How to Airbrush Tamiya Acrylic Paints Tutorial 

And to save tears and sweat later, if you use a stick to decant the paint, wipe the lip of the jar. They lock up pretty tight if you don't.

Thank you Shane, this has been one of the best ive run across for a more clear description of mix ratios especially. Everything I found was just "milk" with no explanation what that might mean. Im just starting to get into airbrush so this helps immensely!

I am glad I found this video from 4 years ago, I am just learning how to do rusting and weathering with Tamiya paints. I will save this video into my favorites and revisit it when the time comes.

Tamiya was the first paint I was ever able to airbrush without wanting to beat my head against a wall. Simply fill the bottle with thinner to almost the top. Shake thoroughly. Then decant into shot glass and add roughly 50% thinner. One can achieve near perfect results everytime. I build a lot of NATO armor with the standard NATO camo colors and I free hand it all with Tamiya.

Best paint ever used in my airbrush mate.Never had any problems with it.Priming is standard practice in any form of painting 🍻👍

Thanks for the tutorial Shane! So many different ways to airbrush when it comes to thinning paint, as we can see in the comments below! Also depends on the airbrush, the needle size, air pressure, things like that. If your using a .15 needle compared to a .35 needle, the mixture of paint to thinner is different. As for Tamiya, when it comes to shooting it out of an airbrush, its one of the best paints on the market, never had a problem with it!...Bill

Good tutorial Shane. Tamiya paints are awesome you just need to know how to use them and you explain it well here. Cheers man!

This Vid helped me in a HUGE way this evening, especially after I had no luck with your "How to airbrush Vallejo Model Color" method did not work for me. Tamiya is just so much more consistency of viscosity, it just air brushes so much better.

Excellent. As are all your videos. Thanks for sharing your knowledge mate, great help for people like myself!

Thanks for this very good, as well as specific, lesson on airbrushing Tamiya paints. I am somewhat new to this and appreciate your specific information.

Thank you Shane. Excellent video. I use Tamiya almost exclusively as once you know a few secrets, like you show us here, they are much easier than Vallejo paints. I only use these now for brushing details etc. Cheers from Texas. WH

Great video Shane. I do like my Tamiya paint. My only gripe is not enough military colors. I bet I have to mix 40% of the colors I need. But that said you'll never find an easier paint to work with. Anyway great video my friend.

I'm about to airbrush for the first time ever and with Tamiya paint! I'm nervous I'm going to make a mess of my Sherman but thanks for this heads up 👍

Perfect Educational Video! Thanks for sharing! I go back to modeling and I want to use the airbrush technique instead of the old method of brushing. I'm looking forward to trying your precious advice. Greetings from the Czech Republic :)

very useful. Never been keen on using Tamiya acrylics for airbrushing but might give them another go after seeing this video.

Just say the word, Shayne, and we'll get you some gloves. In fashion colors, too!

You have no idea how much of a help this is. I’ve finally decided to give airbrushing a go after using spray cans to paint my Rc body shells (polycarbonate) and got an entry level wireless airbrush (only about 29psi max) from the rainforest and got some acrylic Tamiya paint. Aside from the worry of using of the airbrush, the other worry is knowing how thick or thin to mix the paint. I’m not going for weathering yet…just the ability one gets to paint detail designs on body shells you can never get with a spray can unless you’re some kind of graffiti god or goddess lol Ps - sorry for the personal question but do you have diabetes? I only ask my father and a cousin both do, and they have the same looking fingernails as yourself.

Lovely work for a lovely little model. Well done Shane

Thanks Shane, very useful as im about to try and start airbrushing 🙈🤣

Thanks for the very informative video! Plastic shot glasses, leave it to an Irishman to give such a good tip 😁

Cheers Shane great video, thanks for posting

Canadian viewer. I liked the video. Tamiya is a great paint for airbrushing. Tamiya works great with lacquer thinner...better, in my opinion, than x20a thinner. You should try it. I think you may call it cellulose thinner on your side of the pont?

Hi Shane, good video. To help control your Thinner pours use the plastic eyedropper with thinner to the thin the paint in the shot cup.

Great straightforward tutorial with great hints! I’m in the middle of a 1/72 Vulcan bomber using Tamiya paints and I can vouch for everything you’ve said 😊 from an expat abroad who loves to hear the aul accent 😊 Ian

You can prethin whole jars. When you get a new jar just put thinner in up to the top lip. You can see it on the inside of the jar. This will also leave a little air gap. Just shake it well.

I always do 50/50 and it works out fine.

Thank you for the great Tutorial. I've not airbrushed Tamiya yet. I am very nervous as I'm building the 1/350 TOS Enterprise with lighting and 3D printed parts. I want the paint to come out good.

Quick and informative!

Realistic and beautiful, have to try this on my 15mm vehicles...

Honestly I always found my Tamiya paints really nice through the airbrush, but I guess it's a mixed bag. Quality stuff though, especially their flat paints for doing tanks and planes and the like. Great video though, very helpful! Thanks!

Great tutorial my friend.

Mr Hobby Leveling thinner gets an overall better result for me. could be helpfull

Excellent Shane , thanks for your help. All the best.

From my experience, 3:1 thinner:paint might be a bit too dilute. I recommend people try dilutions from 1:1 to 3:1 and see what works best (start with 2:1 as a baseline).

Mr. Hobby Levelling Thiner. I use it and works well. 50:50 or P40:60T.

Great tutorial Shane. Thank you for the informative video.

Well done on the pronounciation of Tamiya too....surprising how many people dont know how the Japanese pronounce it.

This helped a ton

Thanks for posting! Great info!

Should that be the other way around? 70% of thinner seems making the paint too thin. I use 2:1 Paint to Thinner.

Very informative thank you for the advise. Greetings from Corona CA.

Thanks very much Shane, appreciate this tutorial mate.👍

Do I need thinner? Complete beginner, got an airbrush from Amazon, metallic blue tamiya paint from a local model shop, didn't get thinner since he said it would be fine, can I just pour some paint in the airbrush and have at my hot wheels car? I've sanded and degreaser it

Good video. Thanks mate.

all i use are tamiya paints. ive alsofound out that adding two or three drops of retarder to the paint makes a big differenceon how the paint will come out of the air brush

Cheers for that Shane take care my friend 👍✌🐑😁

I just wish it was a drip pot. I paint mainly with vallejo, some AK, some citadel (in the past was mostly citadel, I switched to vallejo mostly), I do have some mrs hobby and some tamiya, but these last 2 I use for airbrush only use and I really wish it was less troublesome to airbrush with, but at the same time, they're smooth, fairly easy to use with airbrush. This is why I love vallejo or AK, the drip bottle, if I want to airbrush, it's easy. I switched some of my citadel paints to drip bottles, pre thinned with airbrush thinner, it's easier, it's paints I use a lot, I don't bother with paints I barely airbrush with. It can be a pain to work out the ratios, that's why I pre mix some paints, some vallejo I also switch to a second drip pot to pre mix it with airbrush thinner. For statues, non moving miniatures, vallejo, or any acrylics is the better choice, but recently I went into painting action figures and that's where I needed some other type of paint.

Excellent video. Your tips are awesome. Thank you!

Have you had any experience with brush painting Tamiya paint? Would love to see more videos for brush painting Tamiya, Vallejo Model Color, and Model Air paints. Enjoy all your videos.

Cool vid!

Thanks Shane,I’m using the same ratio paint and thinner it works well all the time.👍

Thanks for this. I'm going to buy and try Tamiya now (after a mind numbing series of disasters airbrushing Humbrol and Vallejo acrylics). I'm really surprised you're recommending 70 thinner 30 paint. But I'm going for it. Will let you know how I get on. Thanks again for this video.

every pot ive ever bought has been airbrush ready, never had to thin it

Great video Shane!!!glad to see that tamiya acrylic paint is still in use by pro modellers like you!!just one question shane,the new ammo real colors,people say they are just the same paint???

Thin tamiya 1 part paint 2 parts mr color leveling thinner its magical.

Good solid tutorial

Great Video. I've also discovered Tamiya Acrylic Paint Retarder, so I can actually brush paint with Tamiya acrylics without it being a disaster. :-)

Get yourself a cheap P1000 scientific pipettor and some disposable tips. Also get some cheap 1.7mL "eppendorf" type tubes. This allows you to make exact, consistent mixes and you can store them a long time in the 1.7mL tubes. Total investment: about $40-50. The paint you save will pay for it.

I asked about 'tinning' at my model shop and they directed me to soldering supplies :p

I need to spray a glass tail light lens for my '36 Chevrolet coupe due to some fading. I'm going to use clear red (and NO primer!) I've used clear orange on bulbs. Just dipped them in and let it drain off. But, I need a lighter coat the inside of the glass lens. Any tips before I try it?

My goodness man...no wonder you mix by eye. That pipette is gross! Thanks for the advice. Learning to use airbrush and your info has been very helpful

Nice video !

Great stuff thanks

I find Tamiya very easy to airbrush Shane, I just fill the Tamiya jar a couple of mm from the top. I sometimes thin Tamiya 50/50 and still get great results.

I am planning to paint a guitar with the acrylic paint thinned with 91 percent alcohol..Can this be applied with a mini hvlp gun ? How durable are these paints?

Do you have a hand brushing video tutorial?

What air pressure did you use?

Can I thin Tamiya colors with Mr Hobby thinner?

Great video. Is it acrylic or another kind of paint?

Can i use water to thin my tamiya paint?

What is the brand and model of the airbrush you are using?

I just use methylated spirits for thinning Tamiya

Great tutorial! Have a question if you have the time broham. Becouse if the small confined space I have to work with. How strong are the tamiya fumes and can I get away with using a mask, or does a paint booth be better (by the way, no window in my little cave) Thanks!

When i open up a new bottle you will see that there is a space. What i do is fill it up with thinner almost to the top put lid back on and shake well . Now the whole bottle is ready to spray. I spray at 20psi and with this method i have had no problems at all See Andys hobby headquarters for a great tutorial on Tamiya paints.

I have just ordered some Tamiya paint for the first time I am starting to think I have opened up a whole bag of problems I have been using Vallejo model air without any problems

I've used these paints for years. Random question. But does anyone else seem to think there is more than 10ml in these little jars?

Hey! If I were to use water instead of acrylic thinner would it be a different ratio of water to paint? Yes I’m too broke to want to buy thinner :(

Uncanny- that could be me airbrushing, even down to the shot glasses, lol (40 in a bag from the £ shop). Not sure if we've found the definitive method, but we're definitely on the same page. Only difference is I've switched to the cellulose thinner- I'm actually waiting on the thinner/retarder coming over to Blighty from Japan, but it's taking a long time... Thanks for the video.

Great video. How long should I wait between coats?

Nice video Shane, what airbrush would you recommend for beginners? Doing a few 1/72 scale models. Cheers

Will the ratio of 70% thinner to 30% paint work with hand brushing?

Thanks for the video Shane. Have you checked out Tamiya's new German late war colours XF88 XF89 & XF90. They're not bad except XF90 is slightly darker than I'd like. Cheers.

Hi mate just getting into airbrushing and i have a cheap single action airbrush will these paints work with it?

What do I do for tamiya thinner that has clumps in it? Is that paint bad?

Have you ever tried idmodels.ie or marksmodels.ie for Tamiya? They stock up every so often with paints and thinners, even the lacquer thinners. At that 3:1 ratio, do you ever find the need for retarder? I bought some for a Trumpeter Prinz Eugen I'm starting, but never used Tamiya yet for airbrushing, just AK interactive, which I found clogged the airbrush at low psi.

Can we use this paint on wall for the small area?

Is it ok to thinn with Mr.Hobby 400 Aqueous thinner?

Thanks for the vid, the ratio you put has helped me out already! I have a question though. Is the Tamiya Lacquer thinner better than the acrylic thinner or is it about the same in terms of effectiveness?

I am looking to get into airbrushing. What airbrush primer would you recommend to use with tamiya paints

0,15mm AirBrush, right?

next question: how to thin a=the whole jar? instead of thinning it everytime

Hi Shane. Do you use any safety gear while using Tamiya?

Are you a fellow irish lad?

awesome tutorial thank you very much.... Which Brown did you use when putting down the base coat ?

Hello please help me out does it come with paint

Hey Shane! Any tips on thinning Tamiya varnish? I have some semi gloss that seems to dry to an almost powdery finish. I understand this is also down to airbrush psi. But wondering if you had any tips or even recommendations for a good semi gloss and clear varnish to use?

I was thinking 50/50 previosly, wasn't clogging or anything but I wasn't getting the really fine atomization I wanted. But one day I just decided "fuck it" and put in a shit load of thinner. It worked fine. Turns out Tamiya is just weird.

Thanks for the vid - very helpful. Is there no concern regarding getting these products on your hands?

So for acrylic it's 3:1 thinner:paint and with enamel it's 1:2 thinner:paint. Am I correct? Thanks

Hi ，I love your videos ! How long does it take to dry the Tamiya paint?