Hi all. I was wondering if anyone can recommend a good line of piants for doing figures, 1/35 scale. I’ve tried Tamaya paints and just don’t like the way they look.
Thanks.
Keith In SoCal.
Do you prefer enamels or acrylics? If enamels, I recommend Humbrols, if Acrylics, Vallejo are all the rage
Vallejo is probably my favorite too, good stuff! Citadel paint is also designed for figures, good but expensive.
Hi, Keith, I’ll second Vallejo,and Andrea, both lines are formulated for painting figures.
There are also lines put out by wargaming suppliers that would probably work for you as well.
Regarding Tamiya, I’ll offer a tip, if you haven’t already tried this. I use Tamiya acrylics, among other brands. I always noted that Tamiya’s paints did not handle well for hand-brushing. Some colors would dry too quickly and clump on the brush, or dry too quickly while applying, and clump up or lift off the surface.
Then after reading about using them for airbrushing, I read somewhere that they are formulated for airbrush use, and best used when thinned. At that point, I started thinning them with isopropyl alcohol. That improved their use somewhat, but I finally bit the bullet and bought Tamiya’s proprietary thinner. That has made their use as easy and as effective as using Vallejo, for me.
I apply the paint in either of two methods. I use a ceramic palette, but you can use whatever you use. I put some paint in a well on the palette, and add the thinner with an eyedropper. Or, I’ll put the thinner in a well, dip the brush in the paint, and then dip it in the thinner. I use the latter especially when I’m working with one color, because, of course, the thinner gets tinted. Either, I recommend thinning the paint, if you haven’t yet tried it.
Hope that helps!
Ah, Brad, consider what Tamiya has done to you…They sold you paints you have to pay them extra for a useful thinner if you’re going to use then with a brush. They offer you a very limited color palette in bottles that can dry up relatively quickly. And they offered limited directions for practical usage. Now consider the Vallejo line you tried. Their recommended thinner is distilled water, a dollar or two a gallon…literally years’ worth of thinner that can be used for brush OR air brush painting. I’ve done just that for large surfaces on many figures. They have a color selection of 200+ colors in their Model Color and Games lines plus a dedicated airbrushing line. Their containers can keep paint fresh for over ten years. And they provide several online tutorials on using their line.
I’ve had great luck with thinning Vallejo with a mixture of 50 water / 50 Future with a few drops of retarder to slow the drying time. I have a small squeeze bottle I can add a drop or two to the palette and then mix it in with a toothpick.
Tamiya may be the best spraying brand out there, rarely ever try to brush it anymore though.
Thanks for all the reply’s guys. I just ordered some Vallejo as i tend to like acrylics. And as for thinning the vallejo, does just water work? And what does the Future do?
Thanks.
Cool, I think you’ll enjoy the Vallejo. Water by itself is fine. Future is kinda gloss acrylic paint so adding it seems to make the paint handle better, at least for me anyhow. If you already have some you could just try it both ways and see which you like better.
Hi, Al!
Actually, I have more than just Tamiya in my Farbkastl. Testor’s, Model Master, PollyS, Pactra (I guess those are all actually made by Testor today), as well as Mussini-Schminke oils and craft store acrylics. I tend to buy a paint because it’s a close match for a color I need–I don’t mix my own colors too much, and I use them for all subjects, from figures to scale models. I also have both bottle and rattle-can paints.
Hi Keith,
Yeah, I’m coming to this one pretty late, but I’ll sound off anyway.
I use acrylics from Reaper, Vallejo, and Formula P3 from Privateer Press. The Reaper and P3 paints can be used with water without a problem. Vallejo paints can, too, although, if you’re going to use them in an airbrush, make sure to get the Vallejo thinner (some guys suggest Windex, I’m not so keen on that as it’s ammonia-based and may react poorly with the internal workings of your airbrush). Whatever you do, don’t use alcohol to thin Vallejo paints.
Something else you might look into is a wet palette. You should be able to pick one up at an art supply store or online. It extends the life of your acrylics, allowing you to work with them longer, almost like oils. I like mine. It’s very useful for layering colors.
Tim
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Thanks for all the advice. My models themselves are starting to look better, but the figures with them look bad, lol. Hope this well help them look at least decent.
Thanks.
With the notes on Vallejo, thought I’d share the results of a little experiment I did recently. I have my Vallejo paints (a range of model air, model color and game color) and I picked up a couple of bottles of their flat medium and gloss medium. Think of them as Tamiya’s ‘bases’. I mix a touch of thinner with a few drops of either medium (basically, the medium turns the paint flat or glossy, but also makes the paint more transparent as there is a lot of clear with a small amount of paint pigment) with a drop of paint. Thinned enough, the mixture brushes on beautifully for me, and I can build my layers of color slowly. I really like this not only for preshading and post shading aircraft and armour, but also for figure painting.
I’m not sure whether or not this is how the mediums are intended to be used, but it’s worked out well for me.