Seeking advice on Andrea's paint

Hi guys,

I was at a point when I was quite happy with the face and ready to move on to teeth (as shown), and then Young's latest WW1 bust box art by Lee was so bold that it kind of led me to some risky decisions with this face. Suffice to say I failed, and stripped out the paint on the face for the second time. So the face paint on the pictures are no more, but criticisms are still welcome!

This presents a timely opportunity for me to finally try out the apparently excellent Andrea's flesh paint set. But I have relied on Vallejo since the dawn of time, so the transition may be painful.

Is there anything in terms of water dillution, level of satin varnish, and size of pigments etc that I should bear in mind? Most importantly, is it air-brush friendly, given dillution? (for example Game's Work Shop paints are not air-brush friendly)

Thanks in advance!

I like Andrea's paint line. Especially their Paint Sets! That said, I dont use their paints exclusively. For instance, their Flesh Paint Set is VERY nice and while I use it for about 97% of the face I like to add a few colors from Vallejo for the high-high lights. Just my own preference. In the past, Andrea paints dried DEAD FLAT! While this is much favored by some, it also resulted in the dredded "frosting" when mixed with other colors. Their old Prussian Blue and Napoleonic Green come to mind. Andrea's new formula doesn't seem to suffer from this now and in fact dries to a SLIGHT sheen. Not flat but also not semi gloss. They are thinner then Vallejo paints now as well. As far as the airbrush goes? Well....I haven't tried airbrushing any of the new paint but I have yet to meet a paint I cant airbrush. Just a few years ago it was said you can't airbrush Vallejo paint unless you buy their "Airbrush made paint". I personally feel you can airbrush just about any paint with the proper dilution. Window cleaner works WONDERS for acrylic paint after diluting with water.

I guess in conclusion....get the andrea paints. Don't rely soley on them however. Airbrushing? Well? to each their own. But I'm sure you can make them work for you.

Jim Patrick

Thanks Jim for the rich and extensive info I direly need!

I am living proof that all Vallejo paints, not only the "airbrush made" ones can be airbrushed. Whoever made that claim... I don't understand. But the truth is even Game Work Shop enthrusiasts would admit their otherwise brilliant paints dont agree with airbrush. Thats fine by them since they, as a community of their own, dont really care that much for airbrushing. From any city in UK to Amsterdam, thats the general opinion from them.

Once again thanks a lot! I guess this means Andrea is airbrushable, as you said that they are thinner than even Vallejo.

Hi Michael

I am with Jim on the acrylics side, but I do airbrush, I have airbrushed just about anything I have used, especially the new Andrea flesh set, I love this set, I work with it all the time on bust and figures, I do use some additives such as, Distilled Water, this eliminates the chalkyness in the prussian blue, I also use the glazing medium from Vallejo, this thins the paint without loosing the coverage, I also wash with a heavily thinned satin varnish from Vallejo. Have a look at my version of the Yury Landskecht bust, that has been painted in only acrylics, including airbrushing games workshop paints ........

I for one dont believe in mixed for airbrush paints, you are paying for extra water mixed into less paint, just bye the original colours and mix it your self, with experience your dilution of colours and how heavy you wish to cover areas, will come

Dave

Thanks a lot Dave!

From my experience I have managed to push any acrylic modelling paint (Andrea, Vallejo Model Colour, Vallejo Game Colour, P3, Citadel (gamesworkshop), Tamiya and the good old Gunze) with enough dilution. I have to say that if you experiment with the paints, you will find a consistency which you can push that brand of acrylics through the airbrush.

Just experiment with it and learn. It's the whole point of this hobby

Cheers,
Dan

Micheal,I think you are worrying to much.I have been mixing Vallejo and andrea paints for quite some time with good results(well you can check out for yourself).Having said that there are some colours I dont use from either brands.Prussian blue comes to mind.I never use that.As of late I have been using Maimeri paints which are awesome to say the least.I can give you examples of mixes I use where there are the 3 brands mixed together.Just experiment and most importantly....have fun doing it!!!

Steve

Thanks a lot Daniel and Steve!

Steve, I would indeed appreciate your examples of mixes.

Funnily I never use Prussian Blue for flesh painting. I guess my equivalent to it is Dark Sea Grey of Vallejo.

"Andrea paints dried DEAD FLAT! While this is much favored by some, it also resulted in the dredded "frosting" when mixed with other colors. Their old Prussian Blue and Napoleonic Green come to mind."

My mistake....when I said this I meant when mixing colors to paint with a brush. Not an airbrush. While I personally loved these colors, when highlighting or shading these "older" colors by mixing other colors (regardless of brand of paint) they tended to "frost up". I also NEVER used these colors with any flesh mixture!

Again Michael, I believe you will find, as I did, once you start using the new Andrea colors, you won't look back.

Jim Patrick

Hi Jim,

Given the valuable inputs from you guys, I think I can establish that:
1. Andreas paint is airbrushable;
2. It can be mixed with say Vallejo (which I have a large reserve of);
3. I wont look back.

Great! I will post some results as soon as I get somewhere. Thanks a lot again!

Verdict:

Andrea's paints are unbelievably smooth. No wonder they produce such box arts!

But trying them with my double action Badger isn't an entirely satisfactory experience. The same dillution when applied to vallejo airbrushes like a breeze.