Airbrushing Vallejo and other acrylics

[Guest]

From the get go I decided to forego lacquers and enamels in order to stay on the good side of those who live with me. So, I’ve been using mostly Vallejo water based acrylics which required a learning curve. Acrylics In general dry quickly and inevitably on the tip of the airbrush or inside the nozzle. I find thinning properly and employing proper trigger discipline mitigates this significantly.

Dr. Strangebrush came up with this formula and it’s better than anything else I’ve tried.

Premix:

90% Vallejo Airbrush Thinner
5% Liquitex Flow-Aid
5% Liquitex Slo-Dri Fluid Additive (not their Slo-Dri Medium!)

That mix can be increased to 10% each on the Liquitex to as much as 20% for problematic acrylics. I live in a very dry climate in the winter and have used 80/10/10 with great results. I find the Liquitex works better than the corresponding Vallejo products.

Use this mix to thin your Vallejo Model Air at 70% paint : 30% thinner ratio. For Model Color reverse those numbers. Obviously thinning depends on several factors including the specific color you’re spraying, but it’s a good starting point.

This formula works with most acrylic lines utilizing their proprietary thinners, even including alcohol based acrylics such as Tamiya.

I’ve also learned to stop the paint flow first before stopping the air flow with my double action brush. This trigger discipline ensures the last of the paint will be blown off the needle when releasing the trigger, which mitigates tip dry and clogging.

Interesting article here.

[Ian M]

I give a drop Vallejo drying retardant in of five drops of their thinner when needed. Works well for me.

[adt70hk]

I give a drop Vallejo drying retardant in of five drops of their thinner when needed. Works well for me.

Same here!

[Tim Marlow]

Plus one on that, though I might go to 50% paint to thinner……

[adt70hk]

Plus one on that, though I might go to 50% paint to thinner……

I tend to do 2:1 paint to thinner.......but 50/50 when using primer.

[JR]

I have found that straining the paint from the bottle through a very fine sieve removes any lumps.

The brown mark in the center is the remains of residue , In that note several lumps, these would have no doubt caused a blockage in the AB


I am slowly going over the AK 3 rd generation paints , much easier. Still will use the sieve method .

[Jim R]

There is no set formula for diluting paint. The amount of dilution needed varys a lot. The thickness of paint depends on the colour, how old it is, how much is left in the pot, how long it's been opened etc.
The old idea of thinning to the consistency of whole milk seems a good starting point.
Adding a retarder and a flow enhancer is very helpful and shutting off the paint before the air helps in lessening tip drying.

[Guest]

There is no set formula for diluting paint. The amount of dilution needed varys a lot. The thickness of paint depends on the colour, how old it is, how much is left in the pot, how long it's been opened etc.
The old idea of thinning to the consistency of whole milk seems a good starting point.
Adding a retarder and a flow enhancer is very helpful and shutting off the paint before the air helps in lessening tip drying.

Yes that’s what I said. There’s no set formula but there’s definitely a starting point. For example, Mission Models goes out of their way to warn you not to thin their acrylics up to 50/50. They flat out tell you the paint will be ruined. On the other hand, Vallejo tells us to spray their Model Air right out of the bottle and that definitely doesn’t work for most people, so 30% thinner in a paint designed for airbrushing seems to be a reasonable starting point.

[BarryW]

From the get go I decided to forego lacquers and enamels in order to stay on the good side of those who live with me. So, I’ve been using mostly Vallejo water based acrylics which required a learning curve. Acrylics In general dry quickly and inevitably on the tip of the airbrush or inside the nozzle. I find thinning properly and employing proper trigger discipline mitigates this significantly.

Dr. Strangebrush came up with this formula and it’s better than anything else I’ve tried.

Premix:

90% Vallejo Airbrush Thinner
5% Liquitex Flow-Aid
5% Liquitex Slo-Dri Fluid Additive (not their Slo-Dri Medium!)

That mix can be increased to 10% each on the Liquitex to as much as 20% for problematic acrylics. I live in a very dry climate in the winter and have used 80/10/10 with great results. I find the Liquitex works better than the corresponding Vallejo products.

Use this mix to thin your Vallejo Model Air at 70% paint : 30% thinner ratio. For Model Color reverse those numbers. Obviously thinning depends on several factors including the specific color you’re spraying, but it’s a good starting point.

This formula works with most acrylic lines utilizing their proprietary thinners, even including alcohol based acrylics such as Tamiya.

I’ve also learned to stop the paint flow first before stopping the air flow with my double action brush. This trigger discipline ensures the last of the paint will be blown off the needle when releasing the trigger, which mitigates tip dry and clogging.

Interesting article here.

I used to use Vallejo MA but after trying MRP lacquers swapped over completely to them.

The smell is an issue but the answer to ensure a happy family is to get a good extracting spray booth, not one of the cheap ones, but a more expensive professional grade one. It’s well worth the cost not to have flap around with all that goes with trying to make Vallejo work.

[Guest]

I used to use Vallejo MA but after trying MRP lacquers swapped over completely to them.

The smell is an issue but the answer to ensure a happy family is to get a good extracting spray booth, not one of the cheap ones, but a more expensive professional grade one. It’s well worth the cost not to have flap around with all that goes with trying to make Vallejo work.

I have one that moves more air than most of the consumer booths and I can still smell it in the room after. And I have to turn it down because it sucks dust right into the model. But afterwards the model is still outgassing, the rag I used to clean up the airbrush is outgassing, the filter in the booth is outgassing etc etc. Then there’s the problem of the booth evacuating the heat out of the house in the winter and the A/C in the summer.

I know lacquers spray better. But I’ll make this sacrifice. My models will never look like PLASMO’s. Once I realized this I stopped trying to be a perfectionist.

[Guest]

My models will never look like PLASMO’s. Once I realized this I stopped trying to be a perfectionist.

There is only one person you really have to please in modelling, and that’s yourself. I long ago decided that a good road to unhappiness is to keep comparing your efforts with those of others, especially those who are better at it than you are. And not just in modelling, either.

As for airbrushing Vallejo, or other water-borne acrylics for that matter … my experience with them is rather mixed, to the extent that I’ve pretty much decided to stop using them for whole models, but will use them for camouflage, highlighting, dust effects, etc. that don’t involve large areas. For some reason, they do work fine(ish) for me for that, but I much prefer alcohol-based acrylics for spraying large areas in a single colour (and I also use those for all the other stuff, if I want/need to).

[JR]

I used to use Vallejo MA but after trying MRP lacquers swapped over completely to them.

The smell is an issue but the answer to ensure a happy family is to get a good extracting spray booth, not one of the cheap ones, but a more expensive professional grade one. It’s well worth the cost not to have flap around with all that goes with trying to make Vallejo work.

Fully agree Barry ,
I've loads of Vallejo and it's a night mare . Like you changing to another make.
The 3 rd Gen AK is very much fool proof , some thinners and away you go .
Of course the only other thing I'm doing is put the paint thro a sieve.
I've also bought , but not yet tried AK real colour along with their thinners .

[KarlW]

I added an activated carbon filter to my spray booth exhaust, as I vent back into the room due to not wanting to cut a hole in my tin shed, it's worked very well at getting rid of the solvent smells.

[David Lovell]

Vallejo other and much better brands available

[Guest]

Vallejo other and much better brands available

That’s a matter of opinion. Many people simply don’t know how to apply it.