Global Scale Modeller

Hi all,

Just wondering which paints you use to airbrush. I have some tamiya acrylics and was thinking of trying them with an airbrush, but just curious to see what other brands are out there and which ones are more popular.

I hear vallejo air is very popular but dont know if it has a large colour range.

If you could please reply with,
1. What paints you mainly use to airbrush e.g. Tamiya acrylics, Vallejo Air, vallejo model ... humbrol enamels.. etc
2. What you use as thinner
3. Do the paints u mainly use have a great colour range
4. Any advantages you think the paints you use have over others

I use Vallejo Model Air mainly. I also have a large stash of Tamiya, it sprays well but doesn't brush paint that good. Model Air brush paints quite well, although I have a range of Model Colour for brush painting. Model Air have a good range of colours and I'll use those first over the Tamiya stuff if I have it. Tamiya I thin 50/50 with normal IPA thinners and the Model Air I just use straight out of the bottle. They come in dropper bottles (why other manufacturers don't do this is beyond me) which are great for getting a precise amount into the airbrush cup.

I also have a small range of Mr Hobby which is quite good. I've tried other brands but TBH Model Air does everything I want it to, although I'm sure there are other paints out there that are equally as good.

I spray at 15psi with a H+S Infinity and a .2 needle. It's never too hot or too cold in this part of England; I've noticed other people have some problems with Model Air which may be down to temperature and humidity although I don't really know. I've never had any problems with it other than spraying white, but everyone has problems spraying white with any paint!

Hey there

I've been airbrushing since early last year so I'm not an expert. What I've found so far is:

I always thin with a purpose made thinner. I currently use the Ultimate thinner and its great.

I only use acrylics, enamels are far too much hassle. I like Tamiya, Mr Hobby Colour and Vallejo Model Air for spraying. All are thinned using the Ultimate thinner. As for which has been the best, I would say they all spray really well. Mr Hobby is marginally the best but I really like Vallejo as they come in dropper topped bottles which make then really good for mixing as you can accurately replicate colours. Vallejo is also available in themed sets. I have just bought their 16 bottle RLM set for WW2 German aircraft and its awesome!

One point on the Vallejo Model Air, it needs thinner, not much but it does need a little bit.

Tamiya is dreadful for brush painting, Mr Hobby is not much better. Vallejo is pretty good but I bought an airbrush to avoid brushing whenever possible!

Hope this helps

Avgas wrote:
I spray at 15psi with a H+S Infinity and a .2 needle. It's never too hot or too cold in this part of England; I've noticed other people have some problems with Model Air which may be down to temperature and humidity although I don't really know. I've never had any problems with it other than spraying white, but everyone has problems spraying white with any paint!

I've had exactly the same problem with the model air white. I thought it was me

My prefered paints are the mr hobby color Aqueous acrylics and Tamiya acrylics
I thin both of them with their own thinners or with Ultimate thinner
Depends on wich one is with in my reach at that moment
In some cases i use Vallejo modelair or thinned down modelcolor
But that is only when i don't have that color from other brands
I use vallejo thinner or Ultimate thinner and a drop of Flow improver with those

Most of the (younger?) guys use acrylics. I'm old school & am plodding along quite happily with my Humbrol enamels, thinned 50/50. I do like the depth of colour with enamels.

I use Tamiya acrylics and thin them down to a 1:1 ratio with Tamiya X20A thinner. Tamiya has a great lineup of colors to choose from and they are affordable. Vallejo Air is a good brand too but they are a bit more expensive than Tamiya.

I exclusively use Vallejo model air (except for primer, I use Alclad primer most of the time) thinned with their thinner.
It was already said that their color range is quite large (120-130 colors). Plus there is also game air, which roughly adds yet another 60 colors targeted mainly at fantasy projects (miniatures etc.).

Mr hobby acrylics my go to paint

Tamiya for acrylic, Mr Color lacquers as well. Mr Hobby aqueous are hard to come by for me unless I order from HK or something, and that can get pricey.

The Mr Color Leveling Thinner (you might see it abbreviated as "SLT" around here) with the lacquer is pretty fantastic, but it's smelly. Of course, you use a mask through, yeah?

I like to experiment with paints, so I have a lot of not well-known brands like Agama, Pactra, Hataka, Arcus, Mr.Paint (pre-thinned enamels from Slovakia) and most of them are good paints, really. But my preferred acrylic trio is Gunze Hobby Color, Tamiya and Vallejo (both Air and Model Color series).

For brush painting, I use only Vallejo paints with its "Thinner Medium" thinner. For airbrushing I do the following:

• Vallejo - Vallejo Airbrush Thinner + Vallejo Flow Improver or Vallejo Retarder;
• Gunze - 110 Hobby Color Thinner (+ sometimes Tamiya Paint Retarder - it actually works and it may be needed when you are painting things like german mottle camo for example);
• Tamiya - Tamiya X-20A Thinner + Tamiya Paint Retarder (I always use it).

The mixture should be close to the consistency of milk. I spray at ~20psi, airbrush with a 0.2 needle.

PrivateMansoor wrote:1. What paints you mainly use to airbrush e.g. Tamiya acrylics, Vallejo Air, vallejo model ... humbrol enamels.. etc

Ammo Mig, AK & Vallejo

PrivateMansoor wrote:2. What you use as thinner

Ammo Mig thinner & water

PrivateMansoor wrote:3. Do the paints u mainly use have a great colour range

Yes

PrivateMansoor wrote:4. Any advantages you think the paints you use have over others

Easy to use, plentiful so easy to get.

Avgas wrote:I use Vallejo Model Air mainly. I also have a large stash of Tamiya, it sprays well but doesn't brush paint that good. Model Air brush paints quite well, although I have a range of Model Colour for brush painting

Thanks avgas very detailed explanation, really helped

Stokesy44 wrote: I only use acrylics, enamels are far too much hassle. I like Tamiya, Mr Hobby Colour and Vallejo Model Air for spraying. All are thinned using the Ultimate thinner. As for which has been the best, I would say they all spray really well. Mr Hobby is marginally the best but I really like Vallejo as they come in dropper topped bottles which make then really good for mixing as you can accurately replicate colours. Vallejo is also available in themed sets. I have just bought their 16 bottle RLM set for WW2 German aircraft and its awesome!

MarkVerploeg wrote:My prefered paints are the mr hobby color Aqueous acrylics and Tamiya acrylics
I thin both of them with their own thinners or with Ultimate thinner
Depends on wich one is with in my reach at that moment
In some cases i use Vallejo modelair or thinned down modelcolor
But that is only when i don't have that color from other brands
I use vallejo thinner or Ultimate thinner and a drop of Flow improver with those

Cymru wrote:Most of the (younger?) guys use acrylics. I'm old school & am plodding along quite happily with my Humbrol enamels, thinned 50/50. I do like the depth of colour with enamels.

AridTalons wrote:I use Tamiya acrylics and thin them down to a 1:1 ratio with Tamiya X20A thinner. Tamiya has a great lineup of colors to choose from and they are affordable. Vallejo Air is a good brand too but they are a bit more expensive than Tamiya.

Astaroth wrote:I exclusively use Vallejo model air (except for primer, I use Alclad primer most of the time) thinned with their thinner.
It was already said that their color range is quite large (120-130 colors). Plus there is also game air, which roughly adds yet another 60 colors targeted mainly at fantasy projects (miniatures etc.).

Nev wrote:Mr hobby acrylics my go to paint

Lysus wrote:Tamiya for acrylic, Mr Color lacquers as well. Mr Hobby aqueous are hard to come by for me unless I order from HK or something, and that can get pricey.

The Mr Color Leveling Thinner (you might see it abbreviated as "SLT" around here) with the lacquer is pretty fantastic, but it's smelly. Of course, you use a mask through, yeah?

StarFar wrote:I like to experiment with paints, so I have a lot of not well-known brands like Agama, Pactra, Hataka, Arcus, Mr.Paint (pre-thinned enamels from Slovakia) and most of them are good paints, really. But my preferred acrylic trio is Gunze Hobby Color, Tamiya and Vallejo (both Air and Model Color series).

For brush painting, I use only Vallejo paints with its "Thinner Medium" thinner. For airbrushing I do the following:

• Vallejo - Vallejo Airbrush Thinner + Vallejo Flow Improver or Vallejo Retarder;
• Gunze - 110 Hobby Color Thinner (+ sometimes Tamiya Paint Retarder - it actually works and it may be needed when you are painting things like german mottle camo for example);
• Tamiya - Tamiya X-20A Thinner + Tamiya Paint Retarder (I always use it).

The mixture should be close to the consistency of milk. I spray at ~20psi, airbrush with a 0.2 needle.

Kevthemodeller wrote:

PrivateMansoor wrote:1. What paints you mainly use to airbrush e.g. Tamiya acrylics, Vallejo Air, vallejo model ... humbrol enamels.. etc

Ammo Mig, AK & Vallejo

PrivateMansoor wrote:2. What you use as thinner

Ammo Mig thinner & water

PrivateMansoor wrote:3. Do the paints u mainly use have a great colour range

Yes

PrivateMansoor wrote:4. Any advantages you think the paints you use have over others

Easy to use, plentiful so easy to get.

thanks all!! I have definitely taken a few things on board, will try out vallejo air and also tamiya acrylics.

1. I use mostly Tamiya acrylics. Second most used is probably Ammo paints then i also have lots of other brands like lifecolor, revell, vallejo etc but Tamiya is by far the mostly used.

2. I use a homebrew (Water, IPA, retarder and flow aid), Ultimate thinner or brand specific thinners, for example Tamiya X20A. I tend just to grab whatever to be honest, everything works but eventually I probably will go with just Ultimate or a homebrew. I still might grab a bottle of X20A though since it can do wonders with some troublesome decals

3. Tamiyas paint range is quite limited.

4. Tamiya is great for airbrushing but the main reason is that the local hobby store always have a good stock of all Tamiya paints.

As I'm really just starting out on modeling I use Revell aqua range, its a thick paint , coup!e of drops of water in the mixing pot normally does the trick to thin it down . I like it as I do a lot of brush work as well as Airbrush, seen revues on the other paints on the market and I'm 50\50 with them , until I get More confident in my abilities sticking go what I know works for me .