Anybody else use Tamiya X-22 Clear for a gloss coat before decalling?

[Mentalguru]

I'm beginning to use this product, and so far have found that quite heavily thinned I am starting to get some great results. It dries quickly, doesn't fog like Klear does when covered by set/sol, and seems to offer a hard durable coat for the paint underneath.

I'm still learning , but does anyone else already use this stuff and if so, do you have any extra tips to "heighten the experience?"

Edited October 14, 2008 by Mentalguru

[tigger]

Have been using this for a while and I have also tried to add some Johnsons Klear to it. This mix dries really hard and highly glossy in a matter of a couple of hours. Hope this helps

John

[Jesse1]

Used it for years, now I only use Future, I can use a brush, so no airbrush to clean

Jesse

[Göran]

Tamiya is the one of the gloss coats I prefer these days since of all the brands I tried (Polly Scale, Gunze, Modelmaster and Microscale) Tamiya is the only one that dries rock hard. A warning though. It does have a tendency to "frost" when the overspray hit an adjacent surface at a 90 degree angle. Let's say your're clear coating the wing of a Phantom you will find minor "frosting" on the fuselage. This in turn can be solved in most cases by brushing it off by a soft brush. And if that doesn't help the Micro Mesh (MM) will take care of it. But sure it's a nuisance (sp?) My guess it's the thinner that dries in mid air after it bounced off the intended surface. I use Tamiya's own thinner at a 1:1 ratio and sprayed at 1 - 1.5 bar with the 0.15 nozzle of the Evolution. Normally the final coat consists of 4 - 7 layers and I let it cure for 3 - 4 days at least, to be on the safe side before I hit it with MM. Hope this helped

[Giorgio N]

I've been another happy user of tamiya clear gloss for many years, and I'm always been happy with it. Now I use Klear for a number of reasons (can be brushed, cheaper, seems to dry quicker) but would have no problem in reverting to the old X-22. I used to thin it with Isopropyl alcohol and obtained a very nice smooth surface. I also used denatured alcohol but with that the end result was not as nice, being a bit less smooth, although was acceptable anyway.

Giorgio

[LeVi Tophatter]

Hi MentalGuru, for the longest time, I found Tamiya clear gloss and gloss acrylics difficult to work with. Recently I've found that a 1.5:1 Tamiya thinner to paint ratio works really well. As with everything, a light coat followed by successive wet coats seems to yield fantastic results that look even better once it's levelled and cured for at least 48hrs...

One of it's best virtues compared to the others is that it really does cure to a hard, durable finish. Not the best photo in the world but I assure you, all the parts that have been gloss coated are very smooth.

[colin]

Have used it but tend to thin Tamiya paints with standard cellelouse thinner now and they level out lovely and the finish is a little smoother.

Extractor fan required though

[planehazza]

Bumping an old thread, rather than create a new one.  I sprayed my model with a mist coat, followed by three heavy layers.  My lighting is annoyling inadequate so sometimes I'm not spraying as heavy as I think, and I think last night was one of those situations.  X22 thinned 1:1 with x20a acrylic thinner, at ~22psi.  It's dried with almost an orange peel, despite me spraying from only about 2" away.  Should I sand it, or just go back with another heavy coat tonight?

[Steve Noble]

On 10/10/2018 at 10:46, planehazza said:

Bumping an old thread, rather than create a new one.  I sprayed my model with a mist coat, followed by three heavy layers.  My lighting is annoyling inadequate so sometimes I'm not spraying as heavy as I think, and I think last night was one of those situations.  X22 thinned 1:1 with x20a acrylic thinner, at ~22psi.  It's dried with almost an orange peel, despite me spraying from only about 2" away.  Should I sand it, or just go back with another heavy coat tonight?

Light sand first, remove the texture. Then spray more over the top, light, thin coats..

[colin]

Been using X-22 for a while now, but tend to use Mr Levelling thinner as you can go back over the finish with a coat of just Mr Levelling thinner to smooth out any slight rough patches.

Only thing doing this is you have to then leave if a while to harden back up again depending on how heavey you went back over with the thinners.

You will definitely need a mask and spray booth with this method though

[Bigdave22014]

I usually do a 40/60 mix with IPA, and spray at around 20psi.

Never had any issues with bloom.

[Stalker6Recon]

On 3/2/2014 at 7:34 AM, LeVi Tophatter said:

Not the best photo in the world but I assure you, all the parts that have been gloss coated are very smooth.

How did you get the parts to stay on the popsicle sticks? Also, since we are talking thinning ratios, what is the typical ratio for thinning Tamiya acrylic paints? What pressurs and distance do you normally paint from?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Anthony

[delticfan]

Hi just tagged onto this old thread but have restarted airbrushing and have been experimenting the last week or so with Xtracrylix paints, looking for some advice on Tamiya gloss varnish. I think general tamiya paints are thinned 1:1 with paint using tamiya thinners and sprayed at 15psi, that’s worked for me.

 

Keith

[Nikola Topalov]

I know that this is a LATE reply but I just wanted to share my experience - Tamiya X-22 and Mr. Color Levelling Thinner at roughly 40/60 ratio sprayed at around 15psi never failed me so far. I spray at around 2-3" moving relatively fast as to just get the wet surface before moving on. I wait until the surface looks dryish before the next coat. All the coats are the same. Dries rock hard and glossy in roughly an hour. 

However, I do not have experience with polishing afterwards. I guess it is wise to let cure properly for a couple of days. 

As this thinner is nasty stuff I always use a mask with filters.


Best,
Nikola

[filobeddowes]

On 4/28/2022 at 3:48 PM, Nikola Topalov said:

I know that this is a LATE reply but I just wanted to share my experience - Tamiya X-22 and Mr. Color Levelling Thinner at roughly 40/60 ratio sprayed at around 15psi never failed me so far. I spray at around 2-3" moving relatively fast as to just get the wet surface before moving on. I wait until the surface looks dryish before the next coat. All the coats are the same. Dries rock hard and glossy in roughly an hour. 

However, I do not have experience with polishing afterwards. I guess it is wise to let cure properly for a couple of days. 

As this thinner is nasty stuff I always use a mask with filters.


Best,
Nikola

Thanks Nikola, I've tried so many different acrylic clears, and all have seemed to take an age to dry. I'll give you suggestion a go

 

John