Buying paint from Japan...

Jun Austria · Post by **Jun Austria** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 10:16 pm

I asked an old friend (he is 75) from Japan to get me a bunch of Mr Surfacer and Thinner. But after buying the things. He encounter a problem in shipping them. Non of the Mail Service or Courier would accept shipping a flammable substance. He even try to mix the item with other building materials in a container. And yet, this hobby paints were rejected for shipping.

Is there anybody here from Japan who can advise me how to go about this problem?

Moonlight SY-3 · Post by **Moonlight SY-3** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 11:01 pm

Sadly, it's impossible to do unless you just keep trying and it slips by...but that is breaking the rules. If they catch it, they'll stop it, maybe confiscate it, or worse.

That's why HobbyLink Japan and other Japan-based net shops no longer offer paints for overseas customers.

Jun Austria · Post by **Jun Austria** » Thu Jul 30, 2015 1:38 am

Moonlight SY-3 wrote:Sadly, it's impossible to do unless you just keep trying and it slips by...but that is breaking the rules. If they catch it, they'll stop it, maybe confiscate it, or worse.

That's why HobbyLink Japan and other Japan-based net shops no longer offer paints for overseas customers.

That is just sad. Because, nothing beats a solvent based primers for airbrushing.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » Fri Jul 31, 2015 3:24 am

Jun Austria wrote:
Moonlight SY-3 wrote:Sadly, it's impossible to do unless you just keep trying and it slips by...but that is breaking the rules. If they catch it, they'll stop it, maybe confiscate it, or worse.

That's why HobbyLink Japan and other Japan-based net shops no longer offer paints for overseas customers.
That is just sad. Because, nothing beats a solvent based primers for airbrushing.

Order it from some other country, where the mail service does ship it.

Be sure to check whether the paints are not prohibited from import in your own country though. Some sellers will put paints in kit boxes to hide them (and not mention them on the customs label or to the mail office clerks).

Just an aside, did your friend try surface shipping? When I had to ship something containing a RC Nitro engine and battery (also prohibited from shipping with other options due to explosion risk) some time ago from Japan that option did work. It will take 1-6 months to arrive, and the boxes tend to end up rather battered, so use a strong box.

YankeeGuy0 · Post by **YankeeGuy0** » Fri Aug 07, 2015 9:41 am

I encountered the same problem. Michigan toy solider company and brookhurst hobbies both sell the mr color product line. If they are out of stock you'll be waiting a long while for a restock. If you feel like waiting there are a few shops in hongkong that will ship by sea. The estimated time is about 2months but the usps will ship solvents just not in the air system.

flyfort17 · Post by **flyfort17** » Fri Aug 07, 2015 11:09 am

If you're looking for the Mr Color line (not the Aquieous)
You can find them here. Both are in the US and have good service.

http://robot4less.com/

https://www.hobbywave.com/

NCC1966 · Post by **NCC1966** » Sat Aug 20, 2016 2:05 pm

I know this is an old thread but certain subjects never get out of trend. I used to buy normally paints from Japan until around 5 years ago in a cool online store called "Rainbow 10". They had LOTS of paints of good brands, for cheap prices and cheap shipping. Then suddenly one day I found their website with a disclaimer saying that they were getting out of online business and thanking all the customers for the past orders.

I believe that it was exactly when Japan changed their laws and the mail service restricted the international shipping of flammable items. Nowadays you cannot import such stuff from Japan, USA, Canada and mostly of Europe countries (unless they ship by sea, but then it will take a life to arrive).

The best chance of buy these products online and get it shipped overseas nowadays is Hong Kong. It's such a wild land!