I’m treading on thin ice on this subject since I’m an enamel paint user since day one. My paint brand is the MM enamel FS line which is being dropped by Testors.
Yesterday I spoke to the hobby store clerk who confirmed the discontinued paint rumor as he was told also by Testors. I want to see what options I have when I have to eventually replace my MM colors. I have some Humbrol enamels which is another possibility.
I see that Vallejo Air is availble locally and has a VERY large selection of colors. So for you Vallejo users, can you list the do’s and dont’s of using this product?
How would you rate the air brushing qualities, clogging, tip dry issues, fine line/mottling abitities, best fluid for cleaning the ab, etc.
From past experienece using Acryl and Tamiya, I have more control and get finer lines with enamels. Tamiya sprays way better and smoother that Testors Acryl but unfortunalely some colors have to be custom mixed since they don’t have an FS line.
I airbrush exclusively with Vallejo, due to enamel being difficult to clean and I don’t want to smoke out my wife, which I know she appreciates.
That being said, if you’re going to use Vallejo, I heavily recommend getting the airbrush flow improver, also. I mix about 20 drops of the stuff in with the 50mL Vallejo thinner bottle. Also, with their Model Air line, they say that you can shoot it neat, however, I disagree, and I thin down approximately 3:1 to 4:1 paint to thinner, depending on the color.
I also use their surface primer before I paint.
The main problems that I see is that the paint surface until it fully cures is very very delicate. It says it dries almost immediately, but that doesn’t mean it’s handle-able. I’ve had to strip many models and start over due to me not waiting long enough to reposition or handle the model. In general, I paint, then wait 20-30 minutes before I mess with the model. Furthermore, if you’re not careful, and you’re airbrush is too far away from the model, it is very easy to get that rough, pebbly surface on the model because while it does take a bit to harden to a handleable state, it does dry very quickly and it is very easy to be too far away and have the paint dry before it hits the surface.
That being said, it’s not all bad. Once you get past the nuances of the paint, it lays down very very nicely. Also, they do have a very wide range of colors. And once it does dry, it does create a very hard surface, just not bullet-proof.
MM enamels are are really disappearing? Oh my, talk about the end of an era.
Ernie, I can tell you already have some degree of trepidation in considering a possible switch to acrylics, and that, I think, is a healthy thing.
I tend to agree with most of lasdjn’s comments above, except that I don’t care for or use Vallejo primer anymore.
If you use the relatively new Vallejo airbrush flow improver as mentioned above, you should have little or no dry-tip issues.
A random thought is yes, as mentioned, Model Air takes a while to cure (it has a funny, rubbery feel that may bother you. My tip is ignore it, a clear coat of your choice and it’s gone). And back to the random thought, enamels take a while to cure anyway. The Model Air will certainly be handleable much sooner.
Vallejo have been my primary paint since 2013. If you ever want to discuss this further, we surely can, Ernie.
I started off using 91% isopropyl alcohol but I was getting paint residue in the airvalve of my brush, I coulda just been doing it wrong, but I switched to Iwata’s Airbrush Cleaner, and that has seemed to have been working really well for me.
Hi, Ernie - I tried Model Air, excellent finish when it worked for me, but tip dry led to my giving up on it. I’m going to give it another try, as I read that they have a newer version of their flow improver. When I thinned it I used their thinner, but very little, next try I’ll use a bit more.
Liquitex Flow Aid showed no compatibility problems. As to primer, I use strictly Badger Stynylrez acrylic, best I’ve ever found. Many colors, I use only the gray. For cleaning the airbrush I stick with LT, if you haven’t heard it yet don’t even walk near the Vallejo with alcohol, it will turn into a really ugly glob of goop. Can be cleaned but pack a lunch, you’ll be busy for a while.
As was said, at first it has a weird rubbery feel to it, ignore that and just handle carefully, clear coat makes it no issue. I rate the sprayed finish really good, but the tip dry issue made me shy away from it. Probably just not patient enough on my part, (I’m Irish.) Greg likes it, I think with more famialiarization on my part I can make it work too.
I’ve found that alcohol makes for a very good stripper for Model Air, also, it does an excellent job cleaning my airbrush for when I do a full tear down clean.
Laskdjin - Alcohol may well work for stripping Model Air, I haven’t attempted that, and if cleaning the airbrush immediately after use it may do that also.
But my experience with adding alcohol to the paint for thinning purposes, (before I learned the hard way not to,) led to an unholy, stiff and set up mess. Lacquer thinner or acetone was the only substance I found that would cut it, even then it was a slow process.
The advice stands, alcohol and Model Air are not friendly, best to not try it for mixing purposes before spraying. Other uses, like cleaning the AB immediately after use may be do-able, as you say.
Oh, yeah, in that regard, I totally agree, I wouldn’t dare try to use rubbing alcohol as a thinning agent for Model air. Shoot, I’d use windex first and risk tainting my color.
We need to clarify something mentioned in this thread–Model Master paints are not being discontinued, at least, not the entire brand. The International Military & Figure Enamel series is being discontinued; apparently they’re not selling like they used to.
Thanks for your feedback Patrick. I will give them a try so see how they behave. I was hoping LT would be a good cleaner for these paints and you just confirmed it works fine. I use LT to clean my enamels now and the Tamiya and Acryl acrylics. Funny thing I needed RLM 81 and both the Acryl and enamel went bad.
I’m with Patrick on the Stynylrez. I started using it sometime last year (at his recommendation) and I’m happy as can be. Self-levels, dries fast, sands well, adheres well, non-stinky and easy clean up.
Vallejo does all that except doesn’t sand at all and IMO adheres poorly.
On the Liquitex flow-aid, I’m not sure. Patrick is usually spot on and if he claims Liquitex is ok with Vallejo, maybe I missed something. I did some testing with it back in '14 I think it was, didn’t do much good. The new Vallejo ‘Airbrush Flow Improver’ certainly does.
On clean up for VMA, I usually use any acrylic cleaner I have on hand. (Vallejo, Iwata Medea, Createx, etc). I just obtained a thing of Badger’s airbrush cleaner to try on the Stynylrez. I use Laquer thinner for a deep airbrush clean too.
I’m not too sure about the comments about using alcohol with Vallejo Model Air above in any way, but perhaps I am missing something (as is my nature).
Thanks Greg for your feedback. I have heard about not using alcohol to thin Vallejo as Patrick mentioned. All I can do is try it out to see how it sprays. For primer I like Tamiya’s and Gunze Mr. Surfacer 1000 thined even more with LT.
I like the paint. It,s not perfect and you shoud use vallejo thinners, NOT alcohols ot LT. you can get Creatix airbrush cleaner at hobby lobby for less money and use the 40% discount on the app for more savings. The paint is good when stirred up and then shaken to mix it up fully and has great colors to choose from. Let us know how you do with them.
I’ve been using some of the Vallejo Model Air paints and I’m pretty happy with it. For me I get the best results with a thinner/paint ratio around 1:2 or 1:3. This can change depending on humidity. Also, I live at 6000 ft. above sea level, so depending on where you live I’m sure it might be different.
I’ve also used some of the Tamiya XF and X paints. Those seem pretty good, but my time with them is pretty limited so I really haven’t formed a solid opinion yet.