Vallejo

[Tim Marlow]

I know I haven't been doing this very long. But!! I always found getting the thinning thing a bit of a nightmare. Now I mix enough thinning agent with colour using a brush to mix the paint. When the mix drips from the brush I deem the mix ready. It's not a hard fast X drops of this and x drops of that. So far my unscientific method seems to be working for me. I keep the pressure low(ish) 15-20 psi.

Ding ding ding, we have a winner……..right there is the secret to successful airbrushing. Keep trying until it works FOR YOU.

Whatever others do is just your starting point. You will gradually modify that advice (more thinner, more or less paint, a drop of flow aid, different pressure, whatever) until the airbrush works the way you want it to.

Airbrushing is a strange beast. Eventually, through trial and error, almost everyone gets it to work with whatever paint and thinner they’ve settled on. The weird thing is that almost everyone’s technique varies from everybody else’s, but they all end up with good results. I bet that (god forbid) we were all lined up side by side, every one of us would have their own unique way of preparing paint and spraying a model…..and all the models would come out fine.

 

[PaulinKendal]

As Tim says, you need to experiment and practise, to find what works for you. (I'd start at 50/50 dilution, use airbrush thinner not tapwater, and go from there.)

Unlike Tim, I airbrush acrylics (despite the challenges). I was spraying Vallejo Black primer just yesterday, despite the weather. And no, the airbrush didn't clog, but I was using extra dilution and multiple passes to avoid clogging.

And I'd strongly recommend you develop an efficient routine for cleaning your airbrush - without that, your experiments which don't work (that'll be most of them to begin with, I'm afraid) will be even more frustrating as you struggle to clean up and restart.

 

[Tim Marlow]

As Tim says, you need to experiment and practise, to find what works for you. (I'd start at 50/50 dilution, use airbrush thinner not tapwater, and go from there.)

Unlike Tim, I airbrush acrylics (despite the challenges). I was spraying Vallejo Black primer just yesterday, despite the weather. And no, the airbrush didn't clog, but I was using extra dilution and multiple passes to avoid clogging.

And I'd strongly recommend you develop an efficient routine for cleaning your airbrush - without that, your experiments which don't work (that'll be most of them to begin with, I'm afraid) will be even more frustrating as you struggle to clean up and restart.

Actually Paul, most of my recent little blokes have been primed with Vallejo black. I dilute it about fifty fifty and add a drop of flow aid. I have a large bottle that needs using up LOL……don’t know how I’ll use up the red oxide though…..
It actually sprays pretty well and settles nice and smooth. The reason I don’t use it on larger models is because it doesn’t sand well, so doesn’t allow remedial sanding repairs to be made to rough areas.

 

[colin m]

That's why I am changing over to MRP paints

A move you won't regret.

 

[PaulinKendal]

Actually Paul, most of my recent little blokes have been primed with Vallejo black. I dilute it about fifty fifty and add a drop of flow aid. I have a large bottle that needs using up LOL……don’t know how I’ll use up the red oxide though…..
It actually sprays pretty well and settles nice and smooth. The reason I don’t use it on larger models is because it doesn’t sand well, so doesn’t allow remedial sanding repairs to be made to rough areas.

Ah yes, sanding vallejo acrylic primer (shudder).

 

[Scratchbuilder]

Why you would jump through hoops, adding retarders, flow improvers, etc., to a product when there are others that will spray straight from the bottle with none of these issues?

Asking for a friend (not really).

I second Jim, got tired of the mix this and mix that dance, change this needle for that needle, this presure for that presure, to psi or not to psi. So from now on I am back to lacquer paints S M S, MRP, Tamiya etc and one bottle of thinner serves all Mr Hobby. I only use acrylic now for brush painting. Hard decision to make but just gor tired of spending more time mixing, clogging, cleaning, mixing, clogging, splatter etc etc.

 

[stona]

No paint sprays that well straight out of the pot in my experience, all need more thinner.

I've recently been using MRP's acrylic lacquers and they do spray flawlessly straight out of the bottle every time.

It took a lot to get me away from spraying enamels, which also spray flawlessly with proper thinning, but these lacquers have done it. I've not had an enamel clog the brush, dry at the tip, etc. in so long I can't remember, so that was never an issue, it's just the convenience of spraying out of the bottle (and the fast drying time). When I tried to change to acrylics some years ago I found myself in a constant battle just to get the things to spray at all, never mind achieve a good finish. I tried several brands.

I still brush paint and occasionally spray enamels when I need to, but I'm gradually building up a store of MRP.

 

[Scratchbuilder]

I've recently been using MRP's acrylic lacquers and they do spray flawlessly straight out of the bottle every time.

It took a lot to get me away from spraying enamels, which also spray flawlessly with proper thinning, but these lacquers have done it. I've not had an enamel clog the brush, dry at the tip, etc. in so long I can't remember, so that was never an issue, it's just the convenience of spraying out of the bottle (and the fast drying time). When I tried to change to acrylics some years ago I found myself in a constant battle just to get the things to spray at all, never mind achieve a good finish. I tried several brands.

I still brush paint and occasionally spray enamels when I need to, but I'm gradually building up a store of MRP.

True, spent more time on cleanup that spraying.

 

[Tim Marlow]

I've recently been using MRP's acrylic lacquers and they do spray flawlessly straight out of the bottle every time.

It took a lot to get me away from spraying enamels, which also spray flawlessly with proper thinning, but these lacquers have done it. I've not had an enamel clog the brush, dry at the tip, etc. in so long I can't remember, so that was never an issue, it's just the convenience of spraying out of the bottle (and the fast drying time). When I tried to change to acrylics some years ago I found myself in a constant battle just to get the things to spray at all, never mind achieve a good finish. I tried several brands.

I still brush paint and occasionally spray enamels when I need to, but I'm gradually building up a store of MRP.

Pretty much the same journey as me Steve. I initially used enamels thinned with Phoenix precision quick air drying thinners (catchy name or what ) They sprayed very well, but the smell was quite obnoxious. Went to the new kid on the block, acrylics, and just couldn’t get on with them. I then tried Tamiya, initially with their own thinner, which was OK, then changed to MLT, and found them excellent. I now use Tamiya, Mr Color, and Scale Model Shop pretty much interchangeably for spraying, and acrylics (mostly Vallejo) for detail work and figures. .

Not used MRP, but Scale Model Shop are pretty close out of the bottle as well. It’s just that as they age they thicken up from solvent evaporation. I usually thin paints because I go for several thin coats over one or two thick coats, using the airbrush more as a brush than a spray gun. I find this allows things like pre shading to show through. Never had a tip dry or needle clog from lacquer paints and Mr Color levelling thinner since I changed to them, by the way. Need good PPE though.

 

[Jim R]

Need good PPE though.

That's why I invested in the better, bigger spray booth.
I was a mug when it came to paint. Every new paint, whether acrylic, enamel or lacquer, I thought "I'll try that". Spent too much and ended up with more thinners, additives etc than was manageable. Then I saw the great results that Barry got and how he raved about MRP paints. Via a few pms he gave me loads of tips and advice. OK it will be a gradual change over but for every new build I will buy MRP for the main colours and use Vallejo Model Color for brush painting.

 

[stona]

Then I saw the great results that Barry got and how he raved about MRP paints.

I think seeing Barry's models was what piqued my interest in MRP. I was very sceptical at the beginning, maybe informed by my fruitless and frustrating excursion into the world of acrylics, but I'm sold on them now.
There are one or two colours that I'm nor 100% happy with, but I can either fix them or live with them, it's not like they are horrible, just a slightly different interpretation.

I've also found somewhere that always seems to have the colours I need in stock, which is always a consideration for me, who doesn't keep a stash and tends to just buy and build a model more or less impulsively (I know, weird). I recently discovered I needed some Japanese colours and acquired them with no issues.

I never thought of drying time as an issue with enamels, and generally it isn't, but a couple of months ago I masked and sprayed some four colour RAF roundels in a couple of hours rather than a couple of days. That does make a difference

 

[Jakko]

I now use Tamiya, Mr Color, and Scale Model Shop pretty much interchangeably for spraying, and acrylics (mostly Vallejo) for detail work and figures.

You may want to be careful when typing SMS, it gets auto-replaced by a link on this forum

As for paints for spraying: I prefer Tamiya and Mr. Aqueous Hobby alcohol-based acrylics, especially for covering larger areas. I’ve thinned them with cellulose thinner and tap water in the past, but these days use isopropanol, which I find works better than tap water, but is a lot less smelly and nasty than cellulose thinner. The water-based, airbrush-ready ones like Vallejo, Ammo, etc. work well for finer work, IMHO, and I like them for the ability to just put some in the airbrush and go, but I’ve not got great experiences spraying entire models in one colour with them. Not that I wouldn’t do that if I had/wanted to, it’s just that the alcohol-based ones work better for it.

Concerning lacquer paints, used one bottle of MRP, which was OK but I very much disliked the cleanup, as it required cellulose thinner once more; my attempts at spraying Mr. Hobby lacquers didn’t work out well at all in addition to the annoying cleanup, so I don’t want them, plain and simple

 

[Andy T]

You may want to be careful when typing SMS, it gets auto-replaced by a link on this forum

Hence I've taken to typing S M S as another workaround.

 

[Tim Marlow]

You may want to be careful when typing SMS, it gets auto-replaced by a link on this forum

Hence I've taken to typing S M S as another workaround.

I buy them from John if the LHS doesn’t have them (they’ve struggled to get supplies of most paint since Covid) so I can probably be forgiven

 

[De.Mort]

I'm still learning but have found that a cotton bud dipped in an aerosol lid of water .. every 30 seconds or so i give the tip a wipe off .

My paint mixing method is better but still not perfect and i tend to find i see a slow down of the paint rather than any abnormal patterns atm .

I use air then paint but i also use air to dry sections then over paint .. useful when you have a thin light mix that needs a few overlays . roughly 20 psi is my base setting for most paints with a 0.4 needle .. i have down to 0.2 for finer work though .

I know I haven't been doing this very long. But!! I always found getting the thinning thing a bit of a nightmare. Now I mix enough thinning agent with colour using a brush to mix the paint. When the mix drips from the brush I deem the mix ready. It's not a hard fast X drops of this and x drops of that. So far my unscientific method seems to be working for me. I keep the pressure low(ish) 15-20 psi.

Excellent .. this is what i figured out after about a week of total frustration when i started using an airbrush .. for me i just chuck it all in a small mixing pot .. stir then drape some on the side of the pot to see how well it flows .

The " use X amount of this to X amount of that " .. it depends on a lot of factors with temperature , type of paint etc etc .. hence " winging it " works for me at least !

Im sure car painters use a similar method .. the old ruler and drip test ?

 

[Waspie]

I'm still learning but have found that a cotton bud dipped in an aerosol lid of water .. every 30 seconds or so i give the tip a wipe off .

My paint mixing method is better but still not perfect and i tend to find i see a slow down of the paint rather than any abnormal patterns atm .

I use air then paint but i also use air to dry sections then over paint .. useful when you have a thin light mix that needs a few overlays . roughly 20 psi is my base setting for most paints with a 0.4 needle .. i have down to 0.2 for finer work though .



Excellent .. this is what i figured out after about a week of total frustration when i started using an airbrush .. for me i just chuck it all in a small mixing pot .. stir then drape some on the side of the pot to see how well it flows .

The " use X amount of this to X amount of that " .. it depends on a lot of factors with temperature , type of paint etc etc .. hence " winging it " works for me at least !

Im sure car painters use a similar method .. the old ruler and drip test ?

'Winging it' always liked that method.
I learned the hard away about speaking to car spray guys!!! The clue is shutting the f!!! up when they say - "I've been doing this for 25 or so years". Shut up then whilst you're ahead!!!

 

[Ian M]

Been spraying Vallejo model color for years. Personally I found it fragile when thinned with water. I use their airbrush thinners.
If the weather is warm I add a drip or two of retarder, if the weather is hot, I find something else to do lol.
That said i spray gladly with Humbrol and Colour coats.