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Hi,

I have been trying out the Vallejo paints for the first time with an airbrush however both model air and gaming air versions seems to end of having a tacky finish on my models. I have tried directly putting the paint in the airbrush and thinning it down with thinner (about 1:1, or slightly more paint then thinner) and a combination of thinner & flow improver.

The airbrush I use is a 0.4mm nozzle/needle at 20psi and about 2-3 inches away from the model. It seems I am having the same issue with their primers as well. If I leave the models for more then 24 hours some of the tacky feeling goes away but not all.

May I ask what might be causing this? could it be the Vallejo brands of paints itself ? Also would painting over this tacky texture effect the finish of the model in anyway?

Many thanks for the help.

What are you using for thinner ?

And what consistency is it prior to painting ? it should be about the same as low-fat milk

 Grimoir wrote:
What are you using for thinner ?

And what consistency is it prior to painting ? it should be about the same as low-fat milk

I am using the same Vallejo brand thinner and flow improver.

Regarding the consistency of low fat milk I think I got the same consistency. Do you still need to do this even if the Vallejo is the "air" and "game air" type ? I did try the milk consistency as well just to be sure but I seem to still get the tacky texture on the model when dried.

Thanks

Can you post a reasonable close up image of the mini ?

With GW paints I've never seen this except with washes. But then I generally brush on the washes. So my instinct is to suggest that the paint is too thick, and perhaps the underlayer(s) are not quite dry ? If you are adding retarder and get too much in it that can also happen.

 Grimoir wrote:
Can you post a reasonable close up image of the mini ?

With GW paints I've never seen this except with washes. But then I generally brush on the washes. So my instinct is to suggest that the paint is too thick, and perhaps the underlayer(s) are not quite dry ? If you are adding retarder and get too much in it that can also happen.

These are with Vallejo black surface primer that I am getting a tacky finish. The citadel paints leave a nice non-tacky finish actually(this is when I use the can-spray primer from citadel), I hear people have problems with citadel paints more then Vallejo for me its the opposite haha. I have problems with Vallejo and no problems with citadel paints.

I will see if I can get a pic, unfortunately I am a bit busy right now.

Thank you very much for trying to help also

How much flow improver are you using? That’s the only this I can think thats giving you issues. The drying time on Vallejo surface primer is pretty long, so it should be tacky for hours but not after 24 hours.
I’ve never needed to use it when I’ve primed with an airbrush, I only ever use it with paints not made of airbrushing.

I get this sometimes with various paint ranges.

I think the most likely cause is that the paint is layered on too heavily, which is especially easy to do if you're chasing a very saturated colour because thin layers with the airbrush tend to look very desaturated.

I think the acrylic polymer in Vallejo paints (and other brands tbh) has a very low Tg value which means that the solid film is very soft and tacky even at room temperature - this will be especially apparent with thicker layers of paint. You might even notice that if you handle the figure you can get fingerprint impressions in the dry paint.

Posting a picture will help to show how thick the paint is.

When this has happened to me but I'm happy with the result I usually leave it for ~24 hours and varnish.

Templarted wrote:
How much flow improver are you using? That’s the only this I can think thats giving you issues. The drying time on Vallejo surface primer is pretty long, so it should be tacky for hours but not after 24 hours.
I’ve never needed to use it when I’ve primed with an airbrush, I only ever use it with paints not made of airbrushing.

Does flow improver influence whether the primer finishes are tacky or not? I haven't been using any flow improver only thinner(Vallejo). I used 2:1 primer to thinner.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

SaxonMP wrote:
I get this sometimes with various paint ranges.

I think the most likely cause is that the paint is layered on too heavily, which is especially easy to do if you're chasing a very saturated colour because thin layers with the airbrush tend to look very desaturated.

I think the acrylic polymer in Vallejo paints (and other brands tbh) has a very low Tg value which means that the solid film is very soft and tacky even at room temperature - this will be especially apparent with thicker layers of paint. You might even notice that if you handle the figure you can get fingerprint impressions in the dry paint.

Posting a picture will help to show how thick the paint is.

When this has happened to me but I'm happy with the result I usually leave it for ~24 hours and varnish.

I have thinned the primer but on top of that I think the label says it can be used with just the primer. I did a 2:1 paint to thinner ratio then a 50/50 and still it results in the finish being tacky. I did also shake the primer bottle really well for 2-3 minutes.

I picked up the model again and I don't see any finger marks left which is strange. But I can scrape the paint off quick easily with my nails.

Yes without photos it is hard to make a suggestion apologies for that. I will try get a photo if possible. Also does varnish get rid off the tackiness ? not gloss varnish but matt varnish I think.

The vallejo PU primer should spray fine straight out of the bottle, you shouldn't need to thin it at all. Sprays beautifully for me at around 25-30 PSI using a .4 needle