WHY Dilute Vallejo Colors with Distilled Water EXPLAINED |Don Suratos aka DC23

WHY Dilute Vallejo Colors with Distilled Water Photo

Your hand painting with Vallejo Mecha Colors will be better if you use my custom MUG. lol, just kidding.

Other than wanting an excuse to take photos of my mug, and waking up early as I am an old man...

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Let's talk WHY Dilute Vallejo Mecha Colors with Distilled Water?

VALLEJO PAINTS

Vallejo paints ( from Model Color, Game Color to Mecha Colors ) vary in consistency. this is normal for acrylics. Vallejo is a high pigment count acrylic with the finest pigments in the market ( I do not have a microscope to test this tho ).

But as a painter ( once in a while ), painting ( on canvas ) with any PRO grade acrylics ( hobby grade or studio grade ) have varying degrees of consistency. The Reds and Yellows are thinner than the very creamy Browns and Greys. The Cream colors ( even in the airbrush paint ranges ) are super creamy.

In time you will learn how to thin acrylics ( in general ) to get master class or descent ( at least ) work.

DISTILLED WATER

I use only distilled water. Vallejo claims that their fine hobby grade pigments ( not industrial grade like cheaper brands ) can be stained by minerals from tap water. Tap water will pollute the paints. So I use only the purest form of water... distilled water.

Other high quality established acrylic paint brands ( I won't name them ) also advises thinning with distilled water.

IMHO, I do not see the difference of thinning with distilled water. Perhaps ( most likely ) my painting is not good enough to see the difference.

However, there is no harm in following Vallejo's instructions in using distilled water exclusively in rinsing and keeping your paint brushes wet. I keep small bottles of distilled water under my bench all the time. Distilled water are so cheap anyways.

DO NOT FOLLOW ( rebel me ) Vallejo's instructions of hand painting, much more airbrushing certain ( all ) Vallejo paints straight from the dropper bottle.

DO NOT FOLLOW ( I am so rebellious... I know ) thinning with distilled water as mediums and Vallejo Airbrush Thinners ( and Flow Improver ) are better, as they won't weaken the adherence and finish of the paints.

Note: I will always say this. Proper thinning for hand painting and airbrushing Vallejo Mecha Colors is key for a strong finish. Vallejo Mecha Colors were formulated to be extra strong and scratch resistant but know how to properly use them to get excellent results.

THINNING VALLEJO MECHA COLOR FOR HAND PAINTING

I thin my Mecha Color for hand painting with Vallejo Airbrush Thinner and Vallejo Mediums. At a rough ( this vary per color ) ratio of 4 parts paint, 2 parts Medium and 1 part Aibrush Thinner.

I keep my paint brush wet only with distilled water, and also only clean my paint brush with distilled water. I rarely use my wet palette and use a small plastic paint dish oftentimes. So I regularly wet my paint brush with distilled water during hand painting.

Also, I always rinse my paint brush while painting as these paints dry fast. ( I also use Retarder Mediums to slow down drying time during hand painting ).

I sometimes use my DIY open wet palette ( yes not closable ) when hand painting in thin amounts. This is filled only with distilled water up to the sponge level.

How I thin my Vallejo Mecha Color is better seen in my video below...

THINNING VALLEJO MECHA COLOR FOR AIRBRUSHING

I use Vallejo Mecha Thinner and Vallejo Airbrush Flow Improver in thinning my Vallejo Mecha Colors for Airbrush. Same as in hand painting, reds and yellow thin differently than the creamier greys and browns.

A rough ratio of 4 parts paint and 1 part thinner and 1 part flow improver for most paints.

I clean my airbrush ( like my paint brush ) regularly during painting.

I clean my airbrush with a diluted ( with tap water ) Vallejo Airbrush Thinner ( 50:50 )

How I thin my Vallejo Mecha Colors is better seen in these videos below...

CONCLUSION

I hope this early morning Vallejo Mecha Blog entry helps.

The real key to achieving great quality Vallejo Mecha Color finishes is by using my DC23 logo mug during painting. Hahaha.

Like I always say, invest in high quality tools and paints ( slowly ) as they are investments if you love the hobby ( and if you love your kits - ;b ).

Good paints and tools will last for years and will give you years of fun.

That's it. I hope you'll find this entry informative. Thanks as always for dropping by, until next update guys!

Saludos!

This blog article is part of my Vallejo Colors EXPLAINED series of posts.