Vallejo Model Paint

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Keithmayes

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Unfortunately I used the wrong paint and ended up with a lot of brush marks so I rubbed it down and stated again. This resulted in some patches showing the grey primer, not many though. This time I took advice from the forum and bought some Vallejo white gloss. I was advised to thin it down a little to avoid brush marks. Thin it down!!! The stuff is as thin as water! After putting on a coat it had made no noticeable difference at all, it covered nothing whatsoever. At this rate it will take 20 coats before it covers anything. It comes in a strange plastic tube with a tiny nozzle and has to be squeezed out onto a palette. I have clearly wasted my money on this paint although I haven't tried the black yet. I can't understand why so many recommended it, I think it is worse than useless.
 
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John Rixon

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That doesn't sound right at all, unless it has settled to a hard mass at the bottom, which ought to be obvious on close inspection. Is it model air or model colour?
 

spanner570

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"Worse than useless" a bit strong is that.....


I don't understand.....


1...Which type of paint did you use? Vallejo Model Colour or Model Air?


2...Did you shake the living daylights out of the 'tube'?


I only brush paint and only use Vallejo Model Colour acrylics for my models and they are excellent paints and produce constantly good results.


If you used Model Air then it is too thin for brush work. Brush marks are caused by putting the paint on too thickly in the first place. Brush painting requires more coats thinned down.
 
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John Rixon

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I've just had a look at my bottle of Model Air white, not gloss, but it'll cover well in two brushed coats, so something is clearly amiss with what you have there. Have you poked around the bottom of the bottle with a cocktail stick?
 
K

Keithmayes

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\ said:
That doesn't sound right at all, unless it has settled to a hard mass at the bottom, which ought to be obvious on close inspection. Is it model air or model colour?
It's model colour because I brush paint. I have to say I am puzzled why it is so bad when so many on this forum have recommended it, something is clearly wrong here. It is as though if it came in a tin you didn't stir it and used the thin liquid on top. But this is in a plastic bottle with a nozzle. You can't mix it.
 
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John Rixon

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You can ease the nozzle off quite easily, grip it with a tissue and wobble side to side gently! Then see if you have a load of gunk in the bottom!
 

spanner570

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\ said:
It's model colour because I brush paint. I have to say I am puzzled why it is so bad when so many on this forum have recommended it, something is clearly wrong here. It is as though if it came in a tin you didn't stir it and used the thin liquid on top. But this is in a plastic bottle with a nozzle. You can't mix it.
Yes you can, just keep shaking the thing.......or as John suggests, take the top off!


I have been using this type of paint in the same type of tube for years and never had any problems.....
 

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Model Colour is quite a thick paint. Try dropping a stainless steel nut into the bottle and then shaking the hell out of it. If that does not work then you have a duff bottle.
 
K

Keithmayes

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\ said:
I've just had a look at my bottle of Model Air white, not gloss, but it'll cover well in two brushed coats, so something is clearly amiss with what you have there. Have you poked around the bottom of the bottle with a cocktail stick?
On close inspection I found I could pry off the nozzle and that gave a small neck opening I could get the handle of a small brush into (why can't they put it in a blasted tin?) and I gave it a good stir and mix up. The paint did come out a little thicker but nonetheless still covers very poorly and will take no end of coats to do the job. Don't understand it.
 

BarryW

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First of all these bottles are generally preferred to tins as they are less prone to spillage. They are also easy to dispense in measured amounts. They really do need to be shaken well and as I said a stainless steel nut popped in as an agitator works well. I airbrush mainly using the Model Air rather than use the hairy stick but I do know that a great many hairy stick users swear by these. It can take some adjustment when using a different type of paint and from what I have read several thin coats is far better than a thick one.
 

Alan 45

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Tbh I don't rate model colour for brush painting it never seems to go on in an even coat , I use humbrol and Revell and get a much better look and you can thin them with water


Better still try the citadel colours they go on even better and you can thin them with water
 
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Keithmayes

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\ said:
Tbh I don't rate model colour for brush painting it never seems to go on in an even coat , I use humbrol and Revell and get a much better look and you can thin them with water
Better still try the citadel colours they go on even better and you can thin them with water
I must admit I am confused by all this. So many people recommend Vallejo but the tube I have is just not up to the job, in my opinion. I understand putting on in thin coats is best but I am not prepared to put on anything from six to a dozen coats. Will have a rethink, at least the artist's acrylic I used before covered very well, I will try that again with a little water added to avoid brush marks this time. Will give Vellejo a miss for now.
 
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John Rixon

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I'm feeling your pain Keith, you're not having a lot of luck, at a formative stage in this hobby! I can imagine that this is very disheartening, and feel it a good idea to suggest a strategy to reel in these issues and set you back on the path!


Firstly, I'd buy a can of Halford's White primer, and find some empty, but clean water bottles, or plastic milk cartons. Give the bottles a covering of primer, prior to shaking the life out of it, and checking the distance they suggest on the can for spraying. When it's had 24 hours to properly harden, mark off a few areas with a hard pencil and start your attempts to get an even coat of Model Colour on to the areas. For a smooth surface, you want a softish brush, but not one that is floppy (keep those for oil washes!) I did mention a good one in an earlier post, but will repeat it - Winsor & Newton Cotman 666 13 mm - now practice your technique. Try different approaches and pressure. I find, that for the first coat, try to vary the direction of strokes frequently - this will avoid creating a grain. Also, bear in mind that as soon as the paint starts to dry, which with acrylic, can be a really short time, you must stop. The first coat will look awful, the second one won't look too pretty either (!), but have faith and observe how the paint behaves, and you will soon get the "feel", and in no time, you will have made huge leaps in your surface quality! Better to do this with 1 bottle of £2 paint and some empty milk bottles, than have another soul-destroying disaster with your hard earned models. A delicate touch, and nice low angle for those final strokes will give you a surprising result. As long as each subsequent model gets better, you will be on the path to success and, more importantly, satisfaction!
 

Alan 45

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\ said:
I must admit I am confused by all this. So many people recommend Vallejo but the tube I have is just not up to the job, in my opinion. I understand putting on in thin coats is best but I am not prepared to put on anything from six to a dozen coats. Will have a rethink, at least the artist's acrylic I used before covered very well, I will try that again with a little water added to avoid brush marks this time. Will give Vellejo a miss for now.
I wouldn't bother with the artist acrylic mate , try humbrol or Revell , ive used there's for years and never had any problems , I like you was told Vallejo were very good but I faced the same problems you have so I just went back to what I know.


You must thin them down and I use a syringe you get in kids medicine like calpol to measure how much water I put in usually I put 2.5 ml in humbrol and 5ml in Revell alwasy test it out on old pits of sprue to check for thickness and don't prime your kit wash it in a bit of warm water with washing up liquid in it and rinse it off really well and leave to dry on some kitchen towel


I do this all the time and unless people on here are lying to me I'm doing ok :D
 
J

John Rixon

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This is a fairly good starting point, and there are a fair few vids on this subject. However, nothing beats doing it on a bottle for sorting out a strategy!


People go through all sorts of maker's products, but I recommend once you hit success, stick with what you know, especially in the early days.
 
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John Rixon

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Right, I'm off to Portman Road to watch Town slaughter Brentford (Sorry Patrick!!). I'll regret it, as ever - £60 for two seats (tiny, tiny cramped seats) is taking the mickey.
 
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Laurie

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Firstly Keith Vallejo Model or Model Air is a first class line of paints in the Acrylic range. You can try others which I have and although there may be Lifecolor or Mig which are fractionally better you have to be experienced to find the difference.


So Keith you must be doing something wrong got the wrong paint or the paint bottle you have is duff.


First as others have said take the top off and stir with a stick right to the bottom and stir and stir.


Then try the paint on a surface other than your model to test with out thinning. Then thin until you get the consistency which you find comfortable.


Next. Painting gloss. You have to have a consistent undercoat ie no part primer shining thro or it will see thro the white gloss coat. White is a thin colour the opposite of black so the coverage of white is thin. Gloss white is more than slightly transparent.


So you need a base coat of matt white. Then a coat of gloss can be added. Better still use matt white and then a Vallejo polyurethene acrylic varnish which I think you will get a better finish especially hand brushing.


Next thin your paint not your patience :D :D:D


When you start mixing paints you will find the dropper on the Vallejo pots far better as you can gauge the mix drop for drop. Dropper also stops the paint drying out which tins do not. Also tins tip over dropper bottles do as well but no spillage.


Laurie
 
K

Keithmayes

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John, you are right, I am getting fed up with it. I am at the point where I am ready to throw the whole bloody lot in the bin and take up knitting instead. I will give it a rest for now, too fed up to carry on, I will come back to it after a short break. It doesn't help my oncologist has changed my meds, always upsets my system for a while. Will be bright and breezy again in a day or two, just ignore my moans and groans for now.
 
K

Keithmayes

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Thanks Laurie, I have taken note, will give it a go after a little break.
 

dave

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Keith, it sounds to me like you have a bottle that has spent a long time on the shops shelf. I had one like this and it required a lot of shaking with a nut in the bottle to get it evenly mixed. I haven't used the gloss white but I know one or two other Vallejo colours that do tend to separate quite quickly and always need shaking.
 
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