I have heard that vallejo paints can be thinned with distilled water. Is this correct and can someone give me an idea of how well this works, i.e. benefits, drawbacks/problems? Cheers.

I do it,have not had a problem.I use a plastic syringe.

I use an eyedropper with water. And stir it good together. It will make a difference.

Cheers,
MM

What is the ratio?
Paint:Water?

Cheers.

50:50

Basically for one drop of paint = one drop of water for this paint. IMO.

Their website recommends distilled water. They could easily well small containers of distilled water at a gazilliion % profit but don't.

Not thinning the paint leaves a very thick paste. Starting ratio is recommended at about 1:1. I got a ketchup dispenser bottle at a kitchen suppoly store at pt a drop of water on my palette and mix the paint to the consistency that looks right. When mixing several shades, I use one of these with a base color in one depression, other colors adjacent and water in another.

Best investment.. ever.

Yes, you can but I'd say that according to my experience, Valeyo paints diluted with water seem to be a bit weaker than the ones diluted with the Valleyo thinner.
Anyway, if you seal your model with a clear varnish, you won't have any problems

And this works for airbrushing, yes?

Yes, it does, but in my opinion you have to thin it with a ratio of 40% paint and 60% water and stir very well the mixture before sprying. Valleyo paint is quite thick and it dries fast, so it tends to clog the AB nozzle. However,a drop of Valleyo retarder can prevent the problem, as well as a cotton swab damp with water that you can use to wet your AB nozzle when you notice that the paint is about to dry

For thinning Vallejo, I use tap water and Liquitex Flo-Aid, and it works great. And if I know the painting will take some time, I use tap water with both Flo-Aid and Slo-Dri, lengthens the drying time for painting lots of small things or a big thing.

Damon, water works well, but...Vallejo's Airbrush Thinner works excellent. This stuff is the cats pajamas:

Thinner at SB

Ok, thanks guys. I just purchased some of the Vallejo paints and thinner from Squadron during their Black Friday Sale and was more excited to hear that distilled water works. I have some retarder that we can use as well. We'll do some experimenting and I will post some picks soon. Cheers.

While yes, you can thin Vallejo paint with distilled water for both brush painting and airbrushing, and will work, it creates a weaker bond with the paint vs the Vallejo thinner.

The thinner is designed to work with the paint, and aid in adhesion of the paint onto the surface you are painting it on.

While the thinner works with the paint to aid adhesion, the water literally makes the paint thinner, and thus dilutes the adhesion properties of the paint.

I highly recommend Vallejo's Airbrush thinner

On the other hand you can take advantage to the weaker bond of the paint when you apply the Hairspray technique.

I use the Vallejo thinner and mix it 50:50 with water and then add about 5% each (by volume) an acrylic retarder, a flow-enhancer, and Vallejo's Matt Medium.

I mix this about 50:50 with Vallejo Model Colors for brush painting. It's very thin and usually takes two-three coats to get complete coverage on large areas. However, it will not obscure details. I let each coat dry completely before brushing on the next one.

For airbrushing the Model Colors, I use Vallejo's Airbrush Thinner reducing the paint to the opacity of heavy milk.