switching to vallejo

Dunno about those particular paints or how they translate to military shades, but all US Type I Tropical uniforms (jungle fatigues) used in Vietnam (that means Marines, too) in '68 were Army OG-107 (Olive Green-shade 107)..

If vallejo is new to you, I'd like to reccomend a few things.

1) Shake your paint bottle. When you think you've shaken it enough, shake it some more. Vallejo has a higher pigment content and the carrier medium separates easily. This results in a gloss or semi gloss sheen. If done properly, vallejo is flat. Dead flat. Doesn't get any flatter. Like a roadkill squirrel in the in summer flat. Perfect for figure work. In fact you'll have to shake the bottle throughout your work session to keep the pigment consistent.

2) Thins with water. Distilled water is best if you have a high solids content or heavy chlorination. (available at super market, pharmacy, Super Evil Mart, etc.) Othewise plain old tap water is ok. Purists swear by the distilled but we ran a test with a couple of figures guys in the club and the results were negligible.

3) Thin your paint out while using it. Basecoats are good at any where from 1:1 to 3:1 (water:paint) depending on coverage. This is a case of less is more, meaning that a few coats of a thin paint layer is better than a single coat of 1:1. You will get a more even coverage, and no brush marks. I have painted large surfae areas with a brush and had no streaks or brush marks show up. Looked like I airbrushed it. But this was after 3 or 4 thin coats. There is good adhesion and the paint is "tight" around detail. With further thining of water to paint ratios you can get some wonderful highlighting and shadowing transitions that equal oils. The beauty here is where oils may sheen....see item 1. I've used ratios as much as 7:1 and you can see a definate difference as you build up layers.

4) Clean up or stripping can be done with alcohol. Tamiya thinner works but alcohol is cheaper.

Good luck.

renarts wrote:

3) Thin your paint out while using it. Basecoats are good at any where from 1:1 to 3:1 (water:paint) depending on coverage. This is a case of less is more, meaning that a few coats of a thin paint layer is better than a single coat of 1:1. You will get a more even coverage, and no brush marks. I have painted large surfae areas with a brush and had no streaks or brush marks show up. Looked like I airbrushed it. But this was after 3 or 4 thin coats. There is good adhesion and the paint is "tight" around detail. With further thining of water to paint ratios you can get some wonderful highlighting and shadowing transitions that equal oils. The beauty here is where oils may sheen....see item 1. I've used ratios as much as 7:1 and you can see a definate difference as you build up layers.

To add to what Renarts said above::

When you thin it out (and you should), depending on the underlying colour, your first coat will look translucent and appear to not cover well (appearing like watercolours on paper). This is normal - wait a few minutes for it to dry and recoat.

Vallejo's strength is not in "one coat coverage" but in its ability to layer it in multiple coats. Unlike Tamiya and similar acrylics, it will accept overcoating as soon as it appears dry (when applied thinly enough, within a few minutes) and won't lift underlying coats.

Also, if you're not already using them, do yourself a favour and invest in some good quality brushes. Visit your hobby store and pick up at the very least, a size 4, 2 and 0 pointed Kolinsky sable (or at the very least, red sable) brushes. They can be spendy, but properly cared for, they will last for years and will deliver far better results than the $2/dozen type you find at "dollar store" type places.

thank you guys for your advice.

I am painting resin figures what kind of base coat should I apply?

Most definately apply an enamel of lacquer primer such as Tamiya fine white or grey spraycans. Vallejo is a marvellous paint which I use them exclusively for my armour builds and detail painting on my aircraft builds but it does NOT stick to a bare surface well at all.

I prime my armour builds with Tmiaya flat black spraycan lacquer and Vallejo applied over that is rock solid.

Cheers

Mike