double the Victorian era, thanks to more information.  If government doesn't do this, I may have to track down Tamiya suppliers and see if the plastic contains formaldehyde, lead in screws or cans of the motor, polyvinylidene chloride in plastic bags, etc, etc... In the era of a quarter Billion different items on Amazon, we would spend all our lives being a detective.  I rather get safer stuff after banning bad stuff, instead of getting all the stuff and figure out which is safe on my own.  That'd be far more expensive for us (but good for bad sellers). 

Hobby is important in life, but life is more important. If we have health, we can enjoy a hobby. If we ruin our health for a hobby, we can't even enjoy that hobby.  I'm all for health. I'll be more concerned if government protected corporations instead of our health. Tamiya will come up with a less toxic formula.  In the mean time, I hope all the members use the spray cans outside (I use a respirator even when I'm spraying outside). 

Live long and prosper! 

[TexVan]

This video is 3 years old, but this guy uses the On Point paint cans and gives his opinion on it. 

13 minute video