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Vallejo paints


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I bought some Vallejo paint sets earlier in the week for my Us Jets. I tried the Primer yesterday which was good but when I came to clean my airbrush it all went to pot. It went all gloopy kinda like mouldy milk. Wouldn't come out of the brush very well. I think it's something to do with my cleaning fluid. I usually use Revell, Tamiya and Alclad paints so my airbrush gets cleaned with Acetone (cheaper than the proprietary cleaning products like Revell painta cleaner). I think the alcohol reacted with the paint. What can I use otherwise? Don't really like spending a fortune on specific cleaning products if something that's not modelling specific can be used. 

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Not all acrylics are the same. Tamiya acrylics are alcohol based, Vallejo (and most of the other Spanish paints like Ammo of MiG and AK Interactive) are water based. Don't use Tamiya thinner or anything like lacquer thinner with the Spanish acrylics. Use water, their thinner, or try universal thinners like UMP.

 

They have a FAQ online.

 

http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/m/en_US/model-paints/faqs/3

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Guest Peterpools

I've been using Vallejo Model Air paints now for 80% of my work and absolutely couldn't be happier with them. Not all the colors are thinned the same and the thinning also depends on which air brush I am using: HS Infinity CR Plus .2 tip or the Iwata  HP-CS Eclipse with a .35 tip or the Iwata CR Revolution with a .5 tip - makes a big difference.

I normally thin Vallejo paints with their own thinner and ALWAYS clean the air brush with only Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner #71-199. Works like a charm; no mess or fuss. Other cleaners will leave the mess you described

Peter

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I have (almost) the same problem with the AK paints. I dont even try to clean it with alcohol as it makes a bad reaction (mayonnaise !), but just with water, and finally i spray a cup of AK cleaner. But the dry paint on the sides of the cup is not really cleaned. It just gets loose in small particles, and i think cup after cup it clogs the nozzle. I dont have this problem with alcohol based acrylics as the solvent is a REAL solvent, so the dry paint is liquid again when i clean it.

 

I'd be happy to know a TRUE solvent for this Vallejo-like paints. I mean a solvent which can also dissolve dry paint and not only thin wet paint.

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I usually use the Iwata Media Airbrush Cleaner or the new UMP airbrush cleaner after painting with the Spanish acrylics. Also sometimes the AK perfect cleaner or the Ammo Mig equivalent. Never really had a problem getting all of the dried paint out of the cup. Sometimes have to drop some cleaner in the cup and swirl with a brush or wipe with a damp rag to get the last bit off the sides, but it works. Also after spaying the cleaner, I remove the nozzle and use a cleaner soaked brush to get everything off the needle as well as clean out the inside of the nozzle tip.

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Guest Peterpools

Just use the Vallejo Air Brush Cleaner ... works like a charm; never a problem and it's all I use now.

Peter

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Blimey ! I just tried again to work with the AK paint and i really dont know how to use it. A real PITA for me. First i cant get the correct thinning. It either too thick and so it's spiting, or it too thin and it's making drips. And it's always clogging my airbrush. The result it that i press the trigger, nothing come out, until a huge amount of paint come suddenly.

And the airbrush is perfectly clean, i washed it thoroughly yesterday evening, with ultrasonic and so on.

 

And of course, impossible to clean the airbrush correctly, either with AK perfect cleaner or Tamiya airbrush cleaner or acetone or anything else.

 

Seems that i just ruined my paint job with these spanish paints....  :BANGHEAD2:

Edited by Zero77
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Please not that it's not a rant toward AK interactive, but just toward this kind of water based acrylics (AK, Mig, Vallejo, Prince August....).

I love AK products and i'm very satisfied with all there washes, metallic paints and others.

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I swapped the acrylics about 2 years ago and haven't had many problems with the Spanish acrylics. What pressure are you spraying them at? I use 15-20 psi max, except for the thicker primers. Also, I usually only use their thinners, or water, or UMP thinner. Finally, you can try adding a drop of flow improver to the color cup to prevent it from drying up in the nozzle. I'm using an Iwata HP-CS with the standard 0.35 nozzle and once past a small learning curve getting the pressure and thinning ratio correct, they've worked fine.

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Thanks for your advices.

 

My AB is a Harder and Steinbeck Evolution AL with a 0.2mm nozzle (i also have other with 0.15 and 0.4mm nozzles, but i havent tried yet). I spray between 15-20psi, too (more or less 1 bar) and i first used the AK acrylic thinner and then tried my home made thinner, which worked a bit better. There is some some Liquitex fluid medium (flow improver) and some Tamiya paint retarder inside.

 

I know the problem must be me, as many people are very happy with these paints. But i'm really not able to make something clean with it, it seems i cant control the flow as i do with alcohol based acrylics. I can usually make about 1mm width lines with my AB, and with these paints, i'm only able to spray a huge mess. 

I should keep trying, and maybe i can improve my ability to use them. (but for my present build, i think i'll get back to my former paints if i dont want it to be thrown on the wall ! :) )

Edited by Zero77
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