For a recent project I knew that I was going to be using Tamiya acrylic paints (the 10ml minipots). In the past with these paints I have used their X-20A thinner. However, I have read many people getting best results with Tamiya paints using their yellow capped lacquer thinner. I have now tried this on some spare parts – one spray only, so it is not a complete coverage. They do indeed seem to spray well, leaving a thin but quite durable layer.

I must confess I was a little dubious about using this due to reports of this type of solvent being quite smelly. Also, that they can be aggressive to plastic. It must be that the Tamiya version is specially made for modelling as I have had no problems here. Of course, I do use a Paasche spray booth. Although, for the way I paint I can’t see any advantage to using this over the X-20A thinner.