Vallejo Model Air...The low-down?

[strikeeagle801]

I picked up a set of these from Hobby Lobby today, and I want to give them a try, but I've never used them. Looking for tips and tricks with them. Do they come pre-thinned for airbrushing? If not, what do you thin them with? I've got Tamiya x20 thinner and rubbing alcohol on-hand. A good PSI to spray them at? Any help is appreciated. Thank's guys n gals. 

 

Aaron 

[ESzczesniak]

They are fairly easy to use. They are prethinned, but I find a little bit of thinner helps them atomize better and make a finer spray. I’ve been using their thinner, but the X-20 may work well. I find isopropanol makes them clump. 

 

Overall nice paints. However, I have two criticisms. First, there adhesion is not great. Nothing like Tamiya acrylics. I find that to have any particularly durable finish, priming is a must. Second, their color accuracy is terrible. What they advertise as a certain FS number is usually wildly darker or lighter. I’ve taken to mixing my own paints to capture scale effect and wear/fading much of the time, so not as big an issue. But definitely don’t trust them to be the color as advertised. 

 

They do cover well, have a good range of colors, and even the model air colors brush paint very well. 

[Kurt H.]

I have used model air a few times in a situation where I could not find a particular color in any other brand. I did not spray fine lines, but used it to spray a large area, and it seemed similar to Ammo of Mig  paint. It cleaned up easily with soap and water, and iwata airbrush cleaner.  It can be sprayed out of the bottle, I also used a few drops of Ammo thinner and it worked well. I did not try X-20a or any other alternative thinner.

 

Every compressor/airbrush/hose combination is different but I would start at 25 PSI at your regulator and adjust accordingly in order to get the desired result. 

[CANicoll]

I've been using Vallejo for a couple of years now.  First - I almost always go with the manufacturer's thinners.  Just makes it that much easier.  I usually thin Model Air paints about 10-20% (one or two drops of thinner to 10 paint) and then a drop of Vallejo Flow Improver to every 8-10 of paint.  I don't have issues with tip dry when I do this.   Model Master Acryl cleaner works like a charm however.

 

25 psi is too strong, and is not what Vallejo recommends which is 15-20psi.  I use 18psi but for really fine lines have done as low as 12 psi.  Even 20 is a bit high for my taste.  Also depends on your needle - with the standard Iwata HP-CS .35 needle, 18psi, 20% thinner and a drop or two of Flow Retarder works very well. I have an H&S with a .15 needle but I am not very good at the very fine lines just yet.

 

Agreed that when using the Vallejo paints primer is a must, but when you prime (and I use the Vallejo Gloss Black, White and Gray primers) I do not have any issues with paint lifting even after allowing it to dry just over night.  I use Tamiya tape to mask and I detack it by putting it on my hand 1 or 2 times.

 

And agreed on some of the colors - they just don't always match up like you think they will.  Interior Green is actually brown and Green Zinc Chromate closer to Interior Green.  Very strange.  Maybe Model Master just ruined me for life.  I do miss those paints!

 

Good luck!

 

 

 

Edited September 30, 2018 by CANicoll

[86Sabreboy1]

Vallejo works only with Vallejo products, Vallejo Airbrush thinner and Vallejo Airbrush Flow Improver. Vallejo is a vinyl based acrylic and it only works with product formulated specifically for it. As a vinyl based paint it has low adhesion and will lift easily if applied directly to plastic and apply Tamiya Tape or similar to it. It's a requirement that a primer be used. Vallejo's primer works well but a neutral gray Tamiya paint will work well as a primer coat as well. With a primer coat applied Vallejo becomes surprisingly hardy and can be masked over.

To attempt to use other thinners is going to prove futile. Vallejo is not alcohol based so why would you want to use alcohol to thin it??? That doesn't make any sense. Tamiya isn't really an acrylic paint at all. They call it an acrylic only because they can as it's produced in Japan. It's more appropriately an alcohol based cellulose paint. Tamiya's X-20 thinner is primarily alcohol. Quick whiff from your nose will confirm that. Having said that, the term "acrylic" paint is a very generalized term.  Trying to be the mad scientist with Vallejo will only guarantee you one thing, bad results.