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Picked up a couple of Vallejo paints recently. I'm repainting my Reaver and Warhound so an airbrush will produce a much quicker and cleaner look. I've experimented with the paints so far on scrap pieces and I'm having major trouble getting the consistency right to produce a consistent effect.

I'm either adding too much thinner and I just get a very light mist of thinner with the occasional spray of paint in it, or adding too little and getting nothing at all.

Are there any tips on using such paints in an airbrush, such as paint/thinner ratios, etc?

Thanks

I haven't used the Vallejo paints I just got in a few weeks ago yet. I need to break them out and try them. Been using my Reaper paints I have. Usually for them I mix 2:1 Airbrush Medium to paint. +/- a drop or two if it doesn't look quite right. I don't think you can get an exact ratio for any paint since each bottle will be different from the next. Just have to play around with it.

I did talk with my brother, and he is using some Vallejo model air, and having issues as well. Said his is getting thick as he is painting with his airbrush. Has to add thinner as he is painting, so not sure what is wrong with that. He is starting with 5:1 thinner to paint for his ratio.

What have you been using so far?

What Vallejo are you using ? Game Color, Model Color, Model Air, Game Air ?

Your airbrush must be functioning correctly to produce a consistent result. I would suggest doing a very thorough cleaning of your airbrush as you might have already found the correct consistency but the airbrush is not able to shoot it because it is clogged. Once it is clean, hold the airbrush so their is a dark back-ground behind it and spray just clean water. You should be able to see the stream/cone of the spray pattern. If should be a consistent shape.

The needle/nozzle size is important. I use an Iwata with a .35 mm needle which seems to be about the middle of the size range. It is great for base coating figures or vehicles and is not so heavy handed that it can't add highlights or get in close as well. If you have a brush with a .2 needle, you may find that it is very picky about your paint and pressure. If you have such a fine needle, I might suggest you swap it to a .35 if the brush has this option.

The layer of paint put down by an airbrush is very thin and may not provide adequate coverage in one pass with some colors or if your primer is dark. Spray a layer, move on to the next figure or panel and then come back and hit it again. Because the layers are fine, you don't need to worry about clogging the details. If you are using white, be more patient and let it dry before adding another layer.

I have been using an airbrush for 3 years and I use all the common brands of paint thinned with just water. I thin to the same consistency as the vallejo model air which is the same as milk. My compressor gauge is set at 40psi which drops to about 30 when the trigger is pressed. This is quite high but with practice/experience, you can develop good trigger control.

Post some pictures or describe your set-up and we will try to help more.

 Valkyrie wrote:
I'm either adding too much thinner and I just get a very light mist of thinner with the occasional spray of paint in it, or adding too little and getting nothing at all.

If you're getting a light mist of thinner and intermittent paint, it sounds like you aren't mixing it properly and/or maybe there's something wrong with your airbrush (clogged nozzle or paint passage perhaps?).

I don't really know what ratio I use because I just mix it as I go and don't take note of how many drops of each I use. At a guess I'd say close to 50:50, but really can't say for sure. When I was first learning I found the best thing to do is start VERY thin and work your way up. So several drops of thinner to only 1 drop of paint. This will probably be too thin, but add another drop of paint and see how you go.

When you change the mixture in the paint cup, make sure you mix it good and proper AND spray for a few seconds to clear the old paint out of the nozzle and paint passage.

But I do recommend with an airbrush thinner like Vallejo Airbrush Thinner (some people also recommend others, but Vallejo's is the only one I've tried that plays nicely with Vallejo paints, I'm know there's others I haven't tried).

Lastly, I'd suggest if you're painting something very large (like a Titan) you might be better served with a spray gun rather than an airbrush.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2QPqwDV2ys

I don't have experience painting titans so maybe an airbrush would be fine, but I do notice when painting large scale WW2 aircraft which have large open areas that it's very hard to get a consistent coat of paint over them (not colour wise, but grain wise, some areas will be more grainy while others will be smoother).

The only thing I would suggest is not to use thinners at all.

I use the Vallejo flow aid at a ratio of around 20% (2 drops of flow aid to 10 drops of paint), mix it in well, and use it in a Badger gravity fed double action brush

I have not had any trouble with Vallejo paint including their primers since I started doing this with the exception of trying to spray their Model Air gold. But I suspect that was more an atmospheric/residue issue than the flow aid.