"Tamiya spray varnish "for plastics"???" Topic

I'm getting prepared to seal my latest Tabletop World building, which are made of resin as you know if you've bought any of their stuff.

I've got Testors Dullcote and Glosscote sprays which are universally great for any kind of model, be they plastic, metal, or resin.

But I just noticed something peculiar. I've got a can of Tamiya spray varnish I picked up less than a year ago, it's matte finish. On the can it says, "For plastics".

Is this Tamiya trying to sound overly self-important and impress us with useless information?

What the heck is a spray varnish "for plastics"? I've never seen or heard of a spray can varnish that is only meant for plastics. Surely from a chemical composition-standpoint you could use it to seal metal and resin models as well as plastic!

Right?

IIRC the only major difference in hobby varnishes is whether they're lacquer or acrylic based, which potentially may effect the type of paint used on the piece being varnished. I've certainly experienced lacquers being unkind to acrylic paint, but not consistently.

Tamiya makes paint for a variety of applications including polycarbonate. That version will melt your finished paint job. So noting on the can it is for plastic is a good thing. I almost made the the polycarbonate mistake and the storeowner thankfully pointed out I had the incorrect can. Now I have the paint code of TS-80 for clear flat memorized.

@McWong73 and Major Thom,

Thanks for the feedback. However, now I'm really confused! Thom, you're saying that the version I have will melt the paint job? I don't understand. Why would a spray varnish for modeling melt any kind of paint job? And why would it matter what material is underneath the paint job?

Are you saying that this particular spray varnish is only for ENAMEL based paint jobs but not ACRYLIC? My confusion is if that's the case, what is the point of having it be "for plastics". Wouldn't it say, "For enamel paint jobs only?" or something to that effect?

Also, are you saying that the TS-80 product code is the safe one to use on acrylic paint jobs? Well, if so now I'm REALLY confused!

Here's some pics. of the can. It is indeed code TS-80 and yet it also says it's "for plastics."

I'm seriously at a loss here, none of this makes any sense to me.

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I believe what Major Tom is saying

Tamiya makes paint for a variety of applications including polycarbonate. That version will melt your finished paint job. So noting on the can it is for plastic is a good thing. I almost made the the polycarbonate mistake and the storeowner thankfully pointed out I had the incorrect can. Now I have the paint code of TS-80 for clear flat memorized.

Tamiya TS-80 is what you want

I presume they are just being overly thorough in their marketing to Americans and other English speaking people.

@dragon6,

Ah, I see! Well done. When I read his post and he said "that version will melt your paint job" I thought he was referring to the can I was showing. He is saying that the polycarbonate version will melt paint jobs, and that the TS-80 version is the one you want for general varnishing use.

Got it, thanks for pointing that out!

Not varnish, but Ive been using a Tamiya primer "for plastics" that seems ok.