br60066 Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 (edited) Hi All, This post will have several first's in it for me. This is the first time I have completed a Zvezda kit and the first time I've used Vallejo model air paint. I thought this would make it an ideal model to be the first I share on a forum. The kit went together nicely with no major modification or extra parts used. I am however a little less happy with the Vallejo paint. I wanted to try them since they now offer a range of colours that match various flanker schemes nicely. I found however that they were harder to airbrush and get the thinning right. Often, they would feel slightly rubbery after drying. I thinned them very slightly with tap water which may have been the problem but if anyone else has experienced this or has any other tips on using Vallejo model air they would be greatly appreciated. What do you think of the finished model and do you have any tips on how it could be improved? (please excuse any subpar photography) Thanks br60066 Edited July 19, 2019 by br60066 Spelling error 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 Lovely work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 (edited) Your Flanker is excellent! You should not have to thin the Vallejo Air at all, actually. I use mine right from the bottle. I use pressure around 12-14 psi, and my airbrush isn't anything fancy. If you do want to thin them, always thin them with Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner (not Thinner) or use a single drop of Flow Improver. I have to do that with the green tones--they seem to dry very quickly. The rest of the colors are fine. I have not had any 'rubbery' experiences...maybe you are air-brushing too thick? Nice work again! Edited July 19, 2019 by John D.C. Masters 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petetasker Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 Far to new here to offer any tips but that looks a lovely model. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 Great looking Flanker, and welcome to the BM crew! Looking forward to see more of your work. Kind regards, Joachim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdauben Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 A really beautiful model! The construction looks very clean and the paint job appears excellent in the photos. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
br60066 Posted July 19, 2019 Author Share Posted July 19, 2019 Thanks all for your comments 2 hours ago, John D.C. Masters said: Your Flanker is excellent! You should not have to thin the Vallejo Air at all, actually. I use mine right from the bottle. I use pressure around 12-14 psi, and my airbrush isn't anything fancy. If you do want to thin them, always thin them with Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner (not Thinner) or use a single drop of Flow Improver. I have to do that with the green tones--they seem to dry very quickly. The rest of the colors are fine. I have not had any 'rubbery' experiences...maybe you are air-brushing too thick? Nice work again! Interesting. I was running over 20 PSI so I will try lowering the pressure next time. I have a funny feeling it was put on to thick as well so lots of things to try. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 Lovely looking model 👍 I have used model Air but find it clogs more than tamiya acrylic. I have thinned it using water and thinners and found no difference. I started using Mig Ammo paint recently and that sprays really nicely with or without thinning and no clogging/dry tip at all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil5208 Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 I've tried the Valejo air and hated them but the normal Valejo sprayed much better when thinned. Nice result, yet to try Zvezda but on my list to try. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abandoned Project Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 to Britmodeller. Wow! what a beautiful Flanker and what a wonderful way to get started on here. Looking forward to seeing more from you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vultures1 Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 Very nice Flanker. Finish looks great in the photos despite your challenges with the Vallejo paints 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 Looks good, nice Flanker 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 Great looking Flanker! Mike. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
br60066 Posted July 20, 2019 Author Share Posted July 20, 2019 Thanks again guys! 23 hours ago, neil5208 said: I've tried the Valejo air and hated them but the normal Valejo sprayed much better when thinned. Nice result, yet to try Zvezda but on my list to try. Definitely give them a try the fit is fantastic. I hardly had to sand or fill and the detail is great. 23 hours ago, Matt P said: Lovely looking model 👍 I have used model Air but find it clogs more than tamiya acrylic. I have thinned it using water and thinners and found no difference. I started using Mig Ammo paint recently and that sprays really nicely with or without thinning and no clogging/dry tip at all. Interesting to see other people having problems with them. Guess they just take some getting used to. I’m yet to try Mig but might see if I can pick some up to test Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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