Detail painting… a question of the whats and whys

[Keef]

I went to do some detail painting last night and noticed a lot of my Model Masters enamels had either dried out or had huge goopy clumps in them even after shaking them. 
What paint(s) does everyone use for detail work? Can I use craft paints like Vallejo? I’m assuming that they can be brushed on? Water clean up? 
 

Please school me on this as I’m trying to get out of my old ways and open more opportunities.

[Mittagskind]

13 minutes ago, Keef said:

I went to do some detail painting last night and noticed a lot of my Model Masters enamels had either dried out or had huge goopy clumps in them even after shaking them. 
What paint(s) does everyone use for detail work? Can I use craft paints like Vallejo? I’m assuming that they can be brushed on? Water clean up? 
 

Please school me on this as I’m trying to get out of my old ways and open more opportunities.

I use both enamel paints and acrylic paints for painting. Acrylic paints have the advantage of being water dilutable, but sometimes don't have as much opacity. But I think the Vallejo colors are very good. To prevent drying out when not in use for a long time, I always put a few drops of water (for acrylic) or thinner (for enamel) on the paint.

[Mark]

Shaking isn't enough in cases where the paint has been sitting for very long.  Stirring is better, and you want a stirring utensil that gets into everywhere within the bottle or jar.  After breaking up the clumps and maybe adding a touch of thinner, you can then give it a shake to finish things off.

[espo]

As Mark has suggested, stirring may be the best approach for a paint that has been standing for a long time. Another benefit if using just the stirring method is the residue on the inside of the screw top doesn't spread to the meeting surface between the top and the edge of the bottle. Over time a buildup of paint forms between the top and the bottle and makes it hard to remove the top. Since I have stopped shacking small paint bottles to mix the paint and stirring them only this problem has all but stopped. 

[jaymcminn]

I've recently become a convert to Vallejo paints, especially the Metal Colors line. They have excellent opacity and brush beautifully for detail painting. The Metal Colors paints especially drybrush really well and have metalizer-fine pigments that are vastly superior to any other acrylic metallics I've seen. The engine bay of the 1/12 Bugatti 35B below was done entirely in Vallejo Metal Colors and washes.

[Zoom Zoom]

Once enamel has gelled it's no longer usable. I use a combination of various acrylic colors for detail brush painting, though Tamiya's new line of LP paints (mild lacquer in a jar) brush really well, and being lacquers if they get thick/gloppy as they age you can add more of the appropriate thinner to bring it back, as well as thin it as necessary for finer brush painting. I wish more hobby shops would carry the LP line as they are fantastic for painting with an airbrush, especially the clear gloss. I wish they sold them in larger jars. 

[jaymcminn]

2 minutes ago, Zoom Zoom said:

Once enamel has gelled it's no longer usable. I use a combination of various acrylic colors for detail brush painting, though Tamiya's new line of LP paints (mild lacquer in a jar) brush really well, and being lacquers if they get thick/gloppy as they age you can add more of the appropriate thinner to bring it back, as well as thin it as necessary for finer brush painting. I wish more hobby shops would carry the LP line as they are fantastic for painting with an airbrush, especially the clear gloss. I wish they sold them in larger jars. 

Agreed. My fantastic local shop doesn't carry the LP line yet, I have to go 60 or so miles to a shop in Port Charlotte (FL) to get them. I'd love the clear gloss in a larger bottle, cut with Mr. Levelling Thinner it's amazing.

[Keef]

Thanks for the replies so far folks!!! Looks like I’ll be making the change to Vallejo since all I can find at Hobby Lobby is the small jars of Testors paints. Plus it appears Vallejo offers a way larger selection for detailing things.

[Dpate]

3 hours ago, Zoom Zoom said:

Once enamel has gelled it's no longer usable. I use a combination of various acrylic colors for detail brush painting, though Tamiya's new line of LP paints (mild lacquer in a jar) brush really well, and being lacquers if they get thick/gloppy as they age you can add more of the appropriate thinner to bring it back, as well as thin it as necessary for finer brush painting. I wish more hobby shops would carry the LP line as they are fantastic for painting with an airbrush, especially the clear gloss. I wish they sold them in larger jars. 

Word. Ever since I used there LP line up I stopped using there X- XF series except few colors. I love using their enamel line up too for detail work as well. Don’t get me wrong the X-XF line is good stuff - just compared to LP it’s not as good especially the Metallics. Mr hobby super metallics 2 are also amazing. Vallejo is good stuff as well, and model color is great too for detail work too. Also yeah I haven’t seen a shop around here that sells the LP line up. I always buy mine online for $2.50 or so, and LP-5 is the best semi- gloss black I’ve used, and I keep a Tamiya 45mL jar always full n thinned of the stuff. 

[av405]

In my experience, Vallejo is the best for detail painting. Their black is wonderful and probably the paint I use the most with a brush. I'm lucky to have a LHS near me that focuses on models, but the store doesn't carry Vallejo because the owner doesn't like it, he says its "no good" ? Luckily I have a Hobby Lobby near me.

[Dpate]

3 hours ago, av405 said:

In my experience, Vallejo is the best for detail painting. Their black is wonderful and probably the paint I use the most with a brush. I'm lucky to have a LHS near me that focuses on models, but the store doesn't carry Vallejo because the owner doesn't like it, he says its "no good" ? Luckily I have a Hobby Lobby near me.

Talking about the Vallejo model air black? Cause it’s a nice black as well, and brush paints good. 

[NOBLNG]

Can Model Master or Testors enamels that have thickened up a bit (but not dried up) be revitalized with a bit of lacquer thinner?  And will they keep for long after being thinned? Thx.

[av405]

43 minutes ago, Dpate said:

Talking about the Vallejo model air black? Cause it’s a nice black as well, and brush paints good. 

This stuff. I don't have much experience with Vallejo Model Air.

Edited September 5, 2023 by av405

[peteski]

44 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

Can Model Master or Testors enamels that have thickened up a bit (but not dried up) be revitalized with a bit of lacquer thinner?  And will they keep for long after being thinned? Thx.

Might not be the best idea.  It adding thinner to a paint, best is to use the same brand of thinner as the paint.  Testors enamels use petroleum distillates which are chemically different than lacquer thinner.  You might your your paint gelled after few months.

And once enamel paint gels or partially solidifies (unlike lacquers), nothing will redissolve it. 

[Dpate]

45 minutes ago, av405 said:

This stuff. I don't have much experience with Vallejo Model Air.

Yeah model colors is nice. My hobby town stocks a ton of it. 

[atomicholiday]

16 hours ago, jaymcminn said:

I've recently become a convert to Vallejo paints, especially the Metal Colors line. They have excellent opacity and brush beautifully for detail painting. The Metal Colors paints especially drybrush really well and have metalizer-fine pigments that are vastly superior to any other acrylic metallics I've seen. The engine bay of the 1/12 Bugatti 35B below was done entirely in Vallejo Metal Colors and washes.

I use the vallejo metal color a lot too.   That stuff was a game changer for me.   Brushes beautifully,  looks great,  nice variety of metallic.  It's hard to beat the stuff for detailing. 

[bluestringer]

Another Vallejo Model Color user here. I use the black a lot for detail stuff.  It brushes great and covers great even over other colors. And HL carries a good selection.

[rattle can man]

I've started dropping a few bb's into the bottles to aid mixing when shaking. works like a charm.

[customline]

On 9/4/2023 at 10:20 PM, NOBLNG said:

Can Model Master or Testors enamels that have thickened up a bit (but not dried up) be revitalized with a bit of lacquer thinner?  And will they keep for long after being thinned? Thx.

Greg, I have used lacquer thinner to thin Testor enamels for spraying, successfully, and also for thinning out thickened-up enamel, in desperation, for brushing. What happens to the paint after that is hit or miss.

This may not be pertinent to this discussion but I have recently experienced an issue with the lacquer thinner I got at Lowes recently. I use it for cleaning brushes and noticed it was acting "strange".  Then I used it for thinning MM enamel for spraying last week and I noticed the solids in the paint were separating out and congealing and settling to the bottom of the jar. I stopped using it for anything immediately. 

Edited April 21, 2024 by customline
Punctuation

[bobss396]

I have been using Tamiya acrylics to to small detail painting. I have a bunch of their clears, also the X22 which I use mostly as an adhesive and some blacks and silvers. I will give the Vallejo line a try. Anything I paint is very small, everything else gets sprayed.

I use the clears over TS-30 Silver Leaf on things like steering wheels, fans, shift knobs, side marker lights.

[Deathgoblin]

Combination of Model Color, Army Painter and Citadel paints for miniatures, Revell Aqua Color acrylics, craft acrylics...

[bobss396]

Citadel is one my local hobby shop carries, the shop owner says that the figure-guys like them. I found Vallejo acrylics at Hobby Lobby, so far I got a black and silver to start with, they were $3.99 each. Online at eBay they are $6-8.