Hi all,

I just received my first purchase of Vallejo Paints ( The 6 bottle 'German Panzer Colors' set) and a first try is very impressive, especially if compared with Tamiya Acrylics which I have used almost exclusively till now. It's brushing qualities are great, and from what I've read I shouldn't be disapointed when I airbrush it either.

Now however I have a few (very basic ) questions..

Do you thin the paint or can you use it straight from the bottle?
What thinner? Can you use water?

How do you stir it? I shook the bottle vigouresly, but that doesn't work with Tamiya either.

Will it need a base coat or is the adhering quality strong enough to paint straight on plastic/resin? If not which is the best primer?

Will cleaning your airbrush with water be enough, or do I need a cleaner/thinner??

Thanks for your help, and any other tips/hints are much appreciated.

Cheers
Henk

Welcome to the best acrylics going.


For the longest time I didn't thin, but the manufaturer recommends this and it really does work better. Clean tap water works fine. See the article here under "model color" in the drop down menu for more info.



Keep shaking and smack the bottle on the heel of your hand. Keep at it. It really will eventually mix. As you use a color more regularly, you won't have to shake quite as much.



Most colors will adhere well enough to forego a base, but it's better to prime. I airbrush an appropriate color enamel, light gray, tan, etc. Avoid using glossy as the thinned paint doesn't like this and tends to bead up.



I've never airbrushed this so I don't know. You might want to consider the airbrush line if you're going to be using it.



Place a drop or two on a non-pourous palette, such as one of those plastic containers condiments come in when you get take out Chinese food. Add an approximately equal amount of water. The paint will stay usable for quite some time, but you may need to stir it periodically during the session. I have blended colors among Vallejo, Andrea, Model Master Acryl, and PollyScale. I don't have any more Tamiya, except for some of their clear colors, so I can't say, but I'd avoid that given how quickly that dries. As you do highlights and shadows, you'll add more water to the mix.

If you get some brush marks from too thick a layer, a thinned layer should even them out.

Thank you very much Al, just the stuff I needed. If my first impressions are anything to go by, It's going to be bye-bye to Tamiya altogether for me. I better see if I can persuade my local shop to stock it ( I'm doubtfull, he doesn't even stock Humbroll..) otherwise that I'll be my last reason to go there gone..

Thanks Al

Henk

Henk,
Al pretty much covered all of it, so there is nothing much I can add but just a few notes.

First, don't get rid of those Tamiya's yet. That all I use, Vallejo's and Tamiya's.

Next,
You can always pop of the litle nipple and get a toothpick in to stir it up. Plus, it handy to keep some straight pins near. Sometimes paint dries on the tip and just poke the dried paint off with the pin.

And I too just use plain tap water for thinning.

You're quite welcome.
[qute]If my first impressions are anything to go by, It's going to be bye-bye to Tamiya altogether for me. [/quote]
I'm sure this will be the case for your brush work. There is no comparison between these two.


Unfortunately, carrying the full line is quite an investment for a dealer since the range is so extensive. You might get him to carry some of the sets which will turn people on to the quality then the demand might make it worth his while.


Henk [/quote]

I also use Vallejo exclusivly and must admit that I use demineralized water to thin with.

Tap water these days are filled with chemicals and i some areas also contains lots of chalk, so why risk anything to save a few bucks on a bottle of clean water ??

From my experience, I can tell that vallejo paint require a primer, always. You may make an exception if the parts are going to an interior or somewhere where they won't be touched (even accidentally). The manufacturer says that the vallejo acrylics are made to adhere to resin and plastic, but I'm not that convinced. But with a primer and varnish over the acrylic, they withstand handling well.

I found the best thing to stir the Vallejo and Andrea paints is to:
Go to Mc Donalds and get a coffee. Ask them if you could have several stirers. Those lovely teenie boppers will hand ya a hand full of em if you want

You can actually take the top off the bottle by applying pressure in one direction. Have a paper towel handy. The Mc Donalds sticks will go right inside the bottle. Works great.

Two things:
1. Application of paint with a coffee stirrer is not advised.
2. Stirring coffee after stirring paint will definitely improve the flavor of McD's coffee. :-)

(Gives Al a Three Stooges Slap)

"Ahhhh... Ya Knuckle Head"

When your sipping your coffee at McDonald's, check what kind of napkins they have in the dispensers. The ones they have in here in Finland are very good to use while painting. They don't leave lint, making them ideal for applying decals and wiping off paint from model surfaces etc.

Good call Jan, I live in an area where the chalk is actualy surface mined for the local cement factory... We need to change our water kettle about once a year because of the chalk in the water.. .






Paper towel ready.. you speak like a man with experience... :-) :-)


Thanks for all your input guys

Henk

Paper towel ready.. you speak like a man with experience... :-) :-)
[/quote]

Well, the paper towel is just the place that you'd want to lay the cover on, you'll discover that the lid of the paint has a relatively long section that holds it into the bottle, that long section you'll find can be tainted with paint from the previous shaking, and, they'll always be some paint trapped inside the spout itself.

As for water, a neat trick to do is use an ice cube tray with water in it. That way you can use one color per cuby thing reducing how much you'll need to change your water at one sitting. It works much better than a glass or pot because your not blending all the colors together getting that cloudy change of color you talked about.

The paper towels that I use come from Wall-Mart, they're called Shop Towels, they're blue and they don't leave any lint behind either. They also work great for polishing metals and light sanding.

I've been using the regular vallejo's for figures without any problems, but I haven't been able to use the vallejo air paints succefully. I've tried airbrushing them straight out of the bottle, thinned with distilled water, thinned with alcohol (like I do with Tamiya acrylics succefully), but it just doesn't work right. Any suggestions??