Jay, I like Vallejo for the way it lays down, both handbrushing (Model Color) and airbrushing (Model Air) and the range of colors available, as Chris mentioned).
On Chris’ a/b cleaning comment above. I typically use Iwata Medea airbrush cleaner and occasionally lacquer thinner for a thorough cleaning. No problems really.
What I don’t like about Vallejo: dry tip issues, and using it for mottling …well, it just takes too much fiddling.
On masking/lifting: I let it cure a day or two before masking, and make darned sure the tape is de-tacked, haven’t had a problem. Yet, anyway. This is over a base primer of Tamiya or some other good primer. I’ve not been brave enough to try Vallejo primer, Vallejo paint, then mask …yet (but I see that Tate mentions above he is having no problems with same). I do use Vallejo primer on interior surfaces and such all the time because I like the way it lays down.
Oh, and I find the dropper bottles incredibly convenient. ( I realise some folks absolutely hate them, though)
I like the dropper bottles too. They seem to keep things cleaner and I waste less paint. I suppose this is going to come down to not being able to have the best of both worlds and having to pick one. I like the lack of smell of Vallejo (I get migraine headaches and solvents are a quick trigger) but I guess I’m too clumsy to use the stuff. I painted a Spitfire with Tamiya acrylics and nearly the entire plane was covered in frog tape when I was doing the camo… not a single paint lift and I was treating it like enamel. I hear that Tamiya brushes terrible though.
I took some photos of the paint problems before realizing that the wife took the card out of the camera. Doh!
Oh, and I came up with a masking technique for fragile paints that I’ve not seen before. I slipped a couple of socks over the wings and stitched them together with small copper wire so that I could paint the nose and not do further damage. Worked like a charm!
I do use and like Vallejo for brush painting. I even have some bottles of Model Air, but after reading this thread I probably won’t bother trying it. I am something of a paint junkie and have a lot of different stuff. At this point, though, most of it will go unused since I got onto Mr. Color. Sprays great, and I just hit it with the hair dryer and mask immediately. I can’t imagine waiting days to get on with painting. Life is too short, and too many models to build.
i painted VALLEJO on thursday after field stripping both airbrushes. flushed it with windex and and BADGER cleaner and still had to field strip the airbrush again tonight. would alcohol work better than ammonia because this cleaning gunk out is annoying. never had that problem with MMA or TAMIYA.
Wayne, Vallejo + Windex (or ammonia) = a horrible gunky mess that is a total pain to clean.
After doing that, I’d recommend a deep clean with lacquer thinner. Or a ride in an ultrasonic cleaner (if you have one), or both. Been there, done that. What a mess.
I use Iwata Medea airbrush cleaner diluted about 1:2 with distilled water, have no trouble cleaning up Vallejo. Any airbrush cleaner for acrylics should work. I wouldn’t think alcohol plays well with Vallejo, haven’t tried cleaning with it…but I’ve never tried it myself so not sure.
I spend maybe 45-60 secs cleaning after a Vallejo session, if that.
hey GREG thanks. i like the paint. that explains my issue. i don’t have to spend a lot of time cleaning with MMA or TAMIYA or POLYS. i’ll pick some up. i have BADGER and TESTORS and AZTEC cleaners.also have a friend with an ultrasonic. will not put this in my other airbrush so i still have one working.
Tamiya acrylic thinner will break it down rather well. I have to constantly clean the needle during long spray sessions and dipping a q-tip in Tamiya’s thinner takes it right off. But yeah, it almost has a rubbery, latex texture. I’ve made it a habit to push a thiner soaked cloth in the cup and rotate the needle as I pull it out so that that I don’t drag that junk all the way through the brush.
Spots, that sounds about normal. I have less dry tip with longer sessions and relatively high paint flow. Detail painting with lots of on and off flow (mottling, for example) is a different story.
Wayne, glad to help, hope what I said pans out true for you.
I buy Iwata Media cleaner because I know it works with Vallejo, and can buy it in larger size. My last 32 oz bottle lasted me almost a year.
I was in my early stages with Vallejo when I was using Testors Universal Acrylic Airbrush Cleaner, so I can’t recall if it was effective or not. Seems I had a bottle of Vallejo’s own a/b cleaner at one point, can’t recall for sure.
what a concept, i read the instructions on the cleaner and it says use full strength for cleaning but dilute it 50% with water for flushing between colors.
here it is in winter camo. the basecoat is VALLEJO AV panzer yellow airbrushed over an enamel primer. it sat for a week and today i put the silly putty and painted. the silly putty didn’t want to stick and 1/72 is more delicate to handle than 1/35. i airbrushed it with VALLEJO ivory (NOT AV).that took a lot of thinner and 30psi but, other than right rear fender no run problems. lots of passes but i wasn’t concerned if it didn’t cover well. i sat it aside, cleaned the airbrush and then removed the silly putty so it sat for maybe 5 minutes after painting before removing the silly putty.
have some touching up to do and decals before final weathering. may try my hand at a small snow base.
