Vallejo

First. DO NOT mix it with alcohol. it will turn to a glob in your AB. The best way I have found to spray it is to use future as your thinner. It will spray beautifully!

Hercmech

First. DO NOT mix it with alcohol. it will turn to a glob in your AB. The best way I have found to spray it is to use future as your thinner. It will spray beautifully!

Thanks Hercmech! Future? who'd a thunk it? I'll try that.

1 - Some people have had luck with water. I've only ever had the same experience as you - spidery, runny awfulness.

2 - Don't use alcohol. Vallejo is purely water-based and will clump.

3 - I've had great luck with two thinning mediums. Future, or Testors acrylic thinner (which I believe is glycol-based). Both clean up well with Windex.

I have been a long time user of Vallejo and distilled water works but you will get your best results using their thinner.

Thad

DoogsATX

3 - I've had great luck with two thinning mediums. Future, or Testors acrylic thinner (which I believe is glycol-based). Both clean up well with Windex.

I haven't tried the future, though I will for my fuselage colours to get a "tougher" finish. Heeding DoogATX's advise, I've used the Testors Acrylic Thinner without trouble.

At the risk of hi-jacking (sorry ) I sprayed some cockpit pieces with Vallejo. I found that it rubbed off easily with minimal handling. Does anyone have some suggested remedies for this?

Griffin

At the risk of hi-jacking (sorry ) I sprayed some cockpit pieces with Vallejo. I found that it rubbed off easily with minimal handling. Does anyone have some suggested remedies for this?

Not hijacking at all, as I had the same problem just today. A little overspray on it and it rubs right off when trying to correct. Grrr.. It sure seems to adhere a bit more fragile than other acrylics I've used. I am hoping mixing with future will harden it a bit!

The Future works really well to toughen it up (I SANDED my Dauntless for petes sake!).

Also, if you're not, make sure you have a primer coat down first. It's not as fickle as Lifecolor, but Vallejo still likes to have something to grip.

Vallejo has it's own thinner for Model Air and Liquid Acrylics, so it works on model color as well. It thins the paint and retards drying so you can even add it to the paint to dry brush with. Best mix is about 75% thinner and 25% paint.  It has worked well for me.

Item 71.161

DoogsATX

The Future works really well to toughen it up (I SANDED my Dauntless for petes sake!).

Also, if you're not, make sure you have a primer coat down first. It's not as fickle as Lifecolor, but Vallejo still likes to have something to grip.

That is why it's a good idea to scuff the plastic on the kit with a Scotchbrite pad to provide some "tooth" for the paint to adhere to.

I primed my kit the Vallejo's grey primer and it grippled, the paint didn't though. It touched up with the brush easily enough though.

I've only seen the thinner in the tiny bottles though.

If I use Future to thin Vallejo flat paint will it make it glossy?

Kentucky Colonel

If I use Future to thin Vallejo flat paint will it make it glossy?

I would say yes and that could possibly eliminate the Future step before decals?

I have never tried this so I can't comment.

Kentucky Colonel

If I use Future to thin Vallejo flat paint will it make it glossy?

Depends somewhat on the Future/paint ratio. 

Here's how my Dauntless looked after paint:

And my Mossie NF.II:

why do people invest in a brand of paint yet not by the reducer for it ?Is it that hard to fork over a few bucks for some thinner ?

vallejo is not like most acrylics  , it is acrylic polymer based and their thinner contains acrylic polymer medium and  a flow aid...it looks like milk.. the only reason future works so well is, it's very much like acrylic polymer  but in a gloss version.

aside from that , nothing thins it better than their thinner.. 

. 

stymye - it's hard to fork over for the tiniest bottle of thinner known to man, especially when it's not always easy to obtain and (in my experience) doesn't really perform any better than Testors acrylic thinner.

But I may have to give it a try again. One of the builds I'm eyeing once I get the bench functional again will be wearing RLM colors, and I've got the Vallejo RLM model air set, which doesn't take near the reducing Model Color does (though I've found it still needs some help to keep from clogging like mad). Might be a good time to give it another go.

In addition to the small 17ml jars, Vallejo's thinner also comes in 32ml and 200ml sizes.

The paint itself is hard enough to come by here in Australia, let alone the thinner - lol.

Phil_H

In addition to the small 17ml jars, Vallejo's thinner also comes in 32ml and 200ml sizes.

The paint itself is hard enough to come by here in Australia, let alone the thinner - lol.

I read that somewhere but still have trouble finding it except in stores in  Europe. I would like to find it in a online store in the US.

Kentucky Colonel

Phil_H:

In addition to the small 17ml jars, Vallejo's thinner also comes in 32ml and 200ml sizes.

The paint itself is hard enough to come by here in Australia, let alone the thinner - lol.

 

 

I read that somewhere but still have trouble finding it except in stores in  Europe. I would like to find it in a online store in the US.

I found Vallejo 32ml thinner at coloradominiatures.com. I've ordered paints from them before. They also have a good write up on Vallejo acrylics. thewarstore.com has the thinner in 200ml for $10! Another site is spruebrothers, which at least sells the paint.

I'll prime the next kit I use vallejo on, as well as trying future or the vallejo medium as a carrier. Thanks for the advice guys!

I have one bottle of Vallejo Model Color black. Is that different than the Vallejo you are all talking about?

GreenThumb

I have one bottle of Vallejo Model Color black. Is that different than the Vallejo you are all talking about?

There are basically two different lines of Vallejo paint.

Model Color is thicker, designed for brush painting (though it can airbrush very well when thinned). Color fidelity is often questionable, though. Their Blue Gray, for example, is nowhere close to the US Navy. shade.

Model Air is thinner and designed to be airbrushed straight out of the bottle. I've found I still need to thin it a bit. Model Air color fidelity is, so far as I can tell, excellent.

To make things more confusing, they also have a special line of Model Color paints called "Panzer Aces" that include most of your standard armor colors. Like the Model Air line, these are very good color-wise. 

There's also a new-ish line of primers that contain polyurethane. I'm a bit scared of putting that through an airbrush, though!

Are you sure about the 75% thinner to 25% paint ratio? Surely it's the other way round?

Spurdog

Are you sure about the 75% thinner to 25% paint ratio? Surely it's the other way round?

For ModelColor, it's quite valid. The ModelColor range are quite thick and have a heavy pigment load. I'll add that in my own experience, different colours in the ModelColor range can vary considerably in viscosity (as they can in other manufacturers ranges) so there's no "perfect" ratio.

This black I have sprayed great but it had bad adherence to the plastic.

Staying with Tamiya until I am forced to use another brand.

GreenThumb

This black I have sprayed great but it had bad adherence to the plastic.

Staying with Tamiya until I am forced to use another brand.

They adhere quite well after a while. Probably they just need longer to cure because of the less volatile nature of water than alcohole. 24 hours is defintly not enough to reach full adherence.

The Model Air  thin very well with Liquitex Airbrush Medium, which seem to almost the same as Vallejos own thinner for Model Air. The Model Color series I thin with a mix of purified water, Liquitex Airbrush Medium and Liquitex Flow Aid. Water alone will work up to about 1:1 paint/thinner, but when wishing to thin even more, I recommend something to extend the carrier, like the Airbrush Medium.

Thanks Denstore.

I will have to try it again and give it longer to see if anything changes.

It seems to me I dried it in my drying booth which speeds up the curing considerably but that was a long time ago when I tested it so I am not sure. Something to try now.

I have found that it sticks very well when shot over primer.

And speaking of primer their line of primers works very well and cleans up just fine. I have used it as a final color as well. It does not lay down as well as alclad but a gentle buff with a coffe filter and you will have a fine finish.

Vallejo makes primer in all sorts of colors now from black, gray, white, Panzer Gray, Panzer green, etc.