Tamiya Flat Black Paint - Difficult to get hold of

[Bagpiper]

Hi Team.
I hope this is in the correct forum. Does anyone have a good supplier for the Tamiya Flat Black Paint please? I have checked on line and my local hobby stores and this paint - as well as certain other colours seem to be almost impossible to get hold of. Eveywhere I have checked today is out of stock. I have a feeling that the problems in Japan have had an effect on this. I hope they are recovering more than I care about the paint though.

I was trying to get my paint together for my Bates House build - that I have not started yet.

All the best
Cheers.
Jim

 

[Carsenault]

I use Tamiya Nato Black, its a great scale effect flat black.

 

[panzerace007]

Tamiya has been in th middle of a "recall" of sorts for th simple fact that They need to redo Their labeling for th US considering that all of the warnings are in Japanese on the majority of Their Paints, Primers & Thinners. I'm sure th Tsunami didn't help, My LHS is starting to get low on a Lot of Their Paint.

If you ask Me now sounds like a Great time for Vallejo to maybe consider dropping Their prices for "Start-ups" for retailers. They sure would get a lot of Hobby Stores onboard (IMHO). I've been trying to get any one of the Two LHS, around town( Richmond V.A.) to start carrying Vallejo. Now, It's a bit of a jump. It costs like $3,000(USD) to get th line, according to Vallejo's website, you get a line - be it Model Color, Panzer Aces, or Model Air. I think If Vallejo dropped that price & let retailers know .... Then I think you'd see a lot of Retailers Jump ship & pick up th Paint line.

But to answer your question ... My LHS is starting to get low on th essential colors too. Where do you live ? I might run by th LHS tomorrow & can let you know what th Flat Black looks like here.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Tamiya has been in th middle of a "recall" of sorts for th simple fact that They need to redo Their labeling for th US considering that all of the warnings are in Japanese on the majority of Their Paints, Primers & Thinners. I'm sure th Tsunami didn't help, My LHS is starting to get low on a Lot of Their Paint.

If you ask Me now sounds like a Great time for Vallejo to maybe consider dropping Their prices for "Start-ups" for retailers. They sure would get a lot of Hobby Stores onboard (IMHO). I've been trying to get any one of the Two LHS, around town( Richmond V.A.) to start carrying Vallejo. Now, It's a bit of a jump. It costs like $3,000(USD) to get th line, according to Vallejo's website, you get a line - be it Model Color, Panzer Aces, or Model Air. I think If Vallejo dropped that price & let retailers know .... Then I think you'd see a lot of Retailers Jump ship & pick up th Paint line.

But to answer your question ... My LHS is starting to get low on th essential colors too. Where do you live ? I might run by th LHS tomorrow & can let you know what th Flat Black looks like here.

Ditto what Panzerace says, all Tamiya paint and glue products are pretty much unavailable for the foreseeable future. The only one I am aware of that came back on the market was their white putty.

As far as Vallejo, depends on which rack they get, Model Color is about $2500, but that includes a box of 6 of each of the 220 colors, as well as the rack (Vallejo throws the rack in for free if you buy the whole package, something Tamiya, Testors, Humbrol, etc, don't do).

Model Air is about $1300, 110 colors
Game Color is about $1400, 111 colors and 8 washes.

Panzer Aces isn't that much as it is only 48 colors.

I plan on in the future (not sure how far in the future) expanding and getting the Model Air line....but its a matter of forking out the $1300 for it.

 

[Myke]

luckymodel.com

they are based out of Hong Kong. prices are cheap but the shipping can take a while.

 

[Bagpiper]

I seem to be spending my time thanking you all - so here we go again. Thanks for all the information and ideas on an alternative paint. I was looking at the Vellejo paint before so might be an option. I will try lucky model as well. I figured out that if I order 26 bottles the shipping is around $20.00 but when you go to 27 bottles the shipping jumped to over $35.00. Something for me to keep in mind.

Appreciate all the help again guys.

Cheers
Jim

 

[panzerace007]

JIM,

Considering how close you are to Sprue Brothers... Give them a Look. They are running a Special - $100 & half price shipping. $200 & Free Shipping. Although right now They are Moving to a Bigger Warehouse but should be able to start shipping agin on Monday. They also have Real Time Inventory !!! Awesome Customer Service too. Figuring if you have a couple of Modeling buddies that need some Paint ... ..

- http://www.spruebrothers.com/

 

[TiM]

Ebay doesn't seem to have a problem with it - I put tamiya flat black into the search box and got several buy-it-now options, top one was £1.49 with £0.29 shipping (uk seller).

Same for other products that are "hard to get hold of" or not stocked by the regular local suppliers.

On a side note, don't lose sight of the fact you wanted ONE pot of paint, not a whole new line as an alternative... unless you do. ;D

 

[sunsanvil]

I plan on in the future (not sure how far in the future) expanding and getting the Model Air line....but its a matter of forking out the $1300 for it.

Please please please please.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Ebay doesn't seem to have a problem with it - I put tamiya flat black into the search box and got several buy-it-now options, top one was £1.49 with £0.29 shipping (uk seller).

Same for other products that are "hard to get hold of" or not stocked by the regular local suppliers.

On a side note, don't lose sight of the fact you wanted ONE pot of paint, not a whole new line as an alternative... unless you do. ;D

Thing is, it is only the NA market that is on the short side of the stick at the moment. I am sure lots can be had elsewhere world wide as it is only a US required relabeling (which unfortunately also includes Canada), which is why you are seeing them show up on Ebay from around the world.

I plan on in the future (not sure how far in the future) expanding and getting the Model Air line....but its a matter of forking out the $1300 for it.

Please please please please.

I know, I know....just difficult to convince my CFO to part with the money!!

 

[Bagpiper]

And I wonder how many of us don't even read the safety labels regardless. ;D Oh well! Health and safety and all that. Thank you very much for the link to the Sprue Brothers. I will be checking them out as well.

Appreciate all the input here troops.

Cheers
Jim

 

[KeiserSoze]

http://store.midtennhobbies.com/tamiya-23ml-bottles-c423.aspx

Currently sold out of XF-1, but these guys have the best prices on the 23ml bottles I have found. I recommend buying in bulk tho to make shipping charges worthwhile. But they process and ship very fast. Everytime I have dealt with them has been a great experience.