I really want to like Vallejo paints

[Cave_Dweller]

I do like the finish of Vallejo paints, but they have given me a lot of troubles too recently. To the point where I don't want to use them.

1. Tearing off of primered surfaces when I mask. I use automotive primer, which usually works great, but sometimes when I do a mask, the tape will tear the vallejo paint beneath it. Maybe I need longer curing time for the paint? I usually give it 12 hrs or so. 24 hrs? 48 hrs?

2. EXTREME problems with paint drying in the needle. Like, constantly, infuriatingly fast tip drying. I've tried vallejo thinner, purified water, nothing really helps. This paint just dries too fast to work with sometimes. I have to keep a toothbrush handy to constantly clean off the paint that oozes out around the tip of the needle I've found that I can't use the pre-thinned vallejo air without adding additional thinner, or it will clog my brush every single time.

Also, using this paint seems to require a full brush breakdown if I'm using a lot of the paint, say more than 2 cup fulls. I won't be able to reliably switch to another color without cleaning my brush thoroughly.

What airpressure are you running? The Vallejo thinner has some retarder/flow improver in it, but they also make a flow improver for adding to the paint to keep it from drying.

For the Model Air paints, I add a touch of thinner (maybe 1 drop of thinner to 5 drops of paint), not so much to thin it, but the thinner breaks the surface tension of the paint, and helps it flow much better.

12hrs, not enough cure time. 24-48hrs is better.

I don't have an issue switching colors, dump and clean what is left of paint in the cup, and run AB cleaner through until it is mostly running clear. Put in new color and go. Can do a color change in about 30secs usually.

I rarely ever break my airbrush down to fully clean it, unless I am using Vallejo Primer, and you almost have to. End of the day or the week, I might take out the needle and take the nozzle off and run a brush through it soaked in AB Cleaner. Only time I have broken it down more than that was to change the needle seal.

I usually run around 30 PSI +/- 5. Any lower and I get spattering problems. I recently got some vallejo retarder/flow improver and it does seem to help. I'm just frustrated that the paint specifically formulated for airbrushes still requires additives to be usable.

 

[LrdSatyr8]

I just got my first real metal airbrush set with compressor. I've been using the old Testor's airbrush (with variable tips) and box compressor, but really wanted something that would last longer. I keep seeing all these work benches with basically an entire supply of paints on prebuilt shelves and want some of my own. I too have been debating on Tamiya, Vallejo and Aztec paints. The set I got came with 10 bottles of Master Airbrush paints in the primary colors. They appear to be water based and I'll probably play around with them a bit to get the hang of these new brushes before committing to anything more permanent. Am working on building a spray booth out of foam board right now in prep for my Falcon painting. But I really appreciate all the information here... am adding this info to my references for sure!

 

[sunsanvil]

- Sometimes, a bit of dried paint can goes through in you airbrush, that will cause your ab to clog directly, so be careful...

This. So very much this.

Like most of us here I've been using, and helping others use, the entire Vallejo line for about a decade now... and out of that experience I would say that better than 9 in 10 complaints related to airbrushing issues are not the thinning, not the pressure, not the alignment of planets, but rather a simple (but TINY) lump of pigment plugging up the paint tip. I mean, come on folks: this is a vinylic formula paint which we are sucking through an opening about 0.03mm2 (based on a .2mm nozzle....wide open mind you... most of the time the aperture is considerably smaller still). All it takes is the smallest of clumps and you think you have a thinning issue, or a pressure issue, etc. Certain colors in particular (and pigments thereof) will be worse in this regard that others, and the eye drop dispenser, genius as it is, tends to acquire dried bits in and on it which find their way into the airbrush if care is not taken.

Simply stated, you need to make dam sure the contents of that bottle are homogenized, and that eye dropper is spotless, before loading the AB. And if you DO run into a clog, just start over. And I don't mean dump it out, flush it, and load it again...that will just land you in the same situation (as where there is one lump...there is bound to be others). You need to dump, flush.... and sake the living heck out of that bottle....better still get a BB, or even an old airbrush needle, into that paint bottle and really make sure its broken up...and while the eyedropper is off, why not hold it under a running tap of hot water (you'll be amazed at how clean that will get it). Then and only then reload your airbrush and try again.

 

[the Baron]

Honestly, instead of monkeying around with a bunch of other thinner types, go buy a bottle of the stuff that is designed to work with the paint....

That's an excellent piece of general advice. I learned this through trial and error, working with Tamiya acrylics. I started out by indulging my Dutchy senses, trying to save money, and using substitutes for Tamiya's proprietary thinner. Water, isopropyl--neither worked well. Paint clumped, it didn't dry or cure properly, so new coats lifted the previous coats.

I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy a bottle of their thinner, and when I did, I wished I had years before. I finally got the results I saw in the magazines and online, whether airbrushing or applying the paint by hand.

So, if I were to start using another maker's product, I would first try all of the components, and then look for alternatives, if I couldn't get something to work.