ARCYLIC PAINT TEST

[Guest Peterpools]

After almost asphyxiating myself from a rare painting session with enamels, I was determined to convert 100% to acrylics. I've been a long time shooter of Tamiya paints, love 'em but the range of colors is limited.I  wasn't going to include the Tamiya paints in the test, as I will continue to use them and know all their pluses and minuses.  I've been testing Model Air, Lifecolor and MIG and so far my results have been very consistent, shot with both my Iwata HP-CS Eclipse (3.5 tip) and H&S Infinity CR Plus (2.0 tip). I normally use a static pressure of 15 PSI and a shooting pressure of approx 12 psi.

Using my work horse test wing, sanded, polished and then primed with Tamiya Fine Gray Primer from the rattle can, all was smooth and ready. The wing test was with the Iwata and I did the flow/clog test with the Infinity Plus on sheet plastic. My non-scientific and personal results:

Model Air:

Shake the bottle well and you are ready to go. No thinning required and shot straight from the squeeze bottle. Went on smooth as silk, no clogging, no fuss, smooth as silk and was a dream to use. Dries absolutely perfectly flat.

Lifecolor:

Two colors tested, both needed to be thoroughly mixed and then each required a different thinning ratio for descent results, using Lifecolor Thinner. Both colors clogged at my normal working air pressure in both air brushes. Both went on smoothly and evenly after the correct thinning ratio was found. Dried to a smooth, flat finish. So far, a bit more work to achieve the result I had with Model Air.

MIG:

Shake the bottle (there is a ball bearing inside to help insure a thorough mix) and same as Model Air; ready to go and no thinning required. Went on smooth as silk, no clogging, no fuss and was also a dream to use. Dries to a flat finish with a bit of luster and I really like that.

After letting each paint dry for about five minutes, I masked on top with de-tacked Tamiya tape and not a speck of paint pulled or lifted from any of the paint samples.

So for my money, my go to paints are going to be: MIG, Model Air and Tamiya. Just my personal test, as the number of paint lines are growing rapidly and working with a few is the best choice for me. Both Model Air and MIG were 100% trouble free, no thinning or mixing require - my kind of paint.

Peter

Edited January 24, 2015 by Peterpools

[Uncarina]

Peter,

 

Thanks for sharing your results! I'm in the same boat with acrylics (except for metallic colors), but haven't used the MIG or Model Air paints. Very encouraging. I'd be curious how Model Master Acryl or Gunze Sangyo paints would compare, since I mainly use these and Tamiya.

 

With no thinning required, I'm also curious about how fast you would go through a bottle of these paints, since they are pre-thinned. On the other hand, no worries about getting the right thinning ratio!

 

Cheers, Tom

Edited January 24, 2015 by Uncarina

[Hardcore]

Recommend u go with paint sold in eyedrop bottles. They don't dry which prevent build up of dried paint particles in the bottle.

[allthumbs]

Thanks Peter.

 

Very helpful, as I've yet to explore any of the tested paints. Do you know how they take to clear overcoats, be they acrylics like Future or mild lacquers like Model Master? Perhaps there are dedicated clears in each of those lines too.

 

Thanks again for sharing.

 

Rich

[Guest Peterpools]

Hi Tom

I've used Model master Acrlyics and had poor results, namely paint lifting from Tamiya de-tacked masking tape. It's the only brand of paint I have had this problem with and it could be me but I have my own way of working and t doesn't seem to mess with MM acrylics. I do know builders who use it and love it. All I can say, is test and find out how it works for you.

I haven't used Gunze Sangyo acrylics and I'm pretty sure they are readily imported into the states. My main purpose of th test is to find a few paint lines that cover the colors I need, work well with my personal procedure and style of painting and I can easily order.

Peter

[Guest Peterpools]

Hardcore

Both the Model Air and MIG come in the squeeze bottle and for me that's huge and I don't have to struggle getting the screw top lid off. I know it's only a lid but at times, it's a royal pain.

Peter

[Guest Peterpools]

Rich

So far I haven't had a single problem with flat or gloss coats. I normally used Testor's Glosscote (bottle and now can) and Dullcote. All lacquers and never a problem. I use to use Future but nver really crazy about it. When I built my Fisher Sea Fury, it was all Future but that's really the last time I used it.

Peter

[ChrisK89]

Im using Vallejo and MIG Acrylics, too... but i couldn't manged to get fine lines sprayed with them. Splattering everywhere

 

Peter, if you could tell me the proper thinning/tip/pressure ratio to get fine german mottling sprayed with Vallejo Model Air im gonna kiss you.

 

 

cheers Chris

[Guest Peterpools]

Chris

I've found the paints are thin enough for most work and I paint at very low air pressures: 15 static pressure and 12 psi working pressure. For very fine lines, I jump right to the Infinity with a 2.0 tip and if I start to get some splattering, I'll add a bit of thinner.

My mix for Tamiya has always been 60 drops Tamiya Yellow cap Thinner to 40 drops paint.

For both Model Air and MIG, I've been straight from the bottle but will do some additional testing this weekend to see how fine of  line I can shoot with out overspray or sputtering.

Peter

[LSP_Kevin]

Nice test Peter! I've experimented with both Lifecolor and Model Air paints recently, but had nowhere near the success that you've had. I spray at around 10-12PSI too, but found Model Air to still be a tad heavy for shooting at that pressure. I've since bought some Vallejo thinner, but haven't really airbrushed using it so far.

 

I had even more trouble with Lifecolor, finding it incredibly temperamental to airbrush, and not very robust once laid down. It did, however, brush-paint very nicely, which was a pleasant surprise.

 

Later today I'll be testing some of the new acrylic colours from AK Interactive, so that should be interesting.

 

Kev

[Guest Peterpools]

Hi Kev

I've had very good results with Model Air and except for the Alcad and a bit of Tamiya Semi Gloss Black, all the other paint work has been Model Air. I do have their thinner and also UMP Thinner but haven"t needed it yet - sometimes I've actually found the paint to be a bit to thin. For coverage, I found the Iwata with the 3.5 tip to work the best and I'm ordering a 4.0 tip and needle for the Infinity, just works better for me.

I'm with you, I can't get Lifecolor to shoot consistently but when it dries, it is super smooth.

MIG paints blew me away, as they shoot just like Model Air and dry super smooth as well but have a slight sheen which I find advantageous - just personal choice and taste I guess.

I'm looking forward to your AK test and review and I'm will to bet, it is very close to MIG.

Peter

[mozart]

Phil Flory has been using the new AK paints on his 1/32nd He III and was very impressed with them.  The major problem it seems is that they only come as sets and not individual bottles.  This could be very difficult/expensive when you're painting a large model with a predominantly uniform colour.

Max 

[Willy_N]

Sorry for hijacking this excellent thread, but I have a side note and perhaps a plea for some hints.

 

Upon my return to modeling, I realized that all enamels were long gone from the racks in my LHS, and thus arcrylics is the only way to go. Having no facilities for airbrushing, I have experimented with brushing on Vallejo Model Colour and Xtracrylics, I have learned that the Xtracrylix I have tried so far have been really very good, with excellent coverage and good consistency. Plus they level out nicely. They do dry very fast though, so a lot of care is needed to avoid accidental brush marks.

 

The darker shades of Vallejo Model Colours have also proved very easy to use. Most of them doesn't require thinning, instead I constantly moisten the brush slightly in tap water while painting, a method I learned through painting watercolour paintings. (Turned out I had no talent at all for that!) This seems to work pretty well, and accidental brush marks can be smoothed out with a clean brush moistened in water if one is quick.

In my experience, it doesn't adhere all that well to the surface though, turning any masking, sanding/polishing or even handling into nerve-wrecking tasks. I tried mixing the paint with floor polish, which seems to help, but not as well as I'd like (my reference is the enamels I used to use though). I read somewhere that Vallejo paints require a primer, so I bought a bottle of their surface primer in the Model Air-series. The paint adheres to the primer allright, but the primer doesn't seem to adhere to plastic. I have tried cleaning surfaces with just about anything that comes to mind, which is how I learned that my Antibac wet-wipes from the pharmacy are absolutely superb for stripping arcrylic paints! I still haven't found a sure-fire way of getting the paints to stick though. Any tips are greatly welcome!

 

My other gripe with Vallejo Model Colour regards their lighter shades. In the bottles I have bought from my LHS, there seems to be at least some oddities when it comes to paint consistency - some are very thin while others are really thick. Thinking this was because I hadn't shaken the bottles sufficiently, I tried storing them upside-down for a while before shaking them well but I found the results to be pretty much the same. Am I doing something wrong, or have some of my paints gone bad?

[EvilCarrot]

Be careful with Vallejo Model Air, the bottles I've used so far had major tip dry problems. I've googled this problem and it appears to be well known. That said, most of the bottles I have were bought 2nd hand and I think some might have exceeded their shelf-life.

I'm still doing some experimenting with them as it'd be a pity to throw them away. My experiences so far: I like to thin them even further to spray them at lower pressures, but there aren't many thinners that seem to work with them, not even their own brand. Using Vallejo Airbrush cleaner as a thinner got me slightly better results.

Afterwards someone recommended Createx Wicked W500 Reducer, I've done one session with it and it seemed to work a lot better, further experimentation will be needed though.

I recently tried UMP's thinner with relatively good results. The bottle of Vallejo I used seemed to have "spoiled" but it went on with relative ease and the tip-dry was "bearable". Didn't adhere to the plastic very well though so for outer surfaces priming is a must.

 

My best spraying experiences so far have been with Gunze Aqueous thinned with Mr Color Levelling thinner, which is a lacquer thinner so best not used indoors unless you have a spark-proof spray booth. It sprays wonderfully though and the paint is pretty durable, even on bare plastic. Dunno whether or not this is due to the paint being good or due to the slight etching effect the lacquer might have on the plastic.

 

@Willy_N: I used to hate the Vallejo primer! I've only used it once so far, when it dried it turned into a rubbery substance that peeled of while trying to sand it and it didn't adhere to the plastic at all! I might give it another go though, a couple of months ago there was a video from Florymodels describing the proper way to use the stuff. I'll see if I can find it for you.

 

Edit: Found it, the part about priming starts at 6:50 and at 09:45 he starts talking about the Vallejo Primer. In case you're interested I also found a video where he compares the Vallejo to a primer from MIG productions, starts at 4:20. Hope they're helpful, enjoy!

Edited January 25, 2015 by EvilCarrot

[Guest Peterpools]

Guys

My whole point of the test was just to see how the three different paints compared as I wanted to stop using enamels and find a few brands of acrylics plus Tamiya that worked well for me. It wasn't a scientific test just a practical test based on how I airbrush and work.

I almost never brush paint except for a few detail parts at the end of a build, so brush painting wasn't part of my test.

For me, Lifecolor didn't pass as I found it a bit too finicky and temperamental. Both Model Air and MIG were trouble free, didn't clog at all and at my low painting air pressures, worked flawlessly with both air brushes; I couldn't ask for more.

Reading Kev's review of the AK line of paints, his findings were what I wouod have expected, since a short time ago, MIG and AK were one of the same but each went there own way. I'll be testing AK paints as well but for me, MIG has all the colors sold in sets and individually plus Model Air has most covered as well; I'm perfectly satisfied with my choices and have access to both liners plus Tamiya.

I have the manufacturers thinner for each paint plus UMP, so I'm covered if needed.  All clean up very easily and there is no offensive odor with any of the paints.

As far as paint lifting goes I have never had a problem and and always follow the same procedure - just a creature of habit. Discussing paint lifting with my brother, it seems to be how the paint is thinned and airbrushed on the the primer or painted surfaces. I always mix by the drop, so my thinner to paint is always consistent. I'm sure there are other reasons paint lifts but so far, no problems (I always have my fingers crossed)

As far as out of date paint goes, it really depends on who you buy your paint and supplies from. Larger companies and venders who turn over product quickly, will most likely have fresh supplies on hand. There have been times when I've gone into some hobby shops, the paint on the racks had so much dust on it, it most likely has been there for ions. I just kept on walking.

Peter

Edited January 25, 2015 by Peterpools