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I have finally managed to get myself a nice space to spraypaint. As such I will be purchasing an airbrush soon. My better half also likes to paint models but she has no interest in airbrushing which leaves me in a conundrum as to which paint to buy. We wanted to go all in on a paint kit from vallejo but choosing the right one is confusing.

From what I've read, game color is vallejo's equivalent to GW paint colors and model color more military type colors. We have been using GW up to this point as its easier to get a hold of and it would be nice to be able to match the colors with the game color line. Unfortunately game color doesn't come in an "air" variety (that i could find anyway) and what I've read on airbrushing says that properly thinning your paints is one of the more difficult learning curves. As well as being able to identify whats wrong when you haven't thinned properly. Since I'll be a beginner with the airbrush having the paint prethinned (model air) would have been really nice.

So my question is how hard is it really to figure out thinning properly with an airbursh? Would it be better to get the game color for color matching and using with a normal brush? Or would it be better to get the model air to avoid having to learn thinning right out of the gate and just try and match our colors as best we can. Also is model air too thin for normal brushing? Poor coverage or something like that.

It's not hard at all to thin down VGC, so if VMA doesn't make the colour you want but VGC does, don't hesitate to get it from VGC. I have paints from 4 vallejo ranges - VGC, VMC, VMA and VLG and find it's the best way to go to get the colours that you want. I *do* prefer to work with VMA paints where possible though, especially metallics so try to get them if they have the right colour imo.

Model air is not too thin for normal brushing, it has great coverage. It often can be thinned down a little more. As a beginner yeah it would probably help to have pre thinned paints to give you a better starting point since it does take a while for you to get the feel for it.

edit: If your'e going to start airbrushing, you should check some youtube videos on the subject, these ones are a great place to start:
WGConsortium
- Getting Started Using an Airbrush (Airbrushing Intermediate Part 1)
- The Airbrush and Complete Overhaul (Airbrushing Intermediate Part 2)
- Airbrush Color Changes and Cleaning (Airbrushing Intermetiate Part 3)
- A Look At Cheap Airbrushes

Awesomepaintjob / Les Bursley
- Airbrush Rant

So for color matching if we're going to get a kit it would probably be best to get the VGC kit since those are the colors we want. As for learning maybe then I should get just a select few VMA colors that I like/would use a lot to practice with until I learn thinning to use VGC with? Then as I get better I can start picking and choosing from all different lines? Thats the jist I'm getting anyway.

I've been back and forth with VMA and VMC paints. What Yonan said is true. Pick out a decent medium to thin your paints. I recently got some liquitex airbrush medium and it's blowing away the cheap brand i picked up. The thinning agent makes a difference. I don't care for the homemade mediums I've tried to use.

I like the VMA aluminum for both air and hand brushing. It spreads very evenly for both.

Keep in mind that airbrush layers tend to be a bit more fragile than normal paints. Invest is some sort of clearcoat to protect layers when you go in to hand brush. Really really sucks to get a scratch or scrape after you've started detailing. Can use an airbrush or spray can sealer, just depends on your taste.

If you don't have some dropper bottle or pots to mix small batches of paint in, acquire some. This goes back to thinning. Drop your color and a bit of medium into a pot/bottle, stir a bit with a toothpick, and shake. All mixed. Adjust ratio as needed. VMC will take a bit more medium by nature. Humidity, air pressure, airbrush feed/nozzle, and surface texture can affect how your paints apply.

So an actual store bought medium is more or less required? I see a lot of people talking about thinning with water for some stuff. Is this a big no no?

Straight water, no. I've tried a few different variations with various mixtures of water, isopropyl alcohol, ammonia-free window cleaner and glycol. Part of it is retarding the drying of the paint and part of it is surface tension as well as making your paint emulsion thinner. You can get results with this, but I would suggest a store bought medium. It doesn't take much and it's not overly expensive (paid 8 bucks for 8 oz of the liquitex stuff at a local art store). A poor medium can gunk up your brush and lead to excessive cleaning, which is annoying in the middle of a large project, or can cause splatters if the emulsion doesn't hold well.

Here is the receipe I use for thinner.

I use an old alcohol bottle 450 ml for the mixing process.

3/4 of Matte medium
1/4 distilled water
about one and a half cap of flowaid

Shake well and voilà!

The quantity to use when thinning depends on the paint you are using. Grab some white cardboard and experiment.