Tamiya or Vallejo?

Constantine

My favorite paint has always been Tamiya, but with the shortage I thought I’d give Vallejo a try. So far so good, but the jury is still out on whether I like it better than Tamiya. I have noticed it takes a lot more to thin it than Tamiya does which I suppose is a good thing as far as being economical. It covers well, but I haven’t used it yet on any areas with a lot of intricate detail yet. Tamiya always covered detailed areas well without smothering them. I suspect the Vallejo will be the same, I hope.

I have been thinning them down with the Vallejo brand thinner but it seems to be going fast because it takes more to thin it. Can tap water be added to the product to make it last longer? Also what do you guys run though your airbrush once you’re done spraying? I have been using Model Master thinner and cleaner though mine, anything more economical out there to use.

How would you guys rate the paints that are out there? Say like Polly scale compared to Tamiya or Model Masters that kind of thing. Why do you like them and how do you use them, what do you thin them with?

Have a good one.

Troy Downen

Good topic. I like both brands equally, but if pressed I'll opt for Vallejo. First, their dropper bottles are the ONLY way to go. I can precisely mix paint ratios and can drop the paint directly into my airbrush cup without making a mess. Second, you should be using Vallejo's Model Air range for your airbrush. No thinning required. They spray like a dream right out of the bottle and cover extremely well with light coats. I clean the airbrush with Windex so I rarely use Vallejo's thinner. Their brush paint range also brush well straight out of the bottle and, again, I clean up with Windex.

Much of what I say is true of the Tamiya paints too, but I REALLY like the Vallejo dropper bottles.