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cleaning valejo out of airbrush without it becoming skin ?


Merlin

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Hi,

I am an enamels user, it turns to liquid when wiping out airbrush with thinners, thats VITAL, its self cleaning during airbrushing, oh bliss !!!   and wheh cleaning airbrush out, after being able to spray the cleaner through without skins of paint clogging it up, alclad airbrush cleaner as a final phase sees perfection, a quick blast to clear that out with white spirit and job done.

 

Then I use Valejo, model colour white top, thin it with their thinners, which looks like milk, I see my colour become paler before even starting, if one uses their milk colour varnish paint will go even paler.

One pass and examine needle tip, yup its got paint on it already, 2nd pass and it slows up so I need to pull needle back and flood coat suddenly comes out, no finesse, need this to dry so dont want to mess with retarder as trying to add the correct amount with the small qty of paint I have I could get it wrong.

 

keep cleaning needle with cotton bud dipped in airbrush cleaner after each pass,

 

then the clean up, this stuff with valejo airbrush cleaner turns to a 'skin' bits leave side of cup, dare not put the cleaner in cup and blast through as those bits clog up nozzle.

Need disassemble airbrush, pipette I used to dispense paint to airbrush, thats full of paint, suck up the valejo airbrush cleaner into that, leave stand 1 hr, squish it out, no effect, repeat that for 5 mins pipette starts to clear, eventually its mostly clear, bits of coloured skin now in jar,

 

if that was enamel it would be coloured liquid.

 

folk say Valejo airbrush cleaner best, but who wants bits of coloured paint skin within airbrush or their pipettes ?

 

The paint needs primer, it dries on needle tip, it bungs up airbrush when cleaning, it reacts to enamels cleaners and goes to a sticky pulp, and acrylics are wherever you go at shows, try finding a paint stand with enamels.

 

Try spraying mottle with acrylics though.

 

I just dont get it.

 

Merlin

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Hello Merlin... Each to his own but would like to show you a few planes and tanks. All of them done with acrylics. Either Vallejo, Ammo by Mig, or xtracrylix. I use enamels as well but not many as i don't have a good local source for them. 

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Ammo by Mig ↕️

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Ammo by Mig ⬇️

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Vallejo green and Tamiya white over enamel grey. ⬇️

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Xtracrylix, Vallejo, over Tamiya. ⬇️

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100 % Vallejo ⬇️

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100% Vallejo ⬇️

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The trick does lie in thinning you're correct. However it also lies in pressure, distance from the model, and relative humidity. If its very warm and humid you may have different issues than if its cool and dry ? I never use a flow enhancer, i find just a paint and either thinner or water. I also never prime, the big trick i found to Vallejo is to clear it between coats. Since I've started that i haven't had any issues with the paint lifting off the plastic. I would urge you to keep practicing if you want to. Best wishes in your future modeling. 

 

Dennis

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I haven't been back at the hobby long but I can share your sentiment Merlin, I hear people say all sorts of good things about Vallejo and I also can't believe it.  I have a shelf full of vallejo model and game air which I used to use for brush painting (which is ironic seeing as it's supposed to be made for airbrushing) and people swear by it for airbrushing but I have the same problem you do.  The only acrylic I will use is Tamiya, seeing as it's not a true water based acrylic and actually thins just as well if not better with lacquer thinner. It doesn't help your situation but you aren't going crazy, amongst all the people swearing by acrylics, and vallejo in particular, I'm another in the long list of people swearing at it ..  I'm personally moving to enamels, they thin better, clean up better, go down better MUCH MUCH MUCH better, are idiot proof in the airbrush, on the plus side, Tamiyas LP line of lacquer paints is slowly getting wider, and they aren't the only trick in town when it comes to enamels.  But if they aren't available in your area, then try sticking with Tamiya acrylic, they thin beautifully with lacquer thinner and they also have their own retarder, as well as a thinner with the retarder in it already. 

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Thin the vallejo with the airbrush cleaner NOT the thinner, this has the side effect of retarding the paint.

 

The cleaner I find works as advertised for cleaning as well. I always finish with a quick squirt of liquid reamer to clear any crud out.

 

Julien

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I found the retarder works just fine with their thinner. 

 

The issues I have with Vallejo is that it's very fragile - lifts far too easily with even the least tacky of masks and scratches at the slightest touch; and that their BS colours aren't all BS-specific - they can be from their Italian range, or American line or whatever. Their RAF 'Dark Green' is atrocious! 

 

I bought some on sale from Squadron after all the raving about how good they are, but I certainly very glad I didn't pay full price for them! I'll stick with ModelMaster in future, thank you very much!

Edited by Paul Bradley
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When i started the hobby I purchased quite a few bottles of Vallejo Air.For the life of me I couldn’t get it to spray right did everything.Took everyone’s advice just got so fed up with the stuff.I never looked forward to getting to the paint stage.I now much prefer Lacquer based paints.

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