Vallejo paints

[rickshaw]

Has anybody any experience of using Vallejo acrylics?

[frank2056]

I've been using Testors Acryl acrylic paints for years, but I've been using the Vallejo paints almost exclusively for the last year. You'll need to experiment a bit to become familiar with the paint's idiosyncrasies but they're really great paints overall.

Advantages:
1- Inexpensive - those little bottles last forever. One bottle of Russian Green was enough for several models (including the large A-Model Il-40). The squeeze bottle really helps with this, since you can really reduce or eliminate paint waste. They have excellent, opaque coverage when airbrushed.
2 - Easy cleanup; water or the Vallejo cleaner will take it right out.
3 - Brushes beautifully. Even the Model-Air (the airbrush version) brushes well. You can thin the regular Vallejo and airbrush it as well (except the paints with cadmium; it'll be listed on the label)
4 - Wide range of colors and easy to find. Their aluminum is by far the best acrylic metallic paint I've seen.
5 - Very good primers. Their polyurethane primers dry quickly and stick well to plastic and resin. They can take a few days to reach maximum hardness, though.

Disadvantages:
1 - The paint can be softer than other acrylics. They take longer to cure to maximum hardness than most acrylics.
2 - The paints can only be thinned with water or the Vallejo thinner (or windshield wiper fluid). Most alcohols will turn the paint into a gooey mess.

Depending on the ambient humidity, I add one or two drops of an acrylic retarder, like Liquitex. This helps reduce the buildup of paint on my airbrush.

[MilitaryAircraft101]

IIRC Italeri Paints are rebottled Vallejos, but don't take my word for it. They are really nice from what I've heard though, either through an airbrush or with the old hairy stick 

[Thorvic]

IIRC Italeri Paints are rebottled Vallejos, but don't take my word for it. They are really nice from what I've heard though, either through an airbrush or with the old hairy stick 

Nope they are Testers ModelMaster paints.

As for the Vallejo, i have had hit and miss results with them, some are great but have found some to be the wrong consistency and no amount on bottle shaking will bring them back to the normal colour they are meant to represent. The other disadvantage is the range, some colours are spot-on especially for the armour but with aircraft paints its nearest match or a bit of mixing to get some of the colour shades required

[MilitaryAircraft101]

Nope they are Testers ModelMaster paints.

Cheers Thorv

[Dork the kit slayer]

Has anybody any experience of using Vallejo acrylics?

I used them straight from the bottle through an old Aztek airbrush. The model and airbrush are long gone.

I liked them but using a "pure" (water based) acrylic on plastic does take some getting used to. The air pressure has to be just right and you need to practice before committing to a model. The colour shades were good for this desert scheme and I also liked  the Luftwaffe colours. 

[Bill TGH]

 :rolleyes:Disadvantages:
1 - The paint can be softer than other acrylics. They take longer to cure to maximum hardness than most acrylics.
2 - The paints can only be thinned with water or the Vallejo thinner (or windshield wiper fluid). Most alcohols will turn the paint into a gooey mess.

I've been teaching air cadets model building for a few years now, using Vallejo exclusively...  Its sensitive to oily surfaces (as are most acrylics) but on clean, un-primed plastic, my cadets have airbrushed a base colour, masked for a 2nd & even a 3rd colour in a 2 hour class (using both Tamiya tape & good old painters green tape), brushed out details, broken off parts, fixed 'em & touched up...

We have been spraying with any combination of paint, thinner, retarder & FUTURE !!! the future reduces the paint far better than water, make a tougher & fast drying finish, yields an SG finish from flat paint & accents a gloss coat of future with in minutes !

A far as clean-up... we painted a white Airbus, purple F-14, green/grey/dk grey hurricane all in a 2 hour class last sunday ! One siphon fed airbrush & a Canadian Tire compressor !

I grew up on Model master, just love Aeromaster, can't get Tamiya any more (shop closed) & now Vallejo is my friend!

[PR19_Kit]

We have been spraying with any combination of paint, thinner, retarder & FUTURE !!! the future reduces the paint far better than water, make a tougher & fast drying finish, yields an SG finish from flat paint & accents a gloss coat of future with in minutes !

Aren't there some potential health issues with spraying Future/Kleer through an airbrush? I recall a thread about exactly that a year or so ago.

[ChrisF]

I use the Vallejo AIR range for my airbrush and love them...

[noxioux]

A little late here, but I'll chime in.  I've started using Vallejo paints, and I'm really liking them.  As already stated, thin with water or their thinner.  Alcohol makes a nasty mess, and I had a guy at a local shop tell me that Tamiya lacquer thinner works great with them.  WRONG!!!!

Although, I have been using the tamiya lacquer thinner with their paints, and I actually like it much better than thinning with water or alchohol.

May be a long-term convert to Vallejo, though.  They really are nice paints.

[Mossie]

Very little experience, in fact I've used just one to weather a real-world Mk.IV Tank in the last few days.  I've found it works excellentley with windscreen wiper fluid.  I brush painted some mud effects with Leather Brown, went on very smoothly & also responds well to veing daubed on heavily for a bit of light texture.

[The Wooksta!]

Won't touch them.  A mate tried them and hated them.  I tried their version of maskol and found it way too thin.

Much happier with Xtracrylix.  Can get the colours I want straight from the jar.

[pyro-manic]

I have some, and love them. I have found them a little "fragile" (much like Tamiya paints), but the "Game Colour" range, designed for wargames miniatures, are much tougher. I did find that Tamiya X-20A thinner reacts badly - turned the paint grainy.

[puddingwrestler]

Vallejo paints have the advantage of using some of the greatest names ever to grace a bottle of paint. Most of the Game Colour range uses blatant rip offs of Citadel Paint names (Squid Pink for Tentacel Pink, Dead Flesh for Rotting Flesh etc.) but then, like a shining beacon of awesome there is... Marron Escrofuloso! Ah, those spanish language names... they make everything sound more romantic!
(exits strumming guitar and singing plaintive love song to Senorita Marron Escrofuloso)

[pyro-manic]

As I understand it, Vallejo actually made Citadel paints for many years, hence the names.