Painting questions after 20yrs away

General Discussions General Painting
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Ok, so after over 20 years away, I’ve been wanting to get back in, and lately I’ve been buying new kits with the intention of building them. But it doesn’t seem like I can just pick up where I left off. Everything seems so different now, even paints! When I started building models, we used those little square bottles of Testors paints and in my opinion, they weren’t too terribly bad. Later I switched to using Tamiya paints. For a similar price, the bottles were larger and I came to love water based paints, for it’s easy use and clean up. But times have changed. The biggest change over the years is the old mom and pop hobby stores don’t exist anymore. I’ll have to buy all my supplies online. Sure theres more choices but not after spending hours surfing the web.

So first question, I build mostly Tanks. Where do you go to find a supplier who carries a wide variety of military colors?

Next question, I used to prefer Tamiya colors for the reasons mentioned, but now I see there are many more options out there. I would be interested in other brands if they offered quality at a reasonable price. So, I would love suggestions.

And out of curiosity, there are model paints I’ve seen that looks like they come in an eye drop bottle. What is up with that?

Thanks Edro

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There will be lots of answers to this question, supporting all different brands, suppliers etc. Opinions differ across the board.

Personally, I am a big fan of Vallejo paint. It is water based and has a large range of colors. Again, some here love it, and others are not fans.

Then for suppliers, there are many, many suppliers out there any more. Lots on here favor Sprue Brothers, Andy’s Hobby Headquarters, just to name a couple. Again, there are many, many suppliers and I am sure people will chime in with their opinions!

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I will go for one question only and that is paint choice. I use a wide range of paints for getting the colour wrong usually. The one I like best as it both sprays and hand brushes well and that is Mr Color. The pigmentation is very good and so covers well and I also find that when thinned for the spray gun a 4 to 1 mix ratio or 3 to 1 ( some times you can thin even more than that) with lighter colours helps to make the paint go further while providing great coverage in a couple of coats. This range also offers some of the best metallic colours when it comes to finish. The last plus for me is that they have a great range of colours but they do seem to like mixing matt, semi gloss and gloss which can annoy. Its biggest fault for me is that it can be difficult to get all the settled pigment mixed with the carrier and so I top up every new bottle with some of the Mr Color Leveling thinner which really helps so does a stainless steel ball bearing I put in every jar.

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As Cory says, you’ll get lots of different answers! (And I miss the old Model Master paints!)

My own mix is to use Tamiya acrylics through the airbrush for big stuff, and Vallejo acrylics for hand-painting details. Some folks manage to brush with Tamiya but I’ve never had any luck - each coat seems to lift the previous one. And I don’t spray Vallejo as it never seems to go well through the airbrush.

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My preferred online hobby shops in order of dollars spent are Scale Hobbyist, Andy’s Hobby Headquarters, Amazon, eBay, Sprue Brothers, and occasionally Squadron.

For paint and other supplies, I almost exclusively use Scale Hobbyist based on price, availability, and an excellent website. However, if I were buying into a specific paint line, I would shop around for the best price, factoring in shipping and sales tax.

For Tamiya paints, Scale Hobbyist beats everyone else on price by a significant margin. The website offers excellent Notification List and Want List features.

When looking for a specific model, I often check them all. You will discover that certain sellers offer the best prices on certain brands. No one seller offers the best price on everything. Shipping and sales tax may influence best price overall.

Do not forget eBay. Chinese sellers often undercut American sellers by a significant margin.

Amazon is nuts. Prices often suck but occasionally something drops out of the blue at a crazy low price with free shipping. Amazon always charges sales tax, which sucks.

Andy’s, Sprue Brothers, and Squadron have mailing lists. Andy emails the least often. Sprue Brothers sends useful emails once a week for weekend sales and the occasional broad sale. Squadron is spammy mcspammer.

Spure Brothers offers daily Lightning Deals for 50% off manufacturers suggested retail price. There is no rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes, it’s like, :“Yay! Cheapo model!”

Andy’s has a sale section. Out of the blue, he will change it up and dump a bunch of cool models onto the sale list. Expect the list to change around or after Christmas.

Squadron has sales but they are hard to find because the website sucks. Squadron is also really high on shipping. On the other hand, sometimes, when the stars align, a really good sale will show up.

Scale Hobbyist has the best website by a gigantic margin, followed by Sprue Brothers, Andy, and Squadron. Amazon and eBay are fine for targeted searches but almost useless for category searches.

Paint is a gigantic subject. Whatever you do, be mindful of chemistry. The more you mix and match brands and types, the more variables you introduce, and that means more places where things can go wrong. For the best finishes, one must use different types of paints in the correct order.

A lot of people still prefer Tamiya paints. If you were comfortable with Tamiya 20 years ago, you should be comfortable with Tamiya now.

It may be wise to stick with Tamiya for now, testing other brands on individual projects if and until you find something better. Going cold turkey into a new paint line can be really rough.

Hobbylinc is another useful discount online hobby store, especially for science fiction stuff.

There are a bazillion smaller online hobby shops. Most have awful websites which is why they remain small.

If you start shopping outside the United States, the number of options balloons by an order of magnitude. If you go that route, ScaleMates is super useful for price checking specific models. Some foreign shops offer free shipping on large orders making them very competitive.

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I’m a converted Tamiya acrylic painter going on 20+ years, now. My own approach to painting is to master a brand and then stick with it. Tamiya may seem like a limited pallet, but mixing custom colors is really easy. Tamiya’s color pallet almost seems like they have mixing in mind (ya think?!! LOL!).

All of my local hobby shops (a short list, mind you!) carry Tamiya paints, so I can resupply when I’m in a “crunch,” but “local” for me means a 1-1/2 to 2-hour round trip. I only go shopping for a bottle or two of paint when I get caught short by my own poor planning. On the other hand, if I need to resupply a bunch of different consumables in addition to paint, the drive’s worth it. Sometimes it’s all about the timing.

I know, I know… Support your LHS… And I do try. However, a 2-hour round trip just to buy a bottle or two of paint can kill an entire day of discretionary hobby time. So, interweb, here I come. The cost of shipping compared to the cost of the gas and time to drive that much is usually a wash. I try to plan out ahead and buy what I think I’m going to need on a project when I’m still in the construction phase of the build. This gives me the time to allow for shipping.

There are a number of on-line vendors that sell Tamiya paints. Doug’s list of vendors is a good one. My experience is that regular prices per bottle are fairly competitive, so I usually try to find some savings by ordering a number of bottles to lower the prorated per-bottle cost of the shipping. (If you can hit a sale, mores the better. May be worth the time to “stalk” or “snipe” a sale to do a big initial stock-up. However, I’m usually just looking for a bottle or two…) For me, shipping cost is almost always the deciding factor between one vendor or another. Many times, it’s better to pay-up a few cents more per bottle if I can save more with the shipping.

Do yourself a favor and download a copy of the Tamiya paint charts so that you have the names and paint numbers. This makes searching the various vendor sites easier than just surfing looking for some particular color. You’ll save yourself a lot of time just typing in, say Tamiya XF-1, to find a bottle of flat black.

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Vortex Paint Mixer makes whatever flavor of hobby paint easier to mix for good results hand brushing or airbrushing. All poorly mixed paint under performs.

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Having excellent ventilation, correctly rated respirator & rubber gloves is anothet worthwhile investment. Gloves protect both you and the model in my experience.

The illusions of advertising!

  1. Forty years ago my favorite airbrushing was lacquers and enamels. Floquil Railroad & Floquil Military Colors best etc.

Key take away, using Mr.Color Leveling Thinner makes every enamel or lacquer I’ve used better and practically equal.

Floquil is still my pet favorite but Gunzy, Tamiya Lacquer (LP’s), AK Real Color, cut with MCLT are equally outstanding.

  1. Favorite to brush paint was acrylic. Poly-S or Poly-Scale.

With the Poly colors long gone Vallejo nicely fills the niche for brush painting. While Vallejo seems to be more finicky airbrushing in general some folks get great results others fight dry tip and clogs regularly.

Today when buying paint

Tamiya Lacquer (LP) - Spruebrothers.com
(Vibrant Color)

Gunzy / Creos - Spruebrothers.com
(Mr Surfacer if priming, Variety of useful colors like Sail & Hemp)

AK Real Color - Andyshhq.com
(Selection of Military Color)

Tamiya Acrylic cut with Mr Color Leveling Thinner

Other colors like Revell enamels or MRP Mr. Paint used as needed. I don’t have a local hobbyshop with in ~100 miles of me, so Spruebrothers.com & Andyshhq.com are favorites for fast shipping.

Acrylic for brush painting aka Hairbrushing, Vallejo with supporting Thinner, retarder & acrylic medium used as needed.

However, NONE of the new paints spray or work any better than Floquil thinned with Mr Color Leveling Thinner in my experience. 30+ years of experience with Floquil, so normally it’s much easier for me to get my best results using Floquil, not the newest, latest and greatest paints.

I think the most important take away is Mr Color Leveling Thinner is far more important than specific paint brand(s).

Nearly all of the current paints offer excellent results if one takes time to master using them.

HTH

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I still use Tamiya, which is the same as it was 20 years ago. However, I’ve become a big fan of Vallejo, except for their clear gloss (the semi-flat and flat clears are fine.) If you use Vallejo, it’s worth it to use their proprietary thinner for airbrushing if needed. I absolutely love Vallejo primers. The dropper bottles make using the paint easier, especially when measuring for dilution ratios.

Mixing is critical, and getting a good paint mixer will save your wrists and elbows.

As far as clear gloss coats go, I use Holloway House Quick Shine™ Multi-surface Floor Finish. You may remember Future™ from Johnson & Johnson. It’s discontinued, and this stuff is a replacement that works even better.

For hobby stores online: Sprue Brothers, Hobbylinc, Megahobby, Kitlinx, (all .com) and UMM (UMM-USA).

Welcome back to this wonderful hobby!

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Scalehobbiest is my first go to. Sprue brothers is second, Andys Hobby HQ is third. There is Michigan Toy soldier and Wanamaker Hobbies. I have delt with all and have had no complaints about any of them. BNA world and Hobby Easy are where I go for harder to find stuff.

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I feel your pain
I loved Foquel lacquer, model masters enamels the early military miniatures paint line
And the socialization of a real hobby shop on a Saturday or Sunday

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My oh my. modeling was so much simpler. Pactra paint, and Humbrol was what there was.

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A lot has been answered already so I’ll touch on the topics that haven’t.

Many, if not most modelers have switched to non-toxic acrylic paints and bypassed solvent thinners and mineral spirits for safety and health reasons. I have and I no longer use enamel paints except perhaps spray painting from a rattle can. Many acrylic vendors make acrylic weathering products, washes, inks, stains, and drybrush paints that replace the need for oils and enamels to achieve stunning effects.

The acrylic eyedropper paint bottles are excellent. They keep the paint sealed and fresh and no more gunky and leaking enamel glass jars with foil or paper for the caps. The eyedropper bottles hardly get clogged and you can shake them with the cap on and they won’t leak. Do buy acrylic thinner and Vallejo Flow Improver for airbrushing.

That said, try the Vallejo Paint Sets. There are WW2 Allied and Axis Paint Sets that come with the proper camouflage colors. Amazon may not have the best prices when there isn’t a sale, but here is a webpage just to show you the range of Paint Sets. AK Interactive, Scale75, and MIG also sells Paint Sets of colors. If you buy a Paint Set, you can achieve savings compared to buying the bottles individually.

Here are some samples of Vallejo WW2 Paint Sets that are for figures…they also make WW2 airbrushing Paint Sets…and so do MIG and AK Interactive.

Come towards Christmas and New Year’s, Amazon might have a sale on Vallejo Paint Sets if you can wait until then, but no guarantees. Do shop around for the best prices online.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=vallejo+paint+set&crid=U1M6937HVOSR&sprefix=vallejo+%2Caps%2C156&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_8

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Speaking of acrylics, could someone in the know comment on Citidel hobby paints?

I hear they are exceptionally good for brushing and a couple of colors make outstanding washes.

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I have some Citadel paint jars. They are basically Wargaming colors and while they can be shaken with the cap closed, popping the cap open kind of doesn’t keep the cap open as it’s on a plastic hinge. If you destroy that plastic hinge, you will have to tape the cap closed and remove the tape to use. They are excellent paints, just be careful not to tip over the jar when you stick your brush in it and draw the brush on the lip to get the excess paint off.

Citadel washes are excellent…thicker and often darker than Vallejo washes…so they stick better to painted surfaces.

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I guess I am a backslider. I am working more with lacquer based paints. They spray very well, have good adhesion and seem to have fewer problems for me, than acrylics.

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If you are looking for vivid colours I have heard nothing but great things from my LHS on pro-acryl Pro Acryl Paints

I have a couple of their colours but have not used them yet :frowning_face:

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Soooo, it’s just me with Humbrol and Revell enamels eh?

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I see nothing backward about lacquer paints. I use lacquer almost all the time, for airbrushing and brush painting. I occasionally use acrylics for detail painting. I use AK Real Colors and Tamiya XF paints cut 50\50 with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner to airbrush and it is painting paradise. No tip dry, no clogs , no drips, just an hour or longer of perfect airbrushing. Of course, good air extraction is needed when airbrushing lacquers, but you’re not going to get COPD or cancer unless you shoot a big cloud up your nose. Lacquers are a lot safer than their reputation. The AK RC line has many specific colors that are very well matched. You always get a super smooth, very durable finish that dries quickly. Not everybody has jumped on the acrylic bandwagon with all of their airbrushing problems. Even if you just buy one bottle of lacquer paint and a little bottle of MCLT, you owe it to yourself to try it and see what real quality airbrushing is all about, and if you can mind the smell. That’s the only downside to lacquers.

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This hobby is LOADED with chemistry :alembic:.

One should be safe but also be informed. I don’t think acrylic paint is any safer when airbrushing. It’s unwise to inhale paint particles regardless if they are are enamel, lacquer or acrylic. I use the same precautions with all of them respirator, gloves & paint booth w/fan etc.

Grain dust is harmless and nontoxic, we eat grain etc however grain dust can be dangerous in high concentrations in a grain silo.

Good ventilation is always your friend!

Short version…

The environmentally friendly politically correct faction will have to pry my Floquil and Mr Color Leveling Thinner out of my cold dead hands.

Basically,

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Driving your own car or by public transport?
In either case I would have to add transportation cost to the price of the paint …