Product Review: Acrylicos Vallejo Model Air Paint Set - 8 bottle Weathering Kit (Model Railroad) (offered here as Micro Mart #85836); 8 x 17 ml of air brush ready acrylic paint; price around $27-32
Advantages: most airbrush ready colors useful for weathering model trains a nd even armored vehicles in one package
Disadvantages: see text
Rating: Highly Recommended
Recommendation: for anyone using an airbrush for weathering armor finishes
Acrylic paints have taken a long time to mature from their initial offerin gs in 1969 but now are in most cases superior to enamel and lacquer, the lo ng time standards of armor modelers. One of the biggest ones today is Acryl icos Vallejo S.L. from Spain, and they offer three different ranges: Model Color, for general modeling painting by brush; Game Color, for wargaming an d fantasy figures; and Model Air, similar to Model Color but thinned and su itable for use in an airbrush. There are a total of 700 colors offered acro ss all three lines.
Some modelers have complained about these paints, but as I have used them and used them successfully there is only one good way to do it and that is nearly straight from the bottle. Each bottle uses a "dropper" type insert w hich is quite useful for filling a paint cup in an airbrush. Part of the pr oblems for failure by some folks are trying to thin it; it comes thinned al ready and only a couple of drops of thinner or Vallejo's own airbrush clean er (available in 200 ml bottles) is needed to help the flow. I have shot al l of mine so far with a Grex XGi5 airbrush at 22 psi with nearly flawless r esults and easy cleanup. (The one drawback is that you generally can't pour any leftover paint back into the bottle!)
This set is optimized for weathering model trains and comes with 8 differe nt colors:
71.075 Sand (Ivory) 71.080 Rust 71.029 Dark Earth 71.112 Sand 71.037 Mud Brown 71.103 RLM84 Light Blue 70.861 Gloss Black (Model Color) 71.056 RAL7021 Panzer Dark GreyMost of these colors are focused on the lower part of model railway items such as locomotives and cars, with the Model Color Gloss Black provided for use in oil or grease staining of locomotives, especially steam locomotives . But they also provide a slightly different pallette for use with armored vehicles and nearly all of these colors apply to them as well.
Overall this is a cheaper way to start weathering than the larger #71194 s et but a good way to start using your airbrush to get into weathering.
Cookie Sewell