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Vallejo paint is lousy. In more ways than one.


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Gents;

I decided, after other acrylic paints here in the US are becoming scares, to buy some bottles of Vallejo paint. What a mistake. It is the worst acrylic paint I have ever purchased. After many decades of using Modelmaster, PollyScale and PollyS paints which I have always loved, I decided to by this Vallejo junk. I bought three bottles of RLM-82 two bottles of RLM-05 and others. A total of seven bottles. I wish I could return all of them. First of all the worst part of them is that they stay sticky forever. After one week they are still soft and sticky. the RLM-82 are ALL a different color and I do not mean just a little. I mean A DIFFERENT COLOR. I shook these paints for about a half hour than after that did not help I popped the spout off and stired them thoroughly. Still no help every bottle I tested stayed soft and sticky. I read in other threads that they are so thick. Mine are the exact opposite. When you shake mine and than put them down you can see bubbles in the top of the bottles almost immediately. These are the first seven and last seven of these paints I will EVER buy. What expensive garbage they are. They should not be sticky after days to allow to dry, they should be the sane color from bottle to bottle, the bottles should be reasonably full (two of mine were only 3/4 full) Etc. Etc. I just ordered some AK Interactive to give them a try. I did buy Agama (from the Czech republic) and Akan (from Russia) and those are fantastic.

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3 hours ago, Otto said:

Gents;

I decided, after other acrylic paints here in the US are becoming scares, to buy some bottles of Vallejo paint. What a mistake. It is the worst acrylic paint I have ever purchased. After many decades of using Modelmaster, PollyScale and PollyS paints which I have always loved, I decided to by this Vallejo junk. I bought three bottles of RLM-82 two bottles of RLM-05 and others. A total of seven bottles. I wish I could return all of them. First of all the worst part of them is that they stay sticky forever. After one week they are still soft and sticky. the RLM-82 are ALL a different color and I do not mean just a little. I mean A DIFFERENT COLOR. I shook these paints for about a half hour than after that did not help I popped the spout off and stired them thoroughly. Still no help every bottle I tested stayed soft and sticky. I read in other threads that they are so thick. Mine are the exact opposite. When you shake mine and than put them down you can see bubbles in the top of the bottles almost immediately. These are the first seven and last seven of these paints I will EVER buy. What expensive garbage they are. They should not be sticky after days to allow to dry, they should be the sane color from bottle to bottle, the bottles should be reasonably full (two of mine were only 3/4 full) Etc. Etc. I just ordered some AK Interactive to give them a try. I did buy Agama (from the Czech republic) and Akan (from Russia) and those are fantastic.

Buy Mission Models acrylics and don’t look back.  They are excellent and superior to any of those other paints in my experience.  

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I have to say that it sounds like you've had a very atypical experience.  I can't explain what went wrong, but this has not been my experience.  I have not had any issues drying.  They brush paint exceptionally well and airbrush ok.  I do knock them for durability (similar to MM in my opinion, worse than Tamiya) and color accuracy.  I use them for basic colors, but FS whatever is nothing close to the FS whatever chip.

 

With this said, I am not adamantly defending them.  There are many other better options for ease of use, durability, and/or color accuracy.  But in normal routine use, they do the job well and are readily available.  What they do excel at in my experience is brush painting. 

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I just received my AK Interactive and it is perfect. A little watered down but dried fast and hard within about half hour. I have been using the acrylic artists paints from Hobby Lobby and they work very well. Obviously you have to mix your own tints but that is OK by me. 2oz/79c. If you use them strait, you have to clearcoat them. I have started mixing them with acrylic wood varnish and they turn real tough. After that, clear is not required if not desired. I read the instructions on the Mission Models paints and they are not a straight out of the bottle use either. You have to mix a bunch of stuff with them too. If you don't mind mixing your own tints than give the artists paints a try. All the brands they have seam to work equally well. I have painted two models with those recently. https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=124387&start=15

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9 minutes ago, ESzczesniak said:

I have to say that it sounds like you've had a very atypical experience.  I can't explain what went wrong, but this has not been my experience.  I have not had any issues drying.  They brush paint exceptionally well and airbrush ok.  I do knock them for durability (similar to MM in my opinion, worse than Tamiya) and color accuracy.  I use them for basic colors, but FS whatever is nothing close to the FS whatever chip.

 

With this said, I am not adamantly defending them.  There are many other better options for ease of use, durability, and/or color accuracy.  But in normal routine use, they do the job well and are readily available.  What they do excel at in my experience is brush painting. 

I could understand a bottle or two being bad but seven? The first seven I bought? (and the last seven for sure). I just got my First AK Interactive paint bottle and it is very good. I love Agama and Akan also.

Edited by Otto
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I bought them on-line from a shop in California if you are talking about the Valejo the AK came from Florida. The Agama I buy from the Czech republic and the Akan I get from The Ukraine. I am also thinking about trying the Hataka paints from Poland. I hear very good things about them.

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All you do is add thinner and a drop of poly to mission Models. It’s easy in practice and the paint is soooo easy to work with.  Much simpler than mixing and spraying Tamiya as well since Mission Models come in dropper bottles, and they have a BB in the bottles to aid mixing.  

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I have never liked Tamiya paint. The "Polly" is just furniture varnish (acrylic) Which Is what I do with the artists paint. And they are a bit pricey. The Agama I get for just over $1 plus shipping. They are very durable and need nothing but thinner. The Akan are just over $2 plus shipping. Since I get multiples I pay only a little more shipping from Europe than what it costs from California. US shipping has gotten very expensive. I can get stuff shipped for less from Europe. Especially from countries that do not use the Euro. England, Poland, Czech Republic, Ukraine are the top countries I buy from.

Edited by Otto
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Edit!!!!!!!! I did notice that the Mission models paints are 2 oz bottles for the $6. I am just so used to the 0.5oz bottles that I overlooked that. I might have to give them a try. At least for the US FS and ANA colors.

Edited by Otto
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Laugh, but a few dollars (at .50 cents/bottle) of Apple Barrel in primary colors, Golden brand extender and retarder -And I'm gtg.

All in all, I have maybe 50 bucks in paint, including some metallic. I can mix any color I need from that.

Edited by DrGlueblob
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Same here. I spent about $30 at Hobby Lobby on the artists colors and it filled up half a shopping bag. The other funny part is that they are so thick and in 2oz bottles that I will be mixing colors for the rest of my life. and still not run out. LOL

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That's a good man! I get my Apple Barrel at Mall-Wart, and even larger (12oz?) Bottles of blacks and whites for around two bucks ea.

I am rebelling against boutique model costs. Ingenuity keeps more decressionary income in my wallet. Its going on 10 years of airbrushing Apple. So far, so good. I do strain it thru a Devilbiss paint filter, but the same with M.M. enamels too.

 

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Vallejo paints come in multiple flavors, and you need to use the right thinners for each to airbrush them.  Their Model Colors line (70.xxx series) is mostly meant to be brush painted and you use the milky white thinners for them, even for airbrushing.  Their Model Air series (71.xxx series) are meant for airbrushing, and you use the clear airbrush thinner for those (also use their airbrush flow improver).  Using the wrong thinners with the paint will cause problems.  For mixing them in the bottle, I pop the eye dropper cap off and drop in a stainless steel mixing ball, and then put the top back on.  AK interactive sells a jar with hundreds of balls in them for just this occasion.

 

When people mention AK paints, be aware there are two types.  First is the water based acrylics like Vallejo.  Their new “Real Colors” are acrylic lacquers like the Tamiya spray cans, so be prepared for that lacquer smell when using them.

 

I love how the Missions Models paints spray, but recently two problems have come up.  First, some of their colors are off.  Their RLM 81 is way off, being a light green, that doesn’t even match the color chip they have on their website, which is more of a proper brown-violet.  Also, I think their RLM 02 is too green and not gray enough, and their RLM 66 is a little light.  The second issue is I had two bottles of their poly additive go bad, one opened and the other with the little seal over the opening intact.  They were fine for a while, and then they both hardened up into a paste like substance.  Both were about the same age.

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8 hours ago, Otto said:

Gents;

I decided, after other acrylic paints here in the US are becoming scares, to buy some bottles of Vallejo paint. What a mistake. It is the worst acrylic paint I have ever purchased. After many decades of using Modelmaster, PollyScale and PollyS paints which I have always loved, I decided to by this Vallejo junk. I bought three bottles of RLM-82 two bottles of RLM-05 and others. A total of seven bottles. I wish I could return all of them. First of all the worst part of them is that they stay sticky forever. After one week they are still soft and sticky. the RLM-82 are ALL a different color and I do not mean just a little. I mean A DIFFERENT COLOR. I shook these paints for about a half hour than after that did not help I popped the spout off and stired them thoroughly. Still no help every bottle I tested stayed soft and sticky. I read in other threads that they are so thick. Mine are the exact opposite. When you shake mine and than put them down you can see bubbles in the top of the bottles almost immediately. These are the first seven and last seven of these paints I will EVER buy. What expensive garbage they are. They should not be sticky after days to allow to dry, they should be the sane color from bottle to bottle, the bottles should be reasonably full (two of mine were only 3/4 full) Etc. Etc. I just ordered some AK Interactive to give them a try. I did buy Agama (from the Czech republic) and Akan (from Russia) and those are fantastic.

Works great at my house! 

Glt

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3 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

Vallejo paints come in multiple flavors, and you need to use the right thinners for each to airbrush them.  Their Model Colors line (70.xxx series) is mostly meant to be brush painted and you use the milky white thinners for them, even for airbrushing.  Their Model Air series (71.xxx series) are meant for airbrushing, and you use the clear airbrush thinner for those (also use their airbrush flow improver).  Using the wrong thinners with the paint will cause problems.  For mixing them in the bottle, I pop the eye dropper cap off and drop in a stainless steel mixing ball, and then put the top back on.  AK interactive sells a jar with hundreds of balls in them for just this occasion.

 

When people mention AK paints, be aware there are two types.  First is the water based acrylics like Vallejo.  Their new “Real Colors” are acrylic lacquers like the Tamiya spray cans, so be prepared for that lacquer smell when using them.

 

I love how the Missions Models paints spray, but recently two problems have come up.  First, some of their colors are off.  Their RLM 81 is way off, being a light green, that doesn’t even match the color chip they have on their website, which is more of a proper brown-violet.  Also, I think their RLM 02 is too green and not gray enough, and their RLM 66 is a little light.  The second issue is I had two bottles of their poly additive go bad, one opened and the other with the little seal over the opening intact.  They were fine for a while, and then they both hardened up into a paste like substance.  Both were about the same age.

xVJ9c9E.jpg

I am using MM RLM 81, RLM 82, and RAF Sky (RLM 84 substitute) on my Fw190D-9.  The RLM 81 definitely isn’t light green.  I wonder if you got RLM 82 in the bottle instead?

oicih9w.jpg

Edited by Falconxlvi
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Never had any problems brushing or spraying. I will say they are pretty fragile and definitely need care handling and should be clear coated regularly. I also haven't used any colors that are code specific so can't attest to their color accuracy.

 

Is it possible that your order was bad because possibly the store you ordered them from had old stock and/or some extreme conditions when it was shipped caused it to go bad? I understand 7 bad bottles isn't a good thing, but since they all came from one source, it could be the source. Maybe try a different source and give them one more shot? Just saying.

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The ModelMaster RLM 82 Is completely off. It has too much white in it. One of the Vallejo RLM 82 bottles is right on, I just wish it did not dry soft and sticky. I just ordered RLM 82 from MIG. We will see how that is. I also have it from Agama and that is also right on. I just ordered six more bottles from Agama. I only have two left. They are only 10cc. By FAR THE BEST German and otherwise European colors are by Agama. None of their tints are lightened. They are mixed in full density hue. It is up to the modeler how much white they want to add to them.

Edited by Otto
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14 hours ago, Falconxlvi said:

xVJ9c9E.jpg

I am using MM RLM 81, RLM 82, and RAF Sky (RLM 84 substitute) on my Fw190D-9.  The RLM 81 definitely isn’t light green.  I wonder if you got RLM 82 in the bottle instead?

oicih9w.jpg

 

That was my first thought since the two bottles I had were bought long ago, so I recently bought a new bottle direct from Mission Models, and it was the same as the others.  It’s a little darker than their RLM82, more of a medium green, I guess, but not as olive drab as what you show.  Even so, your RLM81 doesn’t look right either.  

 

I do realize that they need quite a bit of mixing, so I shook up the bottle for a long time, even after the mixing ball in the bottle was freely thumping around, so I don’t think my problem is not being properly mixed.

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1 hour ago, Dave Williams said:

 

That was my first thought since the two bottles I had were bought long ago, so I recently bought a new bottle direct from Mission Models, and it was the same as the others.  It’s a little darker than their RLM82, more of a medium green, I guess, but not as olive drab as what you show.  Even so, your RLM81 doesn’t look right either.  

 

I do realize that they need quite a bit of mixing, so I shook up the bottle for a long time, even after the mixing ball in the bottle was freely thumping around, so I don’t think my problem is not being properly mixed.

I have lightened it for a weathered appearance with approximately 10% white in some places.   Good enough for me  🤷‍♂️

 

Aren’t there two interpretations of RLM 81?  One like the drab above and one more of a deep purple brown?  I seem to remember MisterKit offering two types of RLM 81 back in the day- an A and a B.  

 

Anyways, I really like how they spray and will continue to expand into their line as I use up my tamiya and other brands.  

 

Steve

Edited by Falconxlvi
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I will use the Agama paints where I can. Looking at the pictures above, none of them look even close to RLM 82. 82 is actually a very dark green Unfortunately there is no FS comparison I can compare it to. There is no green dark enough on the chart. If I was forced to pick a FS color than it would be 24052 but more green but that dark.

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