Using Modelcar paints on metal

[airhead_fx]

This will sound like a dumb ass question and I am sure when I read the replies I will say I knew that and why did I ask it but anyway here goes.... Model car paint from tamya - massive range of colours, airbrush freindly etc CAN THESE BE USED ON METAL FOR AUTO PAINTING AND THEN CLEAR COATED? Has anyone done this, tried it etc.:cheers: :cheers:

[Whit]

Label should give a clue as to what it is !!!
I'm not familiar with the brand !!!
What base,,, solvent/water/alcohol ???
What does it reccomend for clean-up ???

[airhead_fx]

Here is a quote of there website www.tamiya.com - (solvent based are the ones a mate gave me). "Tamiya paints and finishing products were selected as the best available for plastic modeling and are widely used by hobbyists the world over. Each of these products were selected for extremely high quality, ease of use, safety, long life, and permanent finish. Both professional modelers and beginners alike utilize Tamiya paints and finishing materials to achieve museum-like results in their modeling." I'll post the exact wording from the tin's shortly.:cheers:

[airhead_fx]

I told you that this could be a dumb question... I just went for a bit more of a search and found this on the site:

"Tamiya Thinner is excellent for diluting tamiya acrylic paints for airbrushing, washing brushes, or lowering the viscosity of your paint (thinning it out).
Tamiya Acrylic Paints are made from water-soluble acrylic resins and are excellent for either brush or spray painting(airbrush). These paints can be used on styrol resins, styrofoam, wood, primed metal, styrene, abs, acrylic, plus all of the common model plastics."

I might just give it a go on a signblank and see what happens - no harm is trying.

[Skids]

you'd be on experimental ground FX....even if it survived the clear, you'd still have lightfastness and exposure to temperature change and the like to worry about over time. far safer of course to go with something tried and true.

[blinddog 99]

A test is the thing FX, for color fastness and adhesion, but it sounds like they might be OK, if they list primed metal as a surface.

[airhead_fx]

We are about to come into summer overhere in Oz so I might do two exact panels and clear them - leave one out in the sun and the other in the shop - I'll post the picts of the result in a couple of months. Thanks for the reply's.:cheers:

[Skids]

that should be interesting!

[CRASH]

Tamiya has only two paint lines available here in the states, the acrylic (waterbased paint) and the TS line of spray paints that are solvent based. The enamel line is not available here, so I can't really comment about it except to say it would be about as durable as testors enamel? The acrylic paints wouldn't last long on a surface that would be outside as I don't believe they are UV stable and using most any automotive polish would cut through the base. the TS line of spray paints are a modified acrylic lacquer. they spray nicely,lay down smooth and polish well with any of the automotive polishes, I use 3m Finess it when I polish out a model sprayed with TS and When finnished it looks like glass. That is however on a plastic model car. the TS line seems very hard when cured and is uv stable. it can be sprayed on a metal surface, Tamiya has a (clear)metal primer, then spray with the regular primer then topcoat with TS color of your choice,TS clear ,then polish. I have no idea how well the paints would survive harsh outdoor enviroments, but the paint handles the closest to a real auto solvent based paint that I have ever seen from the hobby industry. some notes I have as I use the TS line all the time .

1, use the white primer as the last primer coat before color coats. all of the color coats are semi transparent and if sprayed over grey primer you will not have a color that matches its intended color. I did this with the bright red that is supposed to be a bright Ferrari red but when sprayed over grey primer looks like orange.


2, the primer can handle hot paints like HOK lacquers.



3, these paints cost way too much. 5 to 6 bucks for a spray can the size of those half cans of soda. You can get small 1oz of house of color lacquer from a company called Black gold out of texas, google for the website. or better yet get the exotic paints listed as the sponsor special on this site. that many colors for a bit over $100 is a fantastic deal and it's automotive paint. If you add up the cost of hobby paint it comes out to about $900 a gallon


I don't know how much any of this helps or if paints can be shipped to you from the USA or not? anyway, Have fun!!

[CRASH]

When I say I use the TS line all the time.......That is on a model, not on a real car.....................