I gave all mine away. Only have a few on hand. So inconsistent, you can get one color thin and spray then the next batch is all over the place. There's better paints to be had.
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Panzer III Ausf J. Das Werks, 1/16 scale.
- Thread starter Tim A.
- Start date
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
The Vallejo I used on my Pak 40 is all new label stuff. I have had no trouble with spraying it at all. I am also using the Harder & Steenbeck airbrushes I have bought in recent years. I will so spray through with cleaner but final cleaning is always done by pulling the tip off. Can't really do that with my old Badgers. The actual paint tip on the H & S brushes is huge and easy to remove and reattach. Probably could sell off all my Badgers and never miss them now.
Tim A.
Well-known member
It's a shame as I'm heavily invested in Vallejo supply. But the difference is night and day. I can even leave the Tamiya in the cup, while I take the dogs out and return to spraying. Could never do that with the Vallejo. I'm not bashing a product just saying it just doesn't work for me. It's not just Vallejo as I tried the Sqaudron brand with worse results.
Tim A.
Well-known member
Yep. I admit I've never used Tamiya paint. Mainly because I could get Vallejo at Hobby Lobby, the only "hobby" store in our area, till Sqaudron opened their headquarters here recently. I just thought there was something wrong with my airbrush. Now I can lay down a pencil thin perfect line. I have total control of the paint. I kind of feel like an idiot.
JSteinman
Master at Arms
It can be made to spray, but you need their AB thinner and retarder and the mix has to be just right...
Tim A.
Well-known member
Yes. I use their thinner and retarder. I can get the darker colors to spray out okay, but even those can become a bit of a hassle. Airbrushing had become more of a chore than anything.
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
I found Vallejo can tend to deposit along the inside of the airbrush canal to the tip. Thus the tip has to be removed and cleaned out to make things work right. I have found like Tim that I cannot just let the paint set in the airbrush for a bit and thus plan on spray, empty, clean. The clean is to use Lacquer Thinner which does break "V" down and get it out of the brush. I will use that to rinse and then add the next color if I am going to spray again. If I am done, the H & S airbrush breaks down quite easily with easy to handle parts. So I break it down a do a thorough clean so it is ready for the next time.
Have not picked up any of my Badger airbrushes in a couple of years.
Have not picked up any of my Badger airbrushes in a couple of years.
Brokeneagle
Master at Arms
I have found the same Tim....I used to do lots of airbrushing but over the last few years I have tended to brush paint and use pigments to steer away from the hassles of cleaning and clogging after every color, except when I spray Tamiya -never an issue then.
Brokeneagle
Master at Arms
The majority of German tank photos i have tend to show the crew overspraying everything if its in the field - works better as cammo in the field. too.
Tim A.
Well-known member
I could get the job done with the Valleyo, but it was always a struggle. Sometimes I'd have to break down the brush a few times during a session. After using Tamiya for the first time on this build I'm just shocked at the difference their paint made. It's effortless. I was happy I wanted to take it outside and continue by airbrushing our house
Tim A.
Well-known member
It's mind boggling the difference the Tamiya makes.
Tim A.
Well-known member
Thanks for that info Ian. I was thinking that that's how they would've done it. I am purposely trying to make this tank field painted. Like leaving the inside of the idlers and sprockets dunklegrau as well as along the bottom of the hull sides. It's a bit difficult because it comes of looking like a poorly painted model. Even I can't go as far as to over spray the Gelb onto the tires though.
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
I found the H & S airbrushes work SO MUCH BETTER than the Badger brushes I used in the past when using Vallejo. Even other paints spray better. I guess tonight I will do a photo comparison on the airbrushes to show the difference because it really does make a difference.
Tim A.
Well-known member
I'm using a Iwata hp-cs. Most of the time the pressure is at 20 psi. My old Thayer & Chandler quit on me several years ago. It had a .2 needle and was a Ferrari when spraying out lacquer thinned paint.
jknaus
Administrator
I loved Valejo for hand brushing but hated it for airbrushing until a buddy told me to get a good paint shaker. Got one off of Amazon, put a steel ball bearing into the paint and let it go for about a minute. Mixed it up awesome and then tried airbrushing and voila, I use them still.
James
James
Tim A.
Well-known member
I saw an online hack where a guy made an adapter to shake model paint on his saws all...lol.
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
Yeah I bought some Stainless balls 1/8 and 5/32 and put one of each in a bottle when I open it. Have a paint shaker (Robart) that goes back to the 80's that still works fairly well. That with the bearings and have had no real problems.
The other part is the Harder & Steenbeck airbrushes have a LOT larger paint channel and a slightly smaller needle than my Badger brushes. In addition with the Badger brushes they have this tiny odd shaped paint nozzle that is a pain to take apart. The tip is super small and fiddly. It is better than the old ones by a smidge, but I have had way too much paint (of all types) plug it up. The H & S is so much easier to take apart and remove the tip that it is just easy.
When I painted the Pak 40, I used Vallejo for the colors and didn't have any problems at all. I used Vallejo Air (71.xxx) with a little Vallejo Airbrush Flow Improver added. I even sprayed some of the 70.xxx regular paint with Vallejo thinner and Flow Improver with no problems.
In the past I did have some problems with the Badger airbrushes, but the H & S airbrushes don't have any real trouble at all, even the 0.15 tip just spits the paint right on through without a hitch.
I took my airbrushes out and took one of my Sotar 20/20 brushes and one of the H&S Evolutions apart and took a bunch of photos and measurements. It was surprising and in some ways explained why the H & S brushes work better.
The other part is the Harder & Steenbeck airbrushes have a LOT larger paint channel and a slightly smaller needle than my Badger brushes. In addition with the Badger brushes they have this tiny odd shaped paint nozzle that is a pain to take apart. The tip is super small and fiddly. It is better than the old ones by a smidge, but I have had way too much paint (of all types) plug it up. The H & S is so much easier to take apart and remove the tip that it is just easy.
When I painted the Pak 40, I used Vallejo for the colors and didn't have any problems at all. I used Vallejo Air (71.xxx) with a little Vallejo Airbrush Flow Improver added. I even sprayed some of the 70.xxx regular paint with Vallejo thinner and Flow Improver with no problems.
In the past I did have some problems with the Badger airbrushes, but the H & S airbrushes don't have any real trouble at all, even the 0.15 tip just spits the paint right on through without a hitch.
I took my airbrushes out and took one of my Sotar 20/20 brushes and one of the H&S Evolutions apart and took a bunch of photos and measurements. It was surprising and in some ways explained why the H & S brushes work better.
