Now I don't spray paint but I noticed some of the tamiya acrylic paints smell really bad.

So im thinking of asking should I wear a mask when using them? I noticed the normal dust filter masks don't block out the paint smell that much and I don't like working with anything that smells too bad anymore.

Also should I wear gloves when handling acrylic paints.

Or should that be only with enamel paints.

if you can smell them, then they are effing up your lungs. Get at least a pollen mask from home depot, those filter the majority of the toxins in the paint. Metallics are the worst for your lungs. Most good metallics actually have microscopic metal flakes in them - once those are airborn, you will inhale them. imagine a million shards of metal each microscopic in size entering your lungs, then slicing them up.

You dont need gloves for anything like acrylics or enamels...and the mask thing...well acrylics are only water based paints so they are harmless, ive never heard of anyone wearing a mask for those or enamels either. (super glue has the fumes you need to be afraid of)

Unless your spray painting a large object which is going to fill the room with fumes to the point the room turns misty i dont see the need for any kind of mask, other than to block the smell of course. Odour doesnt automatically mean something bad is happening, its a good precuation to make but a bit of an overkill.

No ones ever complained about the fumes from these paints being harmful to their health or making them ill..least not from what ive seen, and i certainly havnt experianced any bad effects from using them either.

You'll be fine as long as your not doing stuff on a mass-produced scale, or using anything else other than acrylics and enamels.

Sounds like wheere I work lol.

Good to know that about superglue.

Anyways I don't really airbrush but I do notice the silver paints smell a lot more than the other ones I use. Just that most of those pollen masks down block the smell too bad. I know their pretty harmless but I still want to avoid breathing in vapours if possible. I just notice it too easily. I'll probably go to canadian tire or home Depot on my off day and see what I can get.

This is ridiculous.
I can't believe there is a reply on here advising the original poster to be unsafe.
I've seen and read stories of paint fume damage that would make you wear 3 or 4 paint masks.

ESPECIALLY with an air brush, MASKS are a must !!!
we are mixing Paint and AIR...what are you breathing in if you can smell the paint in the air? Is this rocket science?


I am not trying to be a dick, but please WEAR a mask! paint fumes are EXTREMELY DANGEROUS

Its not being unsafe when used responsibly or with some common sense. If you actually bothered to read my post you would have seen that i advised the person to use a mask when painting a large object. Acrylics arent very toxic, their fumes arent very harmful (if they were there would be an age limit on who could buy the damned things) so if you are only painting say...a leg or an arm then you dont need a mask, its just an overkill. Same goes for enamels. You especially dont need to wear anything if your only painting by hand!

Now on the other hand if your painting something like a full alt mode shell, or a very large area which requires a lot of paint then thats going to create a lot of fumes so in that scenario(obviously) you should indeed wear a mask. At no point did i say "dont wear a mask, you dont need it PERIOD". Like i said, learn to read first.

Now stop going out of your way to contradict everything i say (especially when you always misinterpret every word), ive done this for a long time now so i know what im talking about. I am also a professional car re-sprayer so since i work with much more volatile paints than most TF hobby-ists will even hear of i know more than most when a mask is actually needed and when its just a stifling overkill.