Posted 02.02.2005

I've been wondering for quite some time as to how to make a decent custom clear color for candy coats. My goal was to replace my Tamiya Clear colors with something that goes on as nice as Future Floor Acrlyic.

I experimented with Future + Colored Higgins Inks, but they wouldn't blend and just made a mess.

I then tried a mixture of Future + Food Coloring, but the mixture was too thin and ran all over. Then I had a thought...

I used my previous mixture of about 1 teaspoon of Future + 5 drops of food coloring. To that mixture, I added approx 3 drops of Tamiya Clear for every drop of food coloring. The result was thicker than I had wanted, causing sputters from my airbrush (which needed cleaned as well) however, aside from what spattered from the tip of the needle, the coat went down very nice and smooth. I would probably try 1 or 2 drops of Tamiya clear per drop of food coloring next time.

So to sum it up:

Non-Tamiya (sort of) Custom Clear Colors:

• 1 tablespoon of Future Floor Acrylic
• 5-6 drops of food coloring to get a deep color
• 1-2 drops or Tamiya Clear / 1 drop of Food Coloring to thicken mixture

I'll post an image when I use it on a non-scrap piece.