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Tamiya paint – the promise and the reality.


Gorby

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I'm not sure if anyone will be interested in this but…

 

A couple of years ago I noticed that colours/shades on the Tamiya lids and paint charts didn't match the actual paint. So I used strips of plastic card to spray each colour to get an accurate swatch. It was a long BORING job, but it was well worth, it as I refer to it on almost every build I do.

 

Out of interest, yesterday I superimposed the colour shown on a Tamiya paint chart, with a scan of my colour swatch. Admittedly, my monitor is not colour calibrated, but the differences shown, match my experiences of matching the paint lids with the colour on the model.

 

resized_06b8f58c-01aa-4faa-8071-03810414

 

As you can see, the only exact matches are black, white and XF-12. Some are quite close, but the majority are well off.

 

Does anyone know why this is the case?

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13 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

No manufacturers printed colour chart matches its actual paint,

Its due to the limitations of the actual printing process

I understand that an exact match is difficult to achieve, particularly for the metallic colours, but some are miles off. In some cases the colours of the paint lids are an even worse match. Take XF-71 (cockpit green) for instance, the lid shows a very light green, but the paint is more mid green. I know that the lids aren't sprayed with paint, but I should imagine that Tamiya has one or two colour experts who can see quite clearly that the colours don't match. So why, next time the plastic is coloured for XF-71 lids, don't they think "lets try putting less white in this time"? Probably a little more complicated in reality, but you get my drift.

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I hate decorating and avoid it whenever possible, nothing brings on my back pains like Mrs. Gorby mentioning that the paintwork needs freshening up. But my experiences of Dulux and Crown paint charts are that there are significantly more accurate than Tamiya's effort. I know that a perfect match is next to impossible, but I'm surprised the charts and the lids are as inaccurate as they are.

 

Anyway, I just thought that the comparison would of be of some interest. :tired:

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2 hours ago, Gorbygould said:

strips of plastic card to spray each colour to get an accurate swatch

I do something similar myself.

 

As has been said, very few paint ‘hobby’ paint manufacturers produce accurate colour charts.

Winsor and Newton used actual painted colour ‘chips’ in some of their more fancy charts (still do?), and I’ve got an old Humbrol colour binder which I’m sure they used actual paint samples on.

 

After stirring the paint, I usually dab a bit of colour onto the lid to give me a more accurate representation of what’s in the pot.

rlm81a001.jpg

 

Or make up my own colour charts.

P6180023a.jpg

 

 

It is a pain in the bum, but a useful exercise in the long run.

41 minutes ago, Gorbygould said:

thought that the comparison would of be of some interest.

It is! ;)

 

Mart

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Some while ago, over on Missing Lynx, there was some discussion with regards to Tamiya paints, and the general consensus was that Tamiya had changed the shade of many of their paints so that if you had old and new bottles of the same colour, chances were that they would be very different.

 

John. 

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38 minutes ago, LotusArenco said:

I do something similar myself.

Glad it isn't just me. Originally I tried brush painting the swatches, but being part perfectionist, part masochist, and part idiot, I decided to spray the whole lot. I also have a Tamiya gloss swatch, but I don't have the full gloss range so I didn't include it here.

I know that every last ounce of modelling cred will be wiped away at the admission, but I only use Tamiya acrylic. As I'm not 100% committed to accuracy (unless it's paint charts of course) I usually use the nearest Tamiya equivalent, which makes my home made swatch such a useful tool.

 

My most used (repeatable) modelling phase is probably “Damn it, that's near enough”… I think I can hear Troy scream?

 

31 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

Some while ago, over on Missing Lynx, there was some discussion with regards to Tamiya paints, and the general consensus was that Tamiya had changed the shade of many of their paints so that if you had old and new bottles of the same colour, chances were that they would be very different.

It depends when the swap from old to new happened. I've only been back in the saddle, so to speak, since Feb 2015, so it may be that I haven't got any old paint. Would be interesting to know.

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When I buy model paint, first thing I do is mix well and stir with a cocktail stirrer, I even shake it.  I have numerous strips cut from a plastic sheet, about 40 I think, but they soon run out, I then dip said strip into tin or bottle of paint and leave to hang over the container to dry/drip off.  I then write on strip colur and manufacturer of paint, they are then files away(when dry), into a slide/coin album which has pockets big enough to take them.....I then know from eyeball contact just what colour is in that bottle or tin.

I think manufacturers colour charts are a rough guide(unless they are colour chips)I know of none that match any colours in contains, they are close, but for many modellers requiring exact colours, not close enough..........with me, if it looks right, its near enough.

Indeed recently on this forum there has been numerous threads relating to humbrol colours not matching said colour chart, one that springs to mind, silver, then we have cockpit green, bronze green, etc, etc, doesnt help when a paint manufacturer brings another new colour out, with matches the same colour further in the colour chart, again Humbrol have duplicate colours with different numbers.

As pointed out earlier, depending who printed the colour charts, what printing ink was used, what definition, all add to innaccuracies, printers change over the years, different formulaes and again different supplier to of ink to printers.....all add to confusion................so treat colour charts as a "rough guide" until you stir it, you wont really know just what colour you really have

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For me colour charts are only a guide. For any colour I will get as many of the closest and test

on the material which is going to be airbrushed. Problem also found is an air brushed colour looks

different from a hand brushed colour. The thinness of airbrushing dilutes the colour, compared to

hand brushing, as the colour of the background material distorts the colour.

 

Laurie

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A problem, known as"color drift," occurs in paint manufacturing when a lazy quality control technician matches the latest batch of a particular color to the previous batch instead of matching it to the recognized, approved standard for that color, whether test panel or colorimetry data. If this habit continues, over time the color will drift away from the standard. I'm told this has happened at Humbrol more than once, and it has probably happened at other paint manufacturers as well.

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12 minutes ago, Space Ranger said:

A problem, known as"color drift," occurs in paint manufacturing when a lazy quality control technician matches the latest batch of a particular color to the previous batch instead of matching it to the recognized, approved standard for that color, whether test panel or colorimetry data. If this habit continues, over time the color will drift away from the standard. I'm told this has happened at Humbrol more than once, and it has probably happened at other paint manufacturers as well.

 

Rather like cooking Michael. Put in all the same ingredients and it tastes different every time. :lalala:

 

Laurie

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I"m another paint swatch maker, though not as organised as those above. I do find it enormously useful to be able to eyeball the actual shade. That Tamiya chart is a really great job as well as a useful resource, now saved. Thanks.

Steve.

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I have a massive plastic spoon collection, each in different bags depending on brand of paint, with the colour given a few coats on a spoon, and the name on the underside. Been doing that for years. Easy to hold them together and see what I will get.

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On ‎21‎/‎05‎/‎2017 at 9:21 AM, Panzer Vor!!! said:

I have never seen anyones paint match the  colour chart , lid , paint in the tin  be it Dulux ,Crown ,Humbrol,  Revell 

 

Ours does, because the paint on the lid is the paint in the tin and the colour renders on the webstore are rendered from the mixing computer's colourspace values.

 

20160906_195044_zpskxzeseug.jpg

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On 2017-5-21 at 9:21 AM, Panzer Vor!!! said:

I have never seen anyones paint match the  colour chart , lid , paint in the tin  be it Dulux ,Crown ,Humbrol,  Revell 

 

Tell me about it, have just decorated the kitchen, four different 2.5 litre pots in a week to and from the DIY Shop as the colour was not what Mrs PLC1966 saw on the sheet  !!

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