Tamiya Dry Time

[Bruce Poage]

I love Tamiya paint but always looking improve my work. What are success dry times between color coats, time between color and clear, time between clear coats and wait time to polish out. Thanks.

[om617]

I wait around 30min between coats,this goes for clear as well. For light handling,as move parts or body,i wait 3 or 4 hours.

For harder handling as polish i would let it rest at least 24 hours. I`m sure people have diffrent interwall,just how i do it.

[High octane]

I wait 20 minutes in between coats of paint. I paint the color coats one day, and the clear coats the next day. I let the paint "gas out" for a week or so before I polish it out with sanding cloths. This method seems to work out fine for me, other builders may do things differently. Whatever works!

[crowe-t]

When using an airbrush to spray lacquer(Testors or Tamiya), is it necessary to wait 30 minuted between coats?

Wouldn't the airbrush need to be cleaned in between every coat?

[Pete J.]

The actual answer to this question lies in the application. Lacquers gas out at a rate that is geometrically inversely proportional to the thickness of the layer. In other words, if the one coat is twice as thick as another, it will take four times as much time for the solvent to gas out. Or more to the point, if you spray on a coat that is half as thin as another the time between coat is cut by a factor of four. For this reason, every paint company will suggest multiple thin coats. My experience with a thin coat is about 15 minutes and no more than 30. I have had cracking problems if I wait too long. If you wait over an hour, then wait overnight. This time can also be reduced by using a food dehydrator to speed the process. With multiple thin coats I have had success finish sanding and polishing paint in less than 5 hours using a food dehydrator. Also, if you do this do not put the model back in the food dehydrator once you are done. Any body work will ghost through and you have to resand an polish.

[ZTony8]

Tamiya clear is well known to be finicky when it comes to applying it over the color coats.Either apply it within 30 minutes or wait at least two weeks to apply it.Otherwise it's prone to crack.