Hi all,

I'm just getting back into modelling after a few years and I was wondering if Vallejo paints, which I hadn't heard of until recently, are any good.
I've olny used Humbrol enamels in my model-making and now that i have a baby around my wife has put her foot down (quite rightly) about having smelly thinners around.
So here are my questions:
1. are they good quality paint?
2. are they toxic?
3. how are they thinned?
thanks for any help!

1. are they good quality paint?

Yes they are, I use them almost exclusively.

2. are they toxic?

Mmmh well don't let the baby drink them ok? but they are not toxic to touch.

3. how are they thinned?

I use water, some people use car screen wash and I think Vallejo make their own thinner. They can be mixed with any other acylic such as tamiya or artists quality acrylic paint too.

They don't mix with oils or enamels. You can buy low odour thinners in artist supply shops if you want to continue with the Humbrol enamels. You could also make a case for having a seperate modelling room if space allows

First question they are decent ,to me don't seem to have a lot of bonding strength.

would primer first.

second not toxic but neither is white glue but would not want to eat a bottle of it neither.

Third they have their own thinner which I use this paint dries real fast.

Hard to air brush without cleaning every 5 minutes or so.

Hope somebody chimes in with a better thinner water would be good ,alcohol would dry even faster.

Also hard to get left over paint back in them plastic little bottles

My 2 Cents

I find them to be pretty good, they spray on well and with a primer and varnish coat they seem fairly robust. They don't "bite" into the plastic and I think they take a few days to cure properly and are fragile soon after spraying and come off very easily then. I would avoid thinning with alcohol as this can make them "curdle". They do make their own thinner and unless you are very very skint this is better than alternatives, otherwise use water.

There are two types of paint, Model Colour, which is thick, designed for brush painting, often used for figures and Model Air, which is designed to be airbrushed on and can be used straight from the bottle without thinning. Model Colour can be airbrushed but needs to be thinned 50:50 with the thinner (or water).

I have heard that Tamiya and Vallejo paint use a different Chemical Basis so I would not use Tamiya thinner with them and would be wary mixing the two. I have also noticed that different colours of the paint behave differently, some go on very easily and cover well, others (often brighter or stronger colours), give poor and patchy coverage.

Some people love them and some people loathe them.

They are by far the best (along with the very similar Andrea line) acrylics for our hobby. I have not used the airbrush variety, but use them almost exclussively for my figures. I thin with tap water, but may try distilled water at some point. I wouldn't leave opened bottles around in reach of the young one, there are far worse substances in the house to worry about.

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated

So on this subject.

where do you keep all the paint that you thinned and not used in air Brushing.

the store that sells the paint does not carry Model air type.

My LHS recently started to carry Vallejo and I have since bought somewhere around 60 bottles, like 2 bottles every time I go in there. I have to say they don't smell as good as Tamiya but are AWESOME!! I actually just painted one of the SWAT Team guys at works sniper rifle with them. I'm the 911 dispatcher, and after a base coat of grey Krylon primer and a base coat of Tamiya SAC Brown enamel spray I airbrushed some thinned Vallejo Model Color for the rest of the camo and then 2 cans worth of Testors Dull Coat I must say it held up, even after some 200 rounds, and one of his workouts (run, deploy, shoot, repeat). Can't wait until the annual SWAT Challenge in Sept. to showcase my work and maybe make some extra money painting some other teams guns. Sorry, GREAT paints, I just thin w/ plain old tap H2O.

Z.

Mike, just what exactly did you mean by that!

UM, UH, you know (SNIFF,SNIFF) they just (SNIFF,SNIFF) smell be(SNIFF,SNIFF) tter. That alcoholie (that's a Mikeism) smell.