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Post by imatanker on Jul 21, 2014 7:05:09 GMT -5
REVIEW / BLOG
VALLEJO WAR GAMES PAINT SETS
In In this review / blog I will be taking a look at, and using two of Vallejo's War Games Paint Series Sets.
1. Set # 70.156. Infantry Basic Paint Set
2. Set# 70.155 German Armor Paint Set
About the company.
Vallejo has been around for a long time and was registered in the U.S. in 1965. Their paints are available World Wide. They offer a wide range of products including but not limited to acrylic paint for models. To see what is available in their extensive line of model paint products, you can use this link www.acrylicosvallejo.com/model-paints
First up, We have set # 70.156 the Infantry Basic Paint Set. This set comes in a nice glossy cardboard container with 8 of Vallejo's standard 17 ml. bottles and will run you about 17-18 dollars U.S.
What comes in the box.
You may have noticed the word "Basic" in the set title. That is just what it is. Vallejo has come up with a set of common infantry colors that can then be supplemented with Country specific sub sets shown on the back of the box. The sub sets come with 6 colors at a cost of about 14 -15 dollars.
Depending how fussy you are, you may or may not want to add these sub sets to your paint stash. By mixing some of the colors together from the basic set, I was able to get all of the colors I needed to paint a WWII German Soldier. Hey it may not be totally correct but you use what you got right?
The test subjects for this came from the Plastic Soldier Company's German SdKfz 251/D Halftrack Variants kit in 1/72 scale. This is a great little kit with a lot of stuff in it. If you're interested you can find a review here. trmreviewconnect.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/plastic-soldier-company-german-sdkfz-251d-halftrack-variants/ Yes, I know it was written by Me. 
O.K. Let's do some figure painting.
Here are the two victims.
Washed and ready to go
I primed one and left one in bare plastic to see which surface would be easier to paint. I thinned the paint with regular tap water at a ratio of 2 parts paint to 1 part water and was applied with a 0000 brush.
Here are the results of 2 coats of paint on the primed figure. As you can see the coverage was good and the paint flowed nicely.
Compare that to 4 coats on the unprimed figure and you can see the difference. The paint did not cover nearly as well and did not flow at all.
Needless to say putting this paint over a primed surface works much better. This fellow will be placed back in the box and be addressed at a later time.
So, let's get Franz squared away. I will not bore you with a color by color process but will cut to the finished product.
So there you have it. All the colors are two coats. I know the red and the yellow aren't correct, I was just trying them out to see how they worked.
All and all I was very happy with the way these paints worked and by mixing some of the colors together, I was able to get the colors I needed. Over a primed surface they flowed and covered very well. They did not dry too quickly which can be a problem with some other brands and were easy to use. Clean up of my brush and mixing pallet was a breeze with Windex and water.
If I've left anything out or you have any questions Guys, don't be afraid to ask and I'll try to answer them a well as I can.
Next up when I get a little better weather, will be Vallejo's German Armor Paint Set # 70.155. I'll be trying to spray some of those colors.
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Post by dupes on Jul 21, 2014 9:58:05 GMT -5
Nice. I picked up the Soviet-specific set somewhere, have yet to try them out.
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Post by TRM on Jul 21, 2014 10:12:51 GMT -5
Nice review Jeff!! The Flesh color is really convincing in this scale! I suppose a quick light wash would make things really pop!! If anyone is interested, I have been working on a new review section to streamline things a bit. I am still updating content so please be patient; however, I did take Jeff's great review/blog and add it as a review in the new section: trmreviewconnect.wordpress.com/2014/07/21/vallejo-war-games-paint-series-infantry-basic-paint-set/ Thanks again for taking the time to review this one Jeff!! |
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Post by deafpanzer on Jul 21, 2014 13:05:48 GMT -5
Nice work on those TINY figures... great review Jeffo!
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Post by imatanker on Jul 21, 2014 14:51:01 GMT -5
Thank you Boys, if the weather cooperates I should be able to get the Armor set reviewed this week. I'm gonna try and spray some, we'll see what the future holds.
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Post by TRM on Jul 21, 2014 17:40:11 GMT -5
Looking forward to it!! I love these all-inclusive sets, best way to go sometimes! I am curious how the Armor set turns out!
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Post by Leon on Jul 21, 2014 17:51:48 GMT -5
Jeff none of your pictures are showing up buddy.  |
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Post by imatanker on Jul 21, 2014 19:03:38 GMT -5
Jeff none of your pictures are showing up buddy. Leon, don't know what to tell you friend. They are showing up fine on my iPad  Let me check my laptop. I'll be right back. Alls well there to Bud. Don't know what's up. Maybe a glitch when you were looking at the post? I've had that happen to me from time to time  |
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Post by Leon on Jul 21, 2014 19:37:44 GMT -5
Jeff,all's good buddy  ,pics are showing up now and the figures look great. |
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Post by imatanker on Jul 21, 2014 19:50:57 GMT -5
Thanks Bro. Glad it's working for you. |
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Post by imatanker on Aug 17, 2014 7:12:52 GMT -5
Next up we have Vallejo's War Games Paint Series German Armour Paint Set # 70.155
This set comes in the same type of packaging as the Infantry Basic Paint Set and contains 6 of Vallejo's Model Color 17ml bottles.
On the back side of the box you will find a painting guide suggesting where each color can be used.
You will note that, Gunmetal #70.863 and Beige Brown #70.875 are not included in the set but they are in the Infantry Basic Paint Set # 70.156 reviewed above. This is an excellent example of how the Basic Sets and Subsets can be used together to "cover all the bases" so to speak.
What you get.
1. 70.882 Middlestone 17 ml
1. 304 Track Primer 17ml
1. 70.995 German Grey 17ml
1.70.872 Chocolate Brown 17ml
1. 70.890 Reflective Green 17ml
1. 70.918 Ivory 17ml
The cost on this set, depending on where you shop should anywhere in the 15 to 20 U.S. Dollar range.
The test bed for this review will be a 251/D Halftrack in 1/72 scale out of Plastic Soldier's German SdKfz 251/D Halftrack Variants kit.
This is a simple kit with not very many parts and in about 15 minutes I had the sub-assemblies ready for a couple of light coats of Vallejo's 73601 primer. It was a little too thick out of the bottle to run through my airbrush so I reduced it about 50% with water and it went on very nicely.
After letting the parts dry overnight, it was on to the color.
The plan was to spray the interior, exterior and track assemblies, then brush in the details.
After some trial and error, I found that for airbrushing, a mix ratio of 1 part water to 1 part paint sprayed at 12-15 lbs out of a gravity feed Airbrush worked very well for me. Clean up was a breeze using water and finishing up with Vallejo's Airbrush Cleaner.
The interior got 3-4 coats of Ivory.
The exterior, tracks and wheels received Middlestone.
As you can see, the paint went on very smoothly and evenly. The technique that worked best for Me was to apply 1-2 light mist coats followed by 1-2 fairly wet coats, waiting for each coat to dry before applying the next. It was a bit of a learning curve but now that I have figured it out, I have confidence that I should be able to get good results with all the Model Colors.
After finishing the base color it was time to move on to brushing in the details. All of the colors were reduced to 3 parts paint to 1 part water, with the exception of the Black Grey used to paint the tires. This I reduced 1 to 1 to make it a bit thinner so it would flow into the wheel/tire seam giving a nice clean edge. Three coats did it.
For the tracks and roadwheels, I used Track Primer and Gunmetal for the edges of the wheels. I also dry brushed the tracks a bit with the Gunmetal to see what would happen. It worked well I think.
I won't bore you with a blow by blow description of painting the body. After laying out the lines, I proceeded to brush in the area's with their respective colors, Chocolate Brown # 70.872 and Reflective Green # 70.890 with the dots applied using #70.882 Middlestone
Two coats of each color was all that was needed. At the 3:1 ratio coverage was excellent and made it easy to maintain a nice smooth edge. The paint dried slowly enough to let it lay down, leave very few brush marks and dry to a Matt finish.
Once I figured out these paints, I found them very easy to use and clean up was simple using water and Windex. All in all I was happy with the results I achieved and am planning on using more Vallejo products in the future.
I would like to thank Vallejo for supplying MSC with these two Paint Sets.
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Post by TRM on Aug 17, 2014 7:48:41 GMT -5
That is an excellent review Jeff and a fantastic finish to the piece!! You did a fine job pulling off this scheme in this scale!! Thanks for putting together this review for us!!
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Post by imatanker on Aug 17, 2014 8:06:28 GMT -5
Any time Todd. Thanks Bud. It was a pleasure friend |
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Post by TRM on Aug 17, 2014 8:33:15 GMT -5
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Post by imatanker on Aug 17, 2014 9:44:18 GMT -5
Just checked it out T. Pretty sweet if I do say so myself.  Thanks again. |
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Post by Leon on Aug 17, 2014 20:22:47 GMT -5
Ditto what Todd said Jeff.Great review and great results on the HT. |
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Post by imatanker on Aug 18, 2014 2:53:04 GMT -5
Hey Leon, thanks Bro. Looks like Halfpint Halftracks are everywhere  |
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Let me check my laptop. I'll be right back.
,pics are showing up now and the figures look great. 
Thanks again.