Hello all,

Has anyone noticed that when the Vallejo model air ivory sand is sprayed it changes in appearance quite a bit from when to dry? I find that it transitions from yellow-ish ivory to white ivory.

Has anyone else noticed this or did I just get a bad batch?

I am trying to fix a few spots on a base-coated model but they are coming out slightly more yellow than the surrounding area. Any suggestions? Re-coating it is not an option as a very intricate camo is already brushed on.

Also,is it possible for flo-aid to affect the way a basecoat looks?

Most paints will change color as they dry, doesn't matter if they are acrylic, enamels or lacquers. The only way to be sure of color is to test. If I got a question about a color I'll put down what ever primer I'm using on the inside of the hull then put test swatches down. If I'm not priming I'll make sure I test on the same color styrene I'm painting. Sometimes the sprue or unused parts are test beds for paint.

I test the paint out on primer as well, but in this particular case I used the same 71.075 Vallejo paint, albeit a different bottle. I put a ball bearing in each bottle and shake vigorously, so I'm rather confident it's not a paint mixing issue. Any estimates as to how long of a time period it would take for an acrylic to fully cure and possibly change color over? If this doesn't fully dry and cure into the same shade, I fear it will be quite a difficult fix.

As soon as it dries completely it should be at its final color, full curing could take a couple days depending on air temp and humidity. And if it's just small patches you could incorporate them into the weathering scheme because paint repairs don't always match. My 3 color NATO Hummvee was in reality about 10 different shades of green, brown and black. My favorite deuce and a half (made in 1955) was nothing but paint repairs. I doubt there was a square inch of the NATO scheme applied in the mid 80's left on it. It rattled and shook so bad you could watch paint chunks and patches of rust fall off it. We'd sweep up the debris and break out the CARC to patch up what had just fallen off. We were just letting it rust away in place.

If you can, try to get another bottle of the same color but different lot and compare, if it is different then that's an Vallejo problem and you may have to repaint if the difference it too great to blend in or weather.

If you have the bottle you originally used compare the numbers. Different lots can have different shades. Saw that alot with the old Pactra paints.

It's not uncommon for a paint formula to change slightly from batch to batch, especially over a period of time. I started a model several years ago, painted with Tamiya. I just recently decided to do more work on it with a new bottle of the same color. It dried noticeably slightly darker than the original paint job.

Yeah, if it's a different batch of the "same" colour, there's almost guaranteed to be some colour shift even if the formula wasn't formally changed between batches. Add to this that paint companies do sometimes tweak their formulas over time and you can almost guarantee that paint from different batches will be at least a little different. If the older paint ahs been in the sun or under strong fluorescent lights, then the old colour may have shifter even if the bottle colour didn't.

But, if it's the same bottle, painted soon after the first coat, then you may be seeing the effects of a more opaque layer of the newer paint on top of the older stuff which may be showing some of the underlying colour through.

Not a lot of help in any case, of course.

Paul

I have a DML SdKfz.250 I took a looong time building. The interior was sprayed with Tamiya Dark yellow over red-brown primer. I did the same a year later with the same color but a new bottle for the exterior. The differences were quite visible! So yes, different batches can change the shade a bit. Learned my lesson on screwing around with builds for too much time!

Damon.

Pactra paint is one I haven't heard in awhile! They had the best flat orange oxide color for fresh rust.

They also had the best color for rubber tires literally called rubber. I can't find anything that has that right bit of brown and gray and really matte finish. Plus their flat black was a true flat black. Testors and humbrol had a bit of gloss to them.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

I went out today and bought another bottle of Vallejo 71.075. So far this is 3 batch numbers that are 100% different than the original batch number I used on the model. They are very beige compared to the original colour on the model, which looks essentially ivory rather than beige. I tried adding increments of white to the sand color in attempts to match it, but what you might expect, happened: I got a washed out sand color rather than something that looks like ivory. Still stuck, with a noticeable discolored patch on the side of the vehicle where the attempted fix is. Worst part is, after I took a break from this model a while back, I finished another entire model (Panzerhaubitze 2000 ISAF, posted on this site), and as far as I can remember, the sand color looked completely ivory, rather than beige. That was a sand bottle different than the first and the 3 I have now.

Is it possible that the color can take 2-4 weeks to fade out as it cures? Anyone seen anything of this sort before?

*All models in progress are kept in a dark cupboard, so I highly doubt there's any fading from light. The color on it is even everywhere.

I've never seen a paint continue to change color after it dries. It should reach its, I guess you could call it the final color, as soon as it dries. I usually buy at least 2 bottles of a color when I restock so I'll have enough to complete a project. In the old days most paints came in boxes of 6 so I just bought a box so I'd have one lot number. Paint will fadewith age but we're talking years exposure to light.