The Little World

I am looking at small and large cans of paint – spray paint, as it happens – and wondering at the rationale around it.

The can contained a grey Tamiya primer. I’ve just sprayed the very last of it on a 1:72 aircraft and can feel satisfied – it completed the job just before it died. No money has been wasted. Yet, did I make a good decision in buying it?

Heading image is of the cans of Tamiya paint side by side. The small is 100ml, the larger 180ml. I appreciate that they are meant to be of different surface texture, but really it is hard to tell them apart once they are sprayed – as far as thickness goes. They spray impeccably and I feel no need to use other brands.

Yet…the 100ml can is good for about 2 small airplanes – too much for one and not enough for three. The larger one will do four models. I have no idea what they do when spread out on vehicles or model cars. It would seem that for such a universal item as undercoat, the larger one would be all that you needed to produce. People make more than one model.

Conversely, the little ones are all you need for cars and racers and boats – no-one needs four of the same paint job for a set of cars, unless they are General Lee Dodges in orange and the movie set just keeps crashing them.

I want even tinier cans – about 50-75ml – but in matt paint and air force colours – so that those without air brushes can still do camouflage paint jobs. That and a fold-out cardboard spray booth with some sort of absorber filter in the back so that everyone could have a go. Three cans and two bottles in the box for most standard RAF, USAAF, IJA/N, and Luftwaffe kits should do it – camo, black for wheels and guns, and white for markings. The rest is decals. Call it a sort of starter pack – like Airfix do with their simpler models.

Pick up a Spitfire at the hobby shop – pick up an RAF paint job in a box at the same time. Another sale, Tamiya-san…