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Das Werk 7.5cm Pak 40 in 1/16th scale

That's some serious detailing and research.

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@moon puppy
@Jeeves

Thanks for responding guys! One follow up question, how do the paints respond to decal solvents (Micro Sol etc.) ? Do you clear coat the paint first, and what are you using for a clear coat?

I have been using Vallejo for detailing and such over enamels and have good luck with it. I know that it isn't supposed to bond well to the model though at a demo I saw in person once it seemed to do very well. I never had good luck spraying through my Badger airbrushes, but the H&S airbrushes are a whole new deal. This model isn't going to have any real decals to speak of so I am more willing to experiment with it.

We shall see.
 
I always use a clear gloss before the stickers. Either the Alclad Aqua clear or it's clear base to have a rock solid seal coat. Vallejo needs prep work, like most paints. You gotta have a good primer for it to stick to then the right mix for thinning. A hard formula mix isn't for everyone. I remember back on the old Swannys site, think his name was John Hart @Adam and @Paulw would remember did a tutorial about thinning anything. Basically you wanted milk consistency. Vallejo, I tend to use the retarders and or windex. But since I gave my stock of Vallejo away, I only have some model colors right now, I'm not getting too worked up about it now.
 
I always use a clear gloss before the stickers. Either the Alclad Aqua clear or it's clear base to have a rock solid seal coat. Vallejo needs prep work, like most paints. You gotta have a good primer for it to stick to then the right mix for thinning. A hard formula mix isn't for everyone. I remember back on the old Swannys site, think his name was John Hart @Adam and @Paulw would remember did a tutorial about thinning anything. Basically you wanted milk consistency. Vallejo, I tend to use the retarders and or windex. But since I gave my stock of Vallejo away, I only have some model colors right now, I'm not getting too worked up about it now.
I barely remember him, then again, I barely remember yesterday. I quit using Vallejo because it would not perform like I wanted, and I ruined a good airbrush with Windex because of the ammonia. So, I just keep on with Tamiya and the other acrylic lacquers, Gunze, AK and the like.
 
Thanks. I have been putting off switching from my tried and true Testors paints for years and am now down to where I have no choice. I like pre-mixed colors rather than mixing for each job as it keeps the consistency in place.

I have a fair amount of Vallejo thinners and cleaners. I figured a long time ago that it is almost always best to use the thinners that are made for a paint. Something funny I found is that Lacquer Thinner dissolves Vallejo paints to clean my airbrushes. The problems I had before with spraying Vallejo in my Badger airbrushes was clogging. The Harder & Steenbeck brushes have much larger passages for the paint to flow through. They only get tight at the paint tip. The air tip and paint tip are both easy to remove for cleaning, and the parts are large enough that there are no problems with handling them. The Badger tips were always really small and odd shaped so difficult to handle at best and easy to launch off to Never-Never Land at worst.

Well I have the light fixture in the kitchen redone. The old fluorescent bulbs finally gave out, and rather than replace the bulbs I pulled out all the parts for the fluorescent bulbs (ballasts, end pieces and wiring) and got a couple of 4 foot LED shop lights to put up in the fixture. The two 2400 lumen units were slightly smaller than a single fluorescent bulb in it's end pieces. The two units were about $8 more than 4 fluorescent bulbs and ended up being much brighter and will last longer and be cheaper on power. It was a pain, but needed to be done.

Now to get a bite to eat and start painting. All the mods are done. The shield was a pain, but got it looking flat and found a couple more minor things that needed to be tweaked. Took my Dremel Dog to the tires with a oval carbide bit and some coarse and fine sanding sticks so the tires now look like they have been well chewed on, but not overdone.

I use Windex for cleaning glass and my diamond hones for sharpening tools and that is about it.
 
I do believe it attacks the nickel finish in some types.

Paul...for prepping for decals I used to use Future but with it gone now I've tried the white bottle replacement but don't love it. I know AMMO is a no go for you, but I've received bottles of their Lucky varnish for reviews for AMPS and have had success.

For after decals, I still use the Testors Dullcote as I still seem to be able to grab it from Hobby Lobby.
 
I do believe it attacks the nickel finish in some types.

Paul...for prepping for decals I used to use Future but with it gone now I've tried the white bottle replacement but don't love it. I know AMMO is a no go for you, but I've received bottles of their Lucky varnish for reviews for AMPS and have had success.

For after decals, I still use the Testors Dullcote as I still seem to be able to grab it from Hobby Lobby.
Yeah Testors still makes the small paint bottles of which there are some useful colors (zinc chromate yellow!!) and apparently the Dullcoat is still profitable to make.

I still have about 80% of a bottle of Future on my bench. I use small amounts for various things. Too bad they discontinued it.

I have an old Badger LG100 airbrush I got back in the 80's that I used it so much I wore the plating off one side from just handling it. It was an OK airbrush for the time, but again, it got to the point where it would clog up with certain paints.
 
@Jeeves I tested the Bona brand floor wax stuff, does the same job as future. It has a white pasty color to it but dries absolutely clear. But my go to is AlcladII Aqua Clear either gloss or flat.
 
I am a bit late to the party, so sorry Paul.
My take?........Tamiya flats are always great to spray and I never use a primer [except on my latest T-72BA - I thought i would see what all the biz is about]. After the base coat is down, as well as cammo colors I flat clear the lot with either Tamiya or Valejio, followed by pigments, washes and oil paints [all spirit based].
I never spray Vallejio. I have been using AK on my modern Russian tanks and have found them to be very good as well.
 
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Well, I haven't squirted an airbrush in so long that I went on YouTube to find some of the 'latest' information and came across Barbatos Rex. He is involved in the Gundam hobby (hence the name) and tests everything paint related included airbrushes (he has a collaboration with Gaahleri for airbrushes and paints), mini sand blasters, paint booths, dehydrators, and so on.

Perhaps he has an answer in one of the videos?
 
Before going on to the painting part, here are all the little mods I have done up to now.

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Now off to finalize a couple more small mods and get some paint on this beastie.
 
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