Russ

Your'e doing quite as I do (OK, I shy away from using the acetone or lacquer thinner (acetone mix) as it can damage some of those plastic caps... but it DOES work!)- rubber to increase grip... Save that I now use the pliers... My older hands aren't quite the "vice-grips" they were for 60 years (or even 5 years back)! Arthritis will do that to you! In defense of using pliers; I've never crushed anything with them that I didn't 100% intend to crush!

We both have the same challenge going... LOTS of paint jars. Many of which don't get used every day, week, month or year, and which do get to dry and stick a bit.

Cheers! Bob

Bob, lacquer thinner is much more forgiving than acetone (yes I know "modern" lacquer thinner contains acetone, but there are also other ingredients which seem to slow the effect). I've never had a problem with it. I have had problems with pliers, especially with the Bakelite style Alclad caps, which crack when you look at them. I also have osteo-arthritis, and sometimes the grip on the bottle can be painful. When that happens, I use a larger strip of rubber tire, lock the bottle in my Pana-vise, put another rubber band on the cap, and use a commercial cap wrench (it has a metal clamp that wraps over the bottle top). It works better than pliers. I got mine at Lowes about 10 years ago-- it's "cam operated" and works well. I think Micro-Mark carries something similar. But frankly, I don't have to use these tools much if I let the lacquer thinner soak in for a few minutes (5-15 I'd say). I've not had any problems with caps (occasionally, the paint will come off Floquil or MM metal caps, that's about it).
VR, Russ

What I do with dried-up paint jars:

I throw "The Anvil Chorus" on in my home sound system, line the jars up and then I use a 2-pound claw-hammer on them...

Kurt,

Actually, this is a figure painting question as the Figure Painters really know how to use Vallejos.

I highly recommend that you buy the entire range of Vallejo Acrylic Thinner, Glaze, Retarder, (and maybe Glosses).

* I would NOT open the top of the bottle because it has a tendency to pop out when squeezed. I do not place anything inside nor do I use any stick stirrer.
* Do NOT cut off the tip. The hole is large enough "as is."
* Wipe off the tip of the bottle after each use because the paint has a tendency to dry inside the cap.
* Shake the bottle upside down vigorously.
* If too thin, then paint in coats. Remember, Vallejo dries pretty well, matching the color of the bottle.
* If too thick, use Vallejo Acrylic Thinner. Yes, you can thin with water, but I find the Acrylic Thinner has more substance because you do not want to wash away the color.
* Yes, you can use Vallejos as a wash with water, but I highly recommend using Vallejo Wash because the Wash sticks better than using water.
* Use Windex/window cleaner and water in a cup to wash your brushes. Brush soap also works.
* Use Vallejo Retarder to slow the drying time. Retarder also helps for smoother paint strokes.
* Use Vallejo Glaze and paint for translucency. This is how you do highlights and shadows on figures and maintain the basecoat color underneath.
* Most figure modelers paint in "High contrast" and mix paints to achieve proper depth and looks. For instance, they mix green and blue for shadows, orange and red for flesh, etc. A nice figure looks better with more colors added on, meaning the more Vallejos you buy, the greater chance of painting an interesting figure.

Vallejos are great compared to Tamiya or Testors Acrylics because the eyedropper bottle hardly every dries out. I've had Vallejos for years and they're still good and viscous. Vallejos, the Washes, and most of their products really are worth the investment.

Hope this helps.

I'll echo what Dennis and Dudley said about Tamiya Acrylics, but this is just my experience. I have had really good luck with them out of the bottle and thinned a bit through my Badger 2006, Omni 4000 and SOtar 20/20. I purchased Aks German Late war Colors online from AK and they showed up crusty at the tip, goupy at the bottom way too thin in most of the bottle. They're unusable no matter how hard or long I shake them. I've emailed AK about a replacement set with not a word back . I will say, I do miss painting figures with model master enamels and have considered quitting Vallejo acrylics and going back.

Someone mentioned that VMC doesn't handle well. I've experienced this as well, with paint rubbing off from normal handling. Has anyone ever tried putting a few drops of Future into the mix when painting? Or that hardener that Mission Models offers? May help with the durability issues at the cost of a slightly more satin-y finish...

Damon.

Adding a little Future or other hardener sounds like a worthwhile thing to try. And, it could be a good thing in terms of finish... most vehicle paints are actually not dead flat - many AFV have a very slight "satin" finish to them. So this addition could help that, as well!

Bob

You know, I started out with the OLD Testors THICK, JUNKY Enamels way back in 1961. Talk about "cutting your teeth"!!! Then came PACTRA FLATS, and THEY were a revelation in and of themselves. I could actually start painting my 1/48 aircraft in realistic colors, (albeit by MIXING carefully), AND in FLAT-military style finishes, no less.

I started SERIOUSLY constructing and PROPERLY painting figures in 1972 and 1973 when the BBC's Masterpiece Theatre series of Tolstoy's "WAR and PEACE" was airing on the PBS TV Channel. Interestingly enough, I was also reading the book at the same time. Guess what I wound up using for paints? I went back to TESTORS paints, but this time around they had come out with their OWN line of "Military Flats". AND, right about that time, I had discovered the HISTOREX-line of 54mm plastic Napoleonic figures, horses, Artillery and all kinds of great sundries, for myself. OK, so in order to paint those figures, I had to learn how to MIX all of those wonderful Napoleonic colors with just a few BASIC-BASIC-BASIC TESTORS FLATS primary colors, i.e, White, Black, Blue, "Beret" Green, Red, Yellow, Flesh, Brown, Gray, Olive Drab, (What the..?) Olive Green, Sky Blue, and "Sea Blue", (Actually Navy Blue), and THAT WAS IT, my Friends. Oh, sorry- PACTRA made a nice "Royal Purple" that came in handy for some of the "really FANCY" stuff, and an "Afrika Mustard", that I guess was supposed to be something to be used with those first antediluvian TAMIYA Tanks...

NO fancy thinners, retarders, accelerators, agents, additives, CRAZY GLUES, 87,000 different kinds of airbrushes and compressors or 265,000 different kinds of modeling tools, parts holders, fancy lights or anything else. I had my X-Acto knife, a few different thinners, my TESTORS paints, which even by the 1970s, weren't the most reliable paints in the world, and LO AND BEHOLD, my first set of Artists' Red Sable Brushes and my first set of Artists' Pastel Chalks which I would sand down to a fine powder in order to create those "special effects". MOST of you guys have NO IDEA of how EASY the plastic modeling hobby has become since the 1970s, and when I started back in the late 1950s, we had virtually NOTHING to work with except the CRUDEST JUNK that one could imagine... SOME of the modelers on this site DO remember those old and moldy days of yore. Don't get me wrong- I LOVE a LOT of the new stuff that's available to modelers today.

But c'mon; when I read through the various Forums on this site, and modelers can't figure out what to do with their fancy paints, incompatible thinners, additives, washes, varnishes, sealers and other witchcraft which they're USING WRONGLY to begin with, I have to shake my head in wonderment... MOST of this stuff is a lot of "gimmickry", designed for you to spend your hard-earned do-re-mi, on... The "Patent Medicine Show" has arrived in town...

Let's face it, there are usually as many as 2 or 3 different forums which are created with the samey-same, same, same old "Paints/Thinners/Additives/etc/etc/ad Nausem Questions" PER WEEK, and like a DOPE I post answers, trying to help in solving these VERY SAME problems and questions over and over again. Problems with those silly little plastic paint containers..? REALLY??? JEEZ! A simple, inexpensive solution is at hand, which I mentioned THREE PAGES ago. Get yourselves a few sets of TESTORS Glass Paint-Mixing Bottles with the Metal Screw Tops, and your paint-dispensing and paint life problems will go away... CLEAN YOUR BOTTLES' Tops thoroughly, AND the Threads at the tops of the Bottles AND INSIDE the Screw Tops. Face it- Your paint ISN'T going to last you forever, NO MATTER WHAT you do with it once you've opened your container. There's AIR inside them thar little bottles, and YER PAINT IS GONNA DRY THE HELL OUT!!!

So, back to "Weathering Powders"- That's something that's sold "ready-made" today. I STILL prefer the Artists' Pastels, because they are made in a much broader range of color than "Weathering Powders" are. One can buy a set of 72 different colors packaged in a nice box for about $34.00 on Ebay, with FREE shipping, no less. How much are a set of 6 little jars of "Weathering Powders" going to cost you..?

Maybe SOME of you guys have a fortune laying around the house or in the blindey-fluking bank to spend on gimmicks, but I have no need for that junk and I refuse to spend the money on it. And I'll bet that I spend A FRACTION of my money on my paints and thinners, of what you guys do for yours...

Dennis, if this thread is an indication of the type of answers you give, I have to tell you that hectoring people to abandon acrylics and use enamels is not very helpful.




And that was followed by an even better, simpler, and cost free solution: Take the nozzle off the bottle and mix the paint.

KL

There's a big difference between "hectoring" and "suggesting". I did say that "I'm probably wasting your time" way back in the beginning of this thread, didn't I..?

In case you missed it, "I'm probably wasting your time"...

If I were really "hectoring", you'd know it...