My new found love..

I'm still in the process of picking a brand.  I have some Vallejo, some Mission and the full set of Tamiya jars.  I haven't tried airbrushing the Tamiya, but just use it for a brush or two of small detail.  

What thinner and ratio are you finding works well?

MJY65

I'm still in the process of picking a brand.  I have some Vallejo, some Mission and the full set of Tamiya jars.  I haven't tried airbrushing the Tamiya, but just use it for a brush or two of small detail.  

 

What thinner and ratio are you finding works well?

 

I always found I got clogged needles with vallejo even ay a higher psi.. 

My ONLY gripe with Tamiya is the very limited premixed colors selection.

Bill

AK Real Colors, not their acrylics are very similar to Tamiya,they thin with Lacquer Thinner and behave like Tamiya,and they have a good range of colors.

GMorrison

My ONLY gripe with Tamiya is the very limited premixed colors selection.

 Bill

 

Yup, for airbrushing Tamiya paints are hard to beat. And thank goodness that they are not in those cursed dropper bottles- their current container easily allows stirring for proper mixing of the paint. 

I have been using both Tamiya and Vallejo for the last couple years. I will tell you that I much prefer the Tamiya paints for general usage, they spray amazingly, brush on relatively easily and clean up pretty simply. 

Vallejo get monstrous tip dry when spraying and brush on terribly.

That said, I find myself using the Vallejo paints almost all the time. Simply put the colour selection is why. I am red green colour blind and I cant be mixing paints or trying to find close approximations. I need the FS BS RLM or whatever colours handed to me. Vallejo does that. When I have the matching Tamiya colour, I will use it. If I build a Tamiya kit, I will grab all the required Tamiya paints and use nothing but those, but if I am doing any other brand, I will find the Vallejo paint. One other thing I can say is that I love how easily Vallejo cleans up. I have a laundry tub near my airbrush station and I just hold the taps nozzle in the paint cup and clean the brush in seconds. I find the tamiya paints sometimes are already caked on the cup and I have to use a q-tip to clean the cup out. I have been using a mix of 10-3-3-1 mix of paint, thinner, flow improver and retarder with my Vallejo paints and it works great.

I use a lot of Tamiya paints and love them...even getting the hang of brushing them...so they are definitely staying in my inventory.  That being said, for my airbrushing I'm almost exclusively using MRP paint now.  Its the most durable acyrlic lacquer I have tried, fully cures in less than an hour, and the best part about it is that you don't have to mess with it at all to avoid tip dry.  It literally goes from the bottle, to the airbrush, to the model...done.  Tamiya is almost that easy, I just have to thin it with 99% isopropyl alcohol, which is easy.  Tried Vallejo Model Air a couple of times, hated it, and the worst part was that the colors I tried were all completely wrong for what they were claimed to be matches for.  Now, Vallejo Model Color, on the other hand...that's wonderful paint for handbrushing small details where your goal is to find a paint color that closely matches what your reference photos show.  I imagine their FS colors in that line are just as inaccurate as the Model Air is though, so I stay away from those.

Vallejo Model Air gets grudging approval in my experience. One has to prime first to insure proper adhesion, and the paint sure has a unique feel to it once dried and cured, almost rubbery. But it is simplicity to use, shake thoroughly, put into your airbrush cup/jar, and shoot. As far as FS color matching, my first use was not an issue. Their 36270 Neutral Gray and 36118 Gunship Grey look proper to my eye. I can't vouch for their other FS colors... yet. But with the recent demise of Model Master, I have to look at what the local shops carry. I'll buy my paints there to help keep up the now rare experience of still having a local hobby shop.

Vallejo's Model Air 34079 and 34159 were way off.  They both looked like different shades of brown. I had the same issue with the feel too, almost like my model had a fragile candy coating on it.  Stripped the FB-111A parts I had painted with it and started over with decanted Model Master (could only find the rattle can enamels in those colors, and hate the Model Master Acryl line), and it came out looking exactly like I would expect a SAC SIOP scheme to look. 

Hi Foxy:

     I am neither new or unused to paint and airbrushes. I have recently been exploring Acrylics. I hated them at first.Cost and Compatability and Selection as well as Brushability. 

    Now I have both A.K. interactive, Vallejo and Tamiya. I find myself wondering-After I got comfortable with the Retarders and Thinners that I had been phoo-phooing a great type of paint. I will still use oil based enamels because my shop is set up for it inventory wise. But when it's gone-Acrylics will be the majority of what I buy!

I'll put in a vote for AK Interactive's Real Colors line, LOVE THEM. And also their Xtreme Metal line. Both fantastic in my opinion.  :)

Doug!

     Funny this. I just got some-LOVE IT! Dioramas of Very Old, ship Engineering spaces were made for this or Vise Versa, I am not sure!

dinglebery

I'm new to airbrushing, but after scouring the online videos I've settled on Createx Wicked Detail paints for color and Alclad II for metals. My primary hobby is 1:24 and 1:32/35 slot cars. I just painted a model with Vallejo Model Air Ferrari Red 71.085 and it was spot on the right color! I used a Procon Boy PS-290 to spray it and it made me an instant pro!

 

Welcome

Those Createx colors are good for your genre,but not a fit for military armor and a/c though.

I've never had any trouble with Vallejo Model Air, fwiw. I use several different paints though as well. Mostly acrylics these days, model paints including VMA, also craft paints, artist acrylics too. You just have to learn each ones ways is all.

GMorrison

My ONLY gripe with Tamiya is the very limited premixed colors selection.

 

Bill

 

This ^^^^^^

Mixing your own colors will get old fast. Especially when you want to nail down a specific Federal Standard color.

Nothing wrong with having a wide variety of paint brands on hand.

I own wide variety of paint brands myself.

TheDemiGod

Nothing wrong with having a wide variety of paint brands on hand. I own wide variety of paint brands myself.

With acrylics there is a problem- multiple thinners. Often one brand's thinner is not compatible with another brand's paint. There is no universal acrylic paint thinner. So, multiple brands of paint equals multiple brands of thinners. That adds clutter and gets expensive. Enamels on the other hand do all thin with one thinner. Unfortunately enamels are a disappearing paint type nowadays.