"Tamiya and Testors spray paints" Topic

I have a number of Tamiya and Testors spray paints in various "historical" colors (esp. airplane and tank colors). I have, in the past, used these as the basecoat on metal miniatures, and that *seems* to have worked just fine (once I figured out how to spray light coats from the million-CFM output of these tiny cans…).

Does anyone else have any experience doing this on resin, plastic, or other materials?

I read once that these paints were formulated for use on plastic models, and thus bond to plastic without need of a primer. That is totally believable, I just don't know if it's true.

My current project includes a bunch of AIM 1/200 Japanese early WWII aircraft (Zeroes, Vals, Kates, etc.) and I'm going to use the Tamiya AS-29 gray-green to get the right color. The AIM have pretty light panel lines and detail, so I'd prefer not to use too many coats of primer and paint. I'd like to just use the gray-green as a base coat, paint the cowling and canopy and some weathering, then clearcoat. I'm just not sure how the paint will hold on the resin. Any advice appreciated.

If this works, I plan to use up some of my collection of Testors silvers, blues and greens as base coats on various US planes.

- Ix

I have never tested either Tamiya nor Testors spray cans on resin or metal without a primer. I use Rust-Oleum 2X gray primer from Wal-Mart on resin or metal kits. It also comes in a light gray or white, but I have never used it.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
bunkermeister.blogspot.com

I've always used primer before the main colour and never had any problem with blocking panel lines on even small scale models. Just a single light coat usually works. I use car undercoat (Hanford in the UK) so I guess the Wal-Mart paints in the US should perform in a similar way, otherwise try Tamiya's own primer which is supposed to be a fine surfaced.

Tamiya's primer has always sprayed on a little too thick for me, but there would be various end user reasons for that!

I've sprayed their paints staright onto plastic with success, but only if I'm pressed for time. Otherwise as others have mentioned its best sprayed onto a surface that has been primed.

I have been building Plastic models since the early 1960s, sometimes spraying them since the 1970s. I have never primed them and have never had a problem. I only prime metals and resin. BTW don't fall in love with Testors, they are being discontinued

BTW don't fall in love with Testors, they are being discontinued

Thanks for the information, and if I may say, *&^%$#@! We've already lost a lot of the brush-on military paint colors. Tamiya's collection is far from complete, and doesn't include any of the actual FS colors.

- Ix

Some of the model forums mention that the line going away is the Model Master II line, not the entire MM range. It'll be a significant chunk of their line if true. I've used a primer coat first before using either of those sprays; had a couple of bad experiences going without primer. I occasionally use Testors now but I find Tamiya puts out too much paint for me. With primer coats I haven't had any problems with Testors though.

Well, I did an experiment, primer undercoat on one batch and no primer on the other. Time will tell. So far, considerable rubbing and manhandling of the unprimered batch has had no effect on the paint, so the Tamiya formulation is plenty strong and seems to adhere nicely to the AIM resin.

Now I have a different problem: the Tamiya IJN gray-green dries semi-gloss. This is nice for several reasons, but it makes subsequent coats adhere very badly. Is there a secret modeler's trick to "rough up" the surface of a gloss or semi-gloss coat so new layers of paint adhere better?

- Ix