Lets talk about Vallejo

[zlikovac]

Well, i think is time to open discussion about your experience with Vallejo colors. I have lot of Vall colors, model and air and in a past i spent months and months (realy) only in experiments with thinner ratio, different thinners, different pressure and i still can not say i have cure for all my problems.
I think all of you know what i talk about, many of you have same or similar problem. Of course, it not provoke, i just wanna finish all open problems. If you agree with this, please be very precisely, say all parameters, which AB, thinner, ratio, pressure.
I hope we all together solve this problems.
Cheers

[johnt]

Hi Zlik
I've had problems with airbrushing Vallejo paints too. I really like how they don't smell and are easy to clean up so I stuck with them.

When I started with them they spattered a lot from the airbrush, couldn't get a smooth spray. The first thing I did was get a new airbrush as the old one was cheap and nasty. My new airbrush is an Iwata Revolution CR with a big nozzle - 0.5mm. It was better but did not solve the problem.

This is what I usually do to get Vallejos spraying smoothly:

1. They need a fair bit of shaking up to get them mixed properly. I usually shake, then squeeze the bottle, then whack it on the bench a few times then shake some more.

2. The airbrush nozzle can get clogged with dry paint. I use a brush dipped in airbrush cleaner to clean the nozzle regularly, say every minute of use.

3. I find they spray easier and go on better when thinned with a little soapy water. The soapy liquid breaks the surface tension of water, meaning that a finer mist should be possible.
Sorry, I couldn't tell you the exact ratios. I usually just mix the thinner by how the paint looks Not very scientific I know.

I hope that helps.
Cheers
JT

[406 Silverado]

Great topic Zlik, and thanks Iain and JT for the tips. I haven't used Vallejo much in the past. I started using their primers a few months ago and found some to work better than others. The Gray, white and black primers spray the best and also dry to a flat (matte) finish. I have no mixing ratio's either..everything by eye.
I'm interested in learning more from this topic.

[robbo]

I am just starting to change to Vallejo and I love em. Not had a bad experience with them yet

[zlikovac]

Thanks for big response, fellas. Yes, I'm very frustrating about using of Vallejo. I non stop have problems typical for beginners, symptoms like to low pressure, too dense coat and already started to dry, but all of this in same time. This is practically impossible. About details:
I realy love very thinned coat, for Tamiya is 1/5 (one part of paint, 5 thinner), then looks like milk flow. If i use this ratio with Vall, i give effect like i try to spray fish oil, too much very small, chunky, bubbles which tend to flow by surface??? Pressure in this case is about 20-25 psi.
Better results i give when i use dense ratio 1-1.5 1.2 and big pressure, about 30 psi. During the work, i see the grain, but when dry, no.
When you have problems like this, its almost impossible to work with very low pressure and closer distance, for detailed cammo, for example.
I realy have no idea when i wrong. I was try almost everything for thinner: regular Vall staff, Tamiya, medical alcohol, water, water with soap... I have no lucky with Vall retarder, in one moment i started to use Glaze medium, but still not solve problems.
I try on different AB, Iwata HP-C plus and similar, but biggest is 0.35 mm. I was suspect on nozzle, but John already blow my suspect when say about 0.5.
Can you imagine how looks like when work modulation on 1/72 with Vall and problems like this?
Obviously i make some serial errors, but i don't know for him?
Thank you again for sharing your experience, all tips and tricks is welcome.
Cheers

[wouter]

I must admit I had some troubles with Vallejo as well. I started the hobby using Model Air and I must say: their color range is fabulous. But I got some issues with drying on the nozzle etc...Now I use their AB cleaner to thin the paint and I thin it heavily...works for me, though I can't say it sprays as fun as Tamiya paints thinned with their Lacquer Thinner

Cheers

[rm6239]

Hi Z

Vallejo paints seem to have a love/hate response. I got Vallejo paints as my first lot of paints when I became a modeller a couple of years ago and to be truthful the thing that drew me was being able to mix with water and being able to AB both the Model Colour and Air colour, not that I had any notions of getting an AB at the time, it was a just in case type thing. ;D

Brush painting I find I mix the Model colour 1:1 or 2 for a base coat, for shadows and highlights I tend to go 1:4 or even 6 and that's mostly for figures.

For AB I tend to spray around 20-25 PSI for base coats and I don't mix up a lot, maybe 6 -12 drops, I then add thinner (either water or Vallejo's thinner), when this runs out I then clean very throughly, using lots of water, depending on what I'm painting I will then mix up some more. If I'm spraying Model Colour I tend to thin more then if I'm using Model Air, I also use a couple of drops of Medea AB cleaner in each mix.

So far the only problems I've had, have been caused by me not cleaning the AB properly after a painting session and have been mostly caused by using the new Vallejo primers.

I have approached it in this way because Summer here is very hot (27degrees C by 8:00am on some days) so I've been very aware of the problems of the paint drying and adjusted so as not to give it time.

I also tend to do a practice spray on some newspaper every time before I start just to check that things are flowing correctly.

My AB is a cheap double action with .3mm needle. Hope this helps in some way Z.

cheers

Rossco