I'll give my 2 cents, on this topic.

Rule #1 Always try the brand's thinner, first. Sometimes this does matter.

Vallejo is a bit more challenging to work with than other popular acrylics. The few bottles of Model Air, that I have, seem to spray ok. I do have to use a cotton swab (Q-Tip) with ISP, to constantly clean the tip. It does tend to clog faster, than other paints. The regular Model Color line is my preferred brand, for regular brush painting. I've found the Model Color line will even airbrush, with extreme thinning with their thinner.

I really like Ammo of Mig. It airbrushes very well. This is what I'm mainly using at the moment.

Tamiya flows the best, in my opinion, but they have such a limited color range. If you enjoy or don't mind mixing colors, most of the time, go this route.

I've only bought one bottle of Mission Models paint. I broke my own first rule on this, too. I didn't buy their thinner. The only thing I had on hand that somewhat worked was distilled water. It seemed to clog a lot, but like I said, I violated my own first rule. I've talked to a few local modelers and seen the results they have gotten with it and I'm impressed. I think, if you use their "system", you might get some results, but I personally find it a bit costly to go this route. I'll probably give it a proper go, in the future, with their NATO colors.

Personally I bought the set of Vallejo Allied Uniforms 10 years ago and after some test's have been relegated to the drawer "Bad Acquisitions",they clog and dry tip easily, the colors tend to separate to fast in the bottle,even with bering balls you have to sling a shoulder to give it a good shake but sometimes it's not enough and you get a paint blob....not for me

I tried the MMPs and if you use their system scrupulously they are absolutely fantastic,the cover,the eggshell finish, almost the total absence of dry tip...love it, it's true at first they are expensive but if you look good the bottle is 1oz/30ml, all bottles have their agitator, they cover so well that you use less paint than other brands, if you use the "recipe" of the manufacturer you dont need much thinner and additive ,only few drops not 50/50...and also no spending hours between various alchemies to find the right thinning ratio which they already give yuo, with the use of the additive you can skip the step of the gloss for decals and the finish is very durable .... in the end the cost is more or less par with the other manufacturers...in theory also the shelf life is longer

Has anyone tried Tru-Color Paint ? We will guarantee our paint will not clog your paint brush. The majority of our paint requires only an eyedropper of our thinner (TCP-015) or none at all to spray smoothly and cleanly. We recommend a starting pressure of 28-35 PSI with a medium tip.

The entire Tru-Color Paint product line is manufactured in Phoenix, AZ and is available from 100's of hobby shops in the U.S. and Canada. If your local hobby shop does not carry Tru-Color Paint, you may buy directly from us. All colors are stocked in 1 and 2 oz. bottles for immediate delivery.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask in this thread, by email or call us.

Martin Cohen, PhD
Tru-Color Paint
P.O. Box 74524
Phoenix, AZ 85087-4524

714-488-9779
email: [email protected]

I have to echo the comments of others regarding Mission Model paints. Its definitely a system in that you must use their thinner, and for a gloss you add their polyurethane, but I have gotten fantastic results with no tip dry. The colors are spot on for my armor needs. It’s become my goto non lacquer thinned acrylic.

In the past, I’ve used Vallejo model air, and, yes, you do have to deal with routine tip dry. The nature of that beast... so I’ve moved on from them.

I have to say i tested the MMP using UMP universal thinner and no problem at all,little bit more dry tip without the Poly but not like the others acrylics water based,i tried olso pure without thinner and are not bad a good flat finish.


with their thinner and Poly are definitely spot on but also without the 2 products are not bad at all, but clearly we have to play a bit and for me one of the strong points of these paints is precisely the fact of removing from the equation the "Guess" factor, Npaints + Xthinner + YPoly + GPsi = perfect finish every time everywere .... i have 1 wife and 2 kids my time to spend guessing and trying is dead 7 years a go ...