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Hello!

Since it's been out a while now I was wondering if anyone has an opinion on VGA as a brush paint. The short of it is that I want to know if I can do away with Game Color all in all. I use the airbrush mostly so makes more sense so have the airbrush variant and since the palettes seem identical having both makes no sense if both work for brushwork.

What do you guys think?

I use VGA with a brush. It is good but can obviously sometimes need a couple of coats as it is quite thin. But this makes it very good for blending, and showing any pre-shading you have done with your primers.

Yes, in my experience it has worked great (Model Air as well).

I have the entire game air line and most of the game color (some are duplicated with model color, so I don't bother). My opinion is that it isn't a good brush paint replacement.

First, and most importantly, it is very thin, as thin as you would possibly ever thin it to for a paintbrush. While this has the obvious advantage of never needing to thin it, there are several disadvantages too.

Most obvious, it is runny if you have any more than a tiny bit k your brush. This makes it extremely hard to control in many instances. For example, trying to paint a thin straight line on a soft edge or flat surface, trying to paint details like visors or eyes, or an accurate small dot are out of the question: You get something that is too big and will smudge. You also don't have enough control, for example to accurately paint two layers of nested edge highlights (one wider line and one finer line).

Because it is very runny edge highlights in general can be hard to do, because the lines tend to be less consistent and edges look the best when every line is the same width.

Because it is very thin, there are times when you want to cover, for example, am errant black brushstroke in red or yellow paint and you run into difficulty. Like, it will take you 4 layers to cover the brushstroke.

The Metallics are also quite different from regular Metallics. They look much flatter. Though we harp on clear, flat coats, VGA takes away from the range of possible options b

Also, these paints have almost no grit. Lovely to layer a flat armored panel, but TERRIBLE for dry rushing dirt or terrain, where roughness is desired.

Finally, because it's prethinned, you don't get nearly as much out of each pot.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
One more thing: Because it is very runny, capillary action causes the paint to move up towards the ferule. Unless you are massive vigilant, like a wash, you can't really avoid paint in the ferule with VGA, if you're painting any large amount.

Thank you for the responses!

I am not really planning to go with it as a full on replacement for all my paints. My primary is VMC at present but I still feel the need for some Game Color to compliment and not to have to blend to get the right tone on my 40k dudes.

But with the answers I have gotten sofar I might try is just for basecoats that I run through the airbrush. I find that getting the right consistency for airbrushing with Game Color is a bit bothersome.

 granander wrote:
Thank you for the responses!

I am not really planning to go with it as a full on replacement for all my paints. My primary is VMC at present but I still feel the need for some Game Color to compliment and not to have to blend to get the right tone on my 40k dudes.

But with the answers I have gotten sofar I might try is just for basecoats that I run through the airbrush.

It's wonderful for basecoats through the airbrush. It's not bad for basecoats with a paintbrush either, though the mileage is low, IMO, in terms of the amount of stuff you can paint per bottle.

Oh... One more thing... If you leave a puddle on a wet palette overnight, it will seep over the entire wet palette . Male sure to wipe off excess to avoid this.

I haven't tried Game Air, but Model Air I have, you CAN brush paint with it but I don't think it's a terribly pleasant experience. Sometimes the consistency is correct for what you want to do, sometimes it's too thin and it's hard to thicken it up if you need it thicker.

Also it comes out glossy. It makes sense for airbrush paints to be on the glossy side because typically when you spray paints they come out flatter than when you brush paint them (because they usually have a slight grain to them). But painting them with a hairy brush will result in something glossier than using VMC or GW paints. That can be good or bad depending on what you prefer.

The metallic silver range is awesome from the pot to brush

The colors are very translucent for me. useful for some situations. (especially glazing type effects) damnit do i love that burnt umber)

Edit: i realized, after this post, that you wanted to know about Game Air...
whoops...
i've only used the Model Air metals...

my experience with the VA metals is the exact opposite of Talys...
i find they work just fine with the brush, and don't have any problem with coverage...
they don't seem flat at all to me...
in fact, they seemed almost too bright when i first tried them, and took a little bit of adjusting to get used to...

i used the Gold, and the Aluminium, to try them out when they were new, and getting rave reviews...
in my first blog post on painting with the Gold, i said i hated them, quite emphatically...
once i played around a bit, i got a tone that i liked, and fell in love with the smooth consistency and perfect coverage...

the gold is a little bit green for my taste, but covers amazingly with the brush, and is very bright...
in the end, i found that glazing it with P3 Sanguine Base and P3 Flesh Wash got rid of the green tone, and made a beautiful, strong gold...

the Aluminium worked just fine as a final, very fine highlight on my metalics...
i didn't have any problem with the paint being too runny for edge highlights...
unfortunately, it has almost dried in the bottle, which i have had happen with most of the Vallejo metals that i have purchased:(...

i haven't tried any of the other colors, but i highly recommend the Air Metals for brush painting...

cheers
jah

By the way, when I say flat, what I mean is that when ipaint silver or gold, I usually want a little bit of grit, because it catches a wash. For example, of you basecoat with leadbelcher and wish nuhln oil, it looks really, really believable. drybrush with Necron compound, and you call it a day.

On the other hand if you airbrush (or paintbrush) VGA gunmetal, it looks fantastic, but when you wash it, the wash runs right off of it and doesn't stain the silver unless you do a very thin glaze. The result is that one looks like weathered meal, while the other looks like dirty plastic. I THINK this is because it is much less gritty, but I could be wrong. In any case, give the two a shot and you'll see what I mean.

@AllSeeingSkink -- I agree about the shininess. Even if you thin a gw paint with Vallejo airbrush thinner, it ends up having a satiny sheen that is simply... different... from nonairbrush paint. Even equivalent colors don't look the same (for example, electric blue) when held to the light on an angle.

 Talys wrote:
By the way, when I say flat, what I mean is that when ipaint silver or gold, I usually want a little bit of grit, because it catches a wash. For example, of you basecoat with leadbelcher and wish nuhln oil, it looks really, really believable. drybrush with Necron compound, and you call it a day.

On the other hand if you airbrush (or paintbrush) VGA gunmetal, it looks fantastic, but when you wash it, the wash runs right off of it and doesn't stain the silver unless you do a very thin glaze. The result is that one looks like weathered meal, while the other looks like dirty plastic. I THINK this is because it is much less gritty, but I could be wrong. In any case, give the two a shot and you'll see what I mean.

I have done both and have never experienced what you are describing. I've airbrushed GW, P3, and all manner of Vallejo paints and there has never been a discernible difference to how the paint takes a wash compared to it having been applied with a paint brush.

Ever since I picked up the Game Air range I've bee pretty much using it all the time both in the airbrush and with a brush. Out of the bottle the paint is pretty close to the way that I thin down my paints - which tends to save me a step. The go down nice and smooth with a brush. The only issue I've had with them is that the traditionally transparent colors (yellows, reds) are obviously even more transparent.

Obviously, whether or not you like using them with a brush will be entirely based on how you normally paint. I like working with thinner paints and building up layers. If you like trying to get a full coat down in one go then you won't like them.

Another side benefit... the bottles don't clog as much as the standard paints.

After recently deciding to try out Vallejo I wondered the same thing. In my limited experience I would say its possible to use the airbrush paint in most circumstances but you're not doing yourself any favors. Trying to do line highlights in detailed areas was especially frustrating and ultimately made me decide that I'd have to get both types. The problem being that, like others have mentioned, it can be hard to control being so thing so its hard to get a sharp line and tends to suck into any cracks like a wash. Plus, its much easier to thin paint down than it is to thicken it.