Vallejo Paints

Reasoned -

Just my personal input, but after giving Model Air a good try for a while, I'm back in the Tamiya acrylic camp. For my use the Model Air took too long to dry, had an odd vinyl like feel, didn't take handling all that well and lifted altogether too easily.

It did spray nicely, looked and covered well, just not something that worked well for me overall.

Just my input, others may feel altogether differently and like it. Let's hear what some others may say.

Patrick  

I have tried Model Air and am not keen. Dspite a good mix, i found it to thin. So i am usieng up what i ahve left and won't be getting that again. But i do use their Model Coulrs, mainly for figures. I do like those, i find them mch better for brush painting than tamiya. So a mixed bag for me.

Interesting experiences Patrick and Bish.  Patrick, one of the products sold along with VA is a solution to keep the paint "wet" longer just because it dries fast.  Yet your experience is opposite and I had read about how durable they're supposed to be .  Bish, by thin do you mean it took several coats.

best paint ive used and the best results. use their own airbrush thinner and it will work a treat. NEVER use an alcohol thinner like tamiya x-20a or it will gum up. aviod that and it will be very good.

I have tried Vallejo paints and really wanted to like them, but they dont really spray very well, constant clogs, tip drying out after a few seconds of spraying and a grainy finish. even with using their thinner and retarder. I wouldnt try spraying model color ever again.  

that being said, they do brush better than most acrylics I have used IMO a very nice brush paint.

I only spray Tamiya acrylics thinned with X-20A or MM acrylics thinned with MM acrylic thinner or sometimes washer fluid.

That seems to work very well for me but of course I am no expert.

hope this helps

   Rocky

I've been using Vallejo on most of my aircraft builds. I haven't had the lifting that some folks here are talking about so I can't speak for that. I can say that this stuff covers very well but , again as others have said, it does clog up the airbrush easily. Patience is key with this stuff but the end results are worth all the frustration in my book.

Vallejo has been my go-to paint for a few years now. I do hope you follow up here on how it works out for you, Reasoned.

I initially chose it because of the wide range of colors available, and continue to use it for the same reason, frankly.

As for the dry tip, I have on hand but have yet to try Vallejo's own relatively new flow enhancer. From what I've read here, it works great. I've tried off-brand (i.e. Liquitex) flow enhancers with no real improvement.

I wonder if some folks try to shoot Model Color through too fine of a needle/nozzle. Anything less than .35mm with Vallejo is asking for trouble, IMO. But perhaps my technique is flawed.

Also, I've read and found to be true (for me anyway) that for general coverage, higher than what you are probably used to air pressure works best for Model Air. I use 20-25 psi. Sounds counterintuitive, I know. 3 yrs and I still have no clue why.

Above, Rocky mentioned a grainy finish using Vallejo. This puzzles me as I find the Vallejo finish the smoothest of any acryl I've used, by far. Including Tamiya.

BTW, my unsolicited advice would be to stick with Vallejo thinner. Do not experiment. And do not use alcohol or Tamiya X-20 thinner to clean your airbrush.

Sorry, I rambled yet again. Please do report how you get along.

Yup. When using Vallejo paints stick with using their brand thinner.

You really can't compare Tamiya to Vallejo - the former isn't a true acrylic, and actually has properties of lacquers (there's reason why most webstores won't ship Tamiya paints via airmail).

Acrylics are known for quickly drying at the needle end (I've made a habit now, good or bad, to airbrush with the the protective nozzle removed), and best tip I've read for dealing with this is by keeping a wet brush handy to wipe it as required.  I find for thinning purposes, a few drops of future clear work well, plus it adds a bit of strength to the finish as well.

regards,

Jack 

Wowzza -

What an informative amount of details posted. I had read the Aaron Skinner FSM article on paints, tried Model Air for the AB, Model Color for brushing. Very much like the Model Color, still have to say Model Air just didn't make the angels sing for me. Guess there might be a few different reasons, Oregon climate, temp, air pressure etc, and it might well just be me. I also had less than great results from MM acrylics for airbrushing, some folks really like it and make it work. 

I tried the Model Air thoroughly mixed, with and without their 71.061 thinner. If anything, I thought the thinner really slowed down the dry time to well over a full day, even then it wasn't set up hard. I tried Liquitex Flow Aid once, nothing significant about that test. On the good side, I had zero instances of tip dry, at any time.

I live in Western Oregon, my climate is like Bish's, we had similar experiences to the negative side. Greg lives in the Northern mid West, Aaron Skinner is in Wisconsin, they relate good results with Model Air, could there be such a dramatic geographic/climate influence?

Just for reference, the AB's used were Iwata, Badger and Paasche. Air source was from a volume tank with dual water separators.

I liked the color range and the bottle convenience, just wish my results had been more positive. After reading Greg's post, I realize I likely sprayed at my typical 12-18 psi. I'll give it another go at 20-30 psi, then see what that might do.

On to Tamiya, for whatever reason the stuff just flat works for me every time. I have no affiliation with them, this is not a product endorsement, just my personal use results. I get a good smooth surface, adhesion and lifting resistance, it dries fully over night, then it's quite hard and is durable. I would like it well if Tamiya would use bottles with nozzles, like Vallejo, can't beat the convenience.

That's my .02 worth, (maybe worth even less.)

Patrick 

to follow up I use both model air and model color. i add a few drops off their thinner for model air, much more for the model color. It is a learned ability, but with pracice you will learn how by sight and pulling the thinned paint up the airbrush cup side what is optimum. They both spray well as long as you use only their thinner and spray around 25-30 psi usually. i also add a drop or two of future at times to add hardnedss of the paint and to give it a nice finish for decaling. Only a few drops or it will over thin. expeiment on practice styrene and a few colors of model air and model color. vary the thinner amount, future if you wish and the air pressure until you are comfortable. I usually use a hair dryer on low heat ro help the drying with these and in fact all my paint and it really helps the overall curing time and hardness of the paint. enjoy and fill us in.