Tamiya "Mica" Paints

[camaroman]

I am doing some a couple of quick builds for a niece and my granddaughter.

My granddaughter wants her Concept Camaro painted Mica Red.

Does this paint need a basecoat or is it OK spray over the primer

for the best color results?

Thanks in advance for the help.

[MikeMc]

No base coat of any kind needed; spray it right on the bare plastic if you like. For the best color results, though, I'd suggest shooting it over white primer.

Great advice. The white will make it explode vs grey primer. This has a little gold flake in the clear

[Marc @ MPC Motorsports]

It will need a clearcoat as the Tamiya mica paints dry with a semigloss finish.

[camaroman]

Thanks for the replies guys!!!!

[Dennis Lacy]

Yes, definately add a clear top coat or it will look pretty dull. Another option to make it POP would be to use a couple thin coats of Mica Silver as a base. I was just experimenting with this color myself.

[Scale-Master]

I've used it over a bright red base and made a vibrant red metallic. Not all Tamiya mica's dry as semi gloss. But if you plan to polish any of the mica or metallic's, a clear coat is very good advice...

[robertw]

I would recommend at least a primer for this color and make it a very smooth and blemish free primer. Mica red is a very thin paint and will show color blemishes if there are any underneath. I learned this from experience. I've also used it over top of Tamiya Silver and was very happy with the results.

robw

[lordairgtar]

I'm using the Mica red paint and I can't find the white primer anywhere. Guy at the LHS says Tamiya is reformulating again due to some panty waist in California saying the paint causes cancer. He says there won't be any until next year. He recommended Floquil's white primer. I am going to test a piece first to see if these two are compatible.

[ra7c7er]

I'm using the Mica red paint and I can't find the white primer anywhere. Guy at the LHS says Tamiya is reformulating again due to some panty waist in California saying the paint causes cancer. He says there won't be any until next year. He recommended Floquil's white primer. I am going to test a piece first to see if these two are compatible.

I was told the same thing from the hobby shop I used to work at. Really put a kink in my current builds since I won't use anything other than Tamiya primer. I have used Floquil in the past on other projects and it is much better than Testors primer but not as good as Tamiya's primers or at least what Tamiya's primers used to be, IMO.

[MikeMc]

Duplacolor primer in grey. Then shoot a HOK BC26 white basecote and drop color.

[samdiego]

Don't discount the pitfalls of using a translucent color to start out on. I've been trying to get a good metalflake red paint job for decades. For me it has been the hardest color to be satisfied with. I'm with Scale-Master. My best results started with Tamiya Bright Red as a base, followed with Tamiya Metallic red, followed with Tamiya Clear Red.

Edited December 9, 2010 by samdiego

[robertw]

I'm using the Mica red paint and I can't find the white primer anywhere. Guy at the LHS says Tamiya is reformulating again due to some panty waist in California saying the paint causes cancer. He says there won't be any until next year. He recommended Floquil's white primer. I am going to test a piece first to see if these two are compatible.

Saw a reference to the Tamiya reformulation a few days ago. That article claimed that it was to make it compliant with all the latest EEC requirements. The article went on to state that the work was done, that the paint was better then ever and shipping of the modified product would begin immediately. Surprisingly it appears to be in good supply here in western Canada, usually the LHS are on backorder.

robw

[Danno]

Saw a reference to the Tamiya reformulation a few days ago. That article claimed that it was to make it compliant with all the latest EEC requirements. The article went on to state that the work was done, that the paint was better then ever and shipping of the modified product would begin immediately. Surprisingly it appears to be in good supply here in western Canada, usually the LHS are on backorder.

robw

Interesting news, Robert. Looking forward to seeing the "new" primer and trying it out. Thanks for the info.

[John Goschke]

Tamiya Mica red looks likes almost like a Candy when you shoot it over Tamiya Gold or (as in this case) Silver Leaf. This also has Tamiya's Clear over it...

[jbwelda]

wow john that is one great looking paint job!

one thing to remember with this mica paint, just like with metallics and pearls, is never sand directly on the color coat. it will dull the metallic/pearl particles and make them look like a poor cheap metallic. spray clear over the color and sand/polish on that. or if you have to sand the color plan on putting on another coat or two because you want the surface to have undisturbed metallic particles.

Edited December 11, 2010 by jbwelda