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Tamiya Paint vs Vallejo Paint


rayprit

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Today, as I wanted to do some spraying over the weekend so, I decided it would be easier to transfer the Tamiya Paint from their jars into a couple of  Vallejo eye dropper bottles.....it was no problem, straight forward, but, I was shocked when I emptied the new Tamiya Paint into Vallejo bottles!!!!  On completion I checked contents of bottles.....there was hardly anything in their!!!  I have NEVER considered contents of bottles before, just need a colour and bought it, just so happened it was Tamiya Paint this time.

 

Tamiya Paint comes in a Jar and the contents are 10ml............................Vallejo comes in an eye dropper bottle 17ml................, both are roughly the same price, give or take a few pence, many of the paints can be thinned, by the time I checked Vallejo bottle against the recently transfered Tamiya Paint, I could not believe it, you more or less get twice the paint in a Vallejo with an option to thin(making more)......although I more or less have all Vallejo paint, seems I will be favouring ANY paint in dropper bottles more closely.  I often wondered why instict always made me buy 2 jars of Tamiya Paint as opposed to 1................

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I'd say its a Psychological thing. A glass jar must = quality, and the Jar looks bigger so there must be more in it. As someone who is on a very strict budget i check everything i buy. not just paint but foods and bulk items like that. I take the price and use the calculator on my cellular to evaluate cost per ounce. Id also like to add that i like Tamiya but have used Vallejo and the "eyedropper" paints more and more.

     That being said the last couple of years the Tamiya paints that ive purchased have crystalized after only 6-8 months. Not drying out but seperating and forming crystals that look like table salt crystals. I dont add anything to contaminate the paint. I take a little out of the bottle via an pipette/eye dropper and place it into the caps from 20 oz water bottles (cheap disposable and absolutely no cross contamination of colors). So i know this isnt from contamination. If anyone else has had that problem I'd be interested in knowing ?

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I have never heard of the crystal problem before, indeed, apart from tins of enamel, Tamiya acrylics have always lasted the longest in their jars out of any paint. I still have some from the 80s that are perfect.

 

Tamiya acrylic used to come in 23ml jars, and were very good value. About ten years ago, this seemed to stop, and suddenly these 'mini' jars started replacing them all, while the price has crept up to average level. Same happened with the Gunze paints. I started buying less tamiya acrylic due to this.

 

The Tamiya enamel always came in a 10 ml square bottle, but needs to be thinned down a lot more than the acrylic, and being enamel, goes a lot further, so it was never a big deal on that front. It seems like another case of price gouging overall considering how expensive hobby paint is anyway.

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I haven't bought Tamiya paints in close to 2 decades (apart from a couple of jars of tinted clears much more recently) but did build up quite a collection which I still have (along with almost everything else I amassed over the years). Apart from the usual hazard of screw-top lids of them seizing on, the contents are all absolutely fine. I like Tamiya paints for making washes with and use the browns and greys for this regularly.

 

I take the point about value for money. However I'll add in that it doesn't take very many painting disasters resulting in redo of the paint job, never mind total loss of the model, time, any aftermarket extras etc to turn a modeller back towards consistent and reliable results rather than merely buying the maximum quantity per unit cost. There is a balance to be struck.

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1 hour ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

However I'll add in that it doesn't take very many painting disasters resulting in redo of the paint job [...] to turn a modeller back towards consistent and reliable results...

I bought just a few Tamiyas to get colour matches for cars/bikes and they seem reasonably consistent, but not quite as consistently good as Vallejo. So my experience would seem to be opposite.

 

Like Corsair, I watch the costs (picking and choosing between retailers for various bulk purchases to get the best value) and, once thinned, I don't think that the 10ml jars are bad value. Each ml in the airbrush cup certainly goes a long way. The biggest drawbacks for me are the unpleasant effect of the alcohol base (which I find quite strong) and the drain on my stock of medicine cups and pipettes for thinning. That said, taking the advice of someone else at this forum, I added X20a to a jar once its level went down.

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Hello again ... I've been using the Tamiya paints since the late 80's. I remember those larger jars. I can still find the XF-1 & XF-2 (black and white) in that size. Im not certain but when i came back into the hobby 3 years ago it seemed as if the formula changed. Almost as if they lowered the voa content. Much like some house paints do they tend to dry much faster than my older tamiya paints did. I think thats why they crystalize after such a short time. Of course i cant read japanese but if someone has the older jars from 10-15 years ago and some newer ones and can read japanese maybe we could see if there is something different about the paints ?

     Back to the original thread discussion. Ive sonce used the Ammo paints. 👌Cant say good enough things about them. So Vallejo and other eye dropper style paints seem to be a good choice for my money. 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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I don't know if the Tamiya formula has changed, but I do know that I can brush paint the older paint much easier than the newer paints without adding retarder, flow enhancer, etc, so I dare say you are correct that 'something' has indeed changed.

 

Vallejo etc are ok, though when using Acrylics, I usually prefer Revell Aqua or Testors Acrylic. I find them to be great all rounders with excellent quality. If enamels were ever banned these would be my go to paints, bearing in mind I haven't tried the all new singing and dancing Mission Model paints that seem to have captured many hearts. With the eye dropper paints I find them to be incredibly fragile, and easily break down if heavily thinned. The reason many still stick to Tamiya/Gunze is the airbrushing quality they have. Very easy to use in that way.

 

I still prefer enamels in most cases though. And 14ml of enamel paint goes a looong way.

 

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Yes, acrylic resins can separate a little earlier when thinned extremely. But then again, they don't normally need to be. For something very thin, I've mixed colours from Model Wash.

 

I quite like ammo for its colours, but I've found that it takes a more particular spraying style (Mig Jimenez describes it in a Youtube video) and it's not as resistant to washes. I only buy Ammo for any colour matches which I can't find in Vallejo's range.

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Hi ,did some spraying yesterday with Vallejo Model air ,tried spraying it before with my Iwata airbrush with a 0.35 nozzle and it was hard to spray.

But i recently treated myself to a new Iwata CR airbrush with a 0.50 nozzle and i was amazed at how easy it sprayed ,as easy as Tamiya .

Also i took the eye dropper off and gave the paint a good stirring .

I have got some Xtracrylic paint that i could not get consistent results with using my Iwata HP CS ,maybe the CR will be better .

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There certainly are several variables and differing experiences, but surely no-one would need a .5mm to spray Model Air, even when neat. My HPCS handles it easily c.15-18psi. From day one, I felt more comfortable with it than any other type.

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I have almost used vallejo exclusively since i got my new airbrush an HP-BCS from Iwata. Ammo by mig the one exception. I use both standard vallejo and model air. With standard vallejo paints i cut it about 30% water to 70% paint. I Sometimes will add a few drops of water to model air but not always. I always use a flow enhancer. Iwata's Medea cleaner is what i use. About 5-6 drops in my mix. The cleaner must be a flow enhancer as it has a soapy greasy feel to it. And so far in two months of use i have had Zero problems with spray or spatter including vallejo Black. Ive read accounts that vallejo standard black must be the spawn of satan himself, from the people who have trashed it. But i had no problems following my mix ratio. Occasionally i will wipe the tip as a precaution. But no problems yet. 

     That being said it does have a down side. I have to wait about 12-24 hrs. for it to cure. And then i have to clear coat with future so i can mask. Or it will peel up 😡. Ask me what happened. Lol

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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Yes i agree ... i would love to use paints like Gunze. I use Vallejo & Ammo and similar for the color range and cost. Ammo sticks very good so far. I do this because im not a huge fan of trying to get the mix ratio's perfect for Tamiya. Tamiya is also twice as expensive for about 60% of the paint. When you're on an extreme budget its hard to justify $7 versus $3 for half the paint. But the gunze's i can get online here are not given many reviews so its hard to decide. The old Gunze's were the best because they stuck to a model, and pretty much covered every color i ever would have needed. But ive been told the old Gunze's are banned from import into America or maybe its just Illinois. The new kind mr. Aqueous or whatever they're called i haven't seen a lot of positive or negative reviews.

     I'm willing to use enamels did so for many years. Problem is lack of Hobby shops in the chicago land region ( 4 total 1 real hobby shop, 1 Hobbytown big box hobby retailer, & 2 of those are hobbylobby craft centers). And those that are around dont carry modelmaster's anymore. Actually the best place i have for paint is the Hobbytown but thats 20 miles from me. And the only real hobby shop is 43 miles away. This is a sad situation considering chicago and its metropolitan area has about 10 million people in it. Sadly just a sign of the times. 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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If you are a sprayer, enamel wise, Sovereign ColourCoats are excellent, and in spite of the silly business that sometimes happens with Humbrol enamel and a brush, they still spray nicey. I know there are a few Colour Coats sellers in the US, and Humbrol should be available there.

 

Acrylic wise spraying, Gunze Aqueous is very, very similar to Tamiya, including the pot size of 10ml, they spray the same way too, but since you can buy the Tamiya in the 23ml pots straight off the Tamiya USA website (and I am sure elsewhere in the US) you are lucky in that way. Apart from that there is the new Mission Model paints that get plenty of thumbs up, old Model Master Acrylic that I use successfully for Brush or spray.

 

https://www.tamiyausa.com/product/category.php?sub-id=60000

 

$3.40 a pot. For 23ml. And I have to pay $3.50-4 for 10ml pots here. And if Tamiya is selling it for that, I would be shocked if no other online Hobby shop in the US didn't have it cheaper. I am envious, as they used to sell the 23ml pots here in Aus years ago, replaced them with the 10ml pots and jacked the prices up. Enjoy.

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I am an airbrush person. I will look for sovereign online though online is sometimes possible. But not always. Most paints and other supplies are direct purchase and foraged from wherever. I bought a bulk amount of wet/dry sand papers in various grits from an auto body shop. I can get the Flat white and black in the larger jars from Tamiya when i find them in stock at the one hobby shop. But usually it is the 10 ml. for colors. I use the Vallejo's because they're available. They're local and the cost is less than half of Tamiya's 10 ml jars. The one good place to get paints is 20 miles away. The Tamiya 10ml jars sell for $6.95 us. before tax.  The same store sells Vallejo 17ml bottles for $2.95 us. before tax. So i get about 60% more paint for $4.00 less. I can buy two Vallejo bottles for $6.60 with tax. I get 34 ml of paint VS 10 ml for $7.65 and save $1.05 in total.

    But i have no problem using enamels i used them for the majority of my modeling. I really started using Tamiya and Gunze mainly about 15-16 yrs ago. I took a 10 yr break from modeling in 2005 and when i came back no more Gunze? No more hobby shops ? I lost about 8-9 really good mom/pop hobby shops. One of which had been around since 1951. So i had to find a replacement for paints & hobby shops.

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I would be heading into that hobby shop and showing them the link to Tamiya USAs' 23ml pots, and asking why they are in the business of highway robbery.

 

$2.95 is a mighty fine price though. I would consider putting up with the short comings for that price, except I prefer enamels.

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I would except that i still need paint. Cant afford to make them angry and bar me from coming back.

 

* - no in reality they're located in a county that has really high sales taxes. About 10.5%  so that will account for higher cost as well. 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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