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So I ended up getting the 72 color Vallejo Model Air color set, and they are pretty sweet.
I am however having some small issues converting from Citadel acrylics to VMA, as the VMA paints are not entirely "water based" and have a bit of thinner in them for airbrush use.
This thinner makes the paints act a bit different to what I'm used to with the Citadel paints, as well as the Vallejo Game Color paints - I find blending quite difficult.

My way of blending is usually by glazing, you know - thinning the paints down and going slow building up transitions. With Citadel and VGC this is pretty straight forward,
but with the VMA colors I find that the coverage is lost really quickly when you thin the paint any further from its already milk-like consistency and it also doesnt lay down and
dry almost immediately as Citadel/VGC. Usually when blending with Citadel/VGC I can do a brush stroke with my glaze and see the trail of the glaze dry just behind the brush,
this just doesnt happen with VMA which throws me off.

Does anyone have any tips for VMA blending or any other hints in general to ease me into these new paints?
Even if the VMA:s are a bit hard to use, I really love the metallics and the vallejo washes especially.

With the VMA I'm almost always using a feathering technique, I find they work pretty well for that. You could also try using a spot of alcohol thinner (Tamiya etc) to see if that helps.

I have had no problem using VMA paints as glazes.

They are still water based, they have about 3% propylene glycol which is the same as Game Color.

Be careful using alcohol with VMA metallics- while its unlikely you would blend metallics- alcohol and some of the VMA metalics combine to form a gummy mess. And while its better ot have that happen on a pallette rather than inside your airbrush- its still a pain in the butt.

For blending them, I've found the thinner texture does make them handle differently. So adding my usualy flow release/water mix often makes it like a heavy body wash.

So I've had to use just a touch of straight blending medium or dyrying retarder when I need to use a VMA color for wet blending. Those offset the thin nature of the VMA paint(since they're both rather thick syrupys type gels), and add translucency so you can work it in layers.

winterdyne wrote:With the VMA I'm almost always using a feathering technique, I find they work pretty well for that. You could also try using a spot of alcohol thinner (Tamiya etc) to see if that helps.

I might have to try feathering, never really done that before. On that note, can anyone recommend a good wide flat brush, I just have these cheapo ones that aren't very good. By wide I mean like 2 or 3mm I guess.

ScootyPuffJunior wrote:I have had no problem using VMA paints as glazes.

They are still water based, they have about 3% propylene glycol which is the same as Game Color.

How do you go about using them as glazes then? Do you blend with glazes as I usually do?

Mistress of minis wrote:Be careful using alcohol with VMA metallics- while its unlikely you would blend metallics- alcohol and some of the VMA metalics combine to form a gummy mess. And while its better ot have that happen on a pallette rather than inside your airbrush- its still a pain in the butt.

For blending them, I've found the thinner texture does make them handle differently. So adding my usualy flow release/water mix often makes it like a heavy body wash.

So I've had to use just a touch of straight blending medium or dyrying retarder when I need to use a VMA color for wet blending. Those offset the thin nature of the VMA paint(since they're both rather thick syrupys type gels), and add translucency so you can work it in layers.

Do you always do wet blending, or do you have any experience with glaze blending as well? I've never done wet blending either as it seems like a hassle... but maybe its worth a try?