Heisler's WIPs

[Tracks]

Nice.

I have been wanting to try the Mig Ammo paints. How do they compare to the Vallejo paints (Model Color & Model Air)?

[SheriffSherman]

I'm going to leave the title somewhat generic simply so that I can put my builds into a single post. I tend to work on multiple models and in phases so there is always something going on that I can work on when I only have a few minutes. Even in the middle of this pandemic my wife always seems to find ways to occupy my time with something other than building models.

Phase 1 - Build in progress
Phase 2 - Priming
Phase 3 - Painting in progress.

I break out priming and painting separately since I tend to let models build up here I have enough to make priming worth while or I'm ready for the next item in line. Oh and I'm only including the Rubicon Kits in this list.

Currently:
Phase 1 - Resin M32B1, Jagdpanther
Phase 2 - M4A3E2 (conversion kit), M4A3/76,
Phase 3 - StuG IIIGs (3) and StuH 42

Your M4A3E2 reminds me of a few years back when “cobra king” was re-discovered outside a base in germany serving as a gatekeeper, it looked exactly like that.  No EEC and the 76mm with the MB on it, did you build it like that on purpose?  Last i heard they had shipped the tank to the US and it was being restored to look like the iconic photo “first in bastogne”

[Ballardian]

Tracks, I've found Mig Ammo paints to generally be excellent, with decently accurate colours (they do go in for 'scale reduction' - lightening the actual colour, such as Dunkelgelb, which would look quite dark on a scale model). They are formulated mainly for airbrush use, so more like Model Air in that sense, and through an airbrush I've found them very well behaved - good coverage & colour saturation, and I've rarely had problems with clogging. They've become my favourite acrylic paint, with only lacquer-based stuff like the AK Real Color or Tamiya ranges giving (slightly) better results - at the cost of being a little more fiddly to use (they smell more & require their own thinners & airbrush cleaners).
  I hope thats of some help

(There's a couple of Shermans, a Panther F and a Steyr Waffentrager painted using the Mig paints in my WIP threads) 

[Heisler]

I'm going to leave the title somewhat generic simply so that I can put my builds into a single post. I tend to work on multiple models and in phases so there is always something going on that I can work on when I only have a few minutes. Even in the middle of this pandemic my wife always seems to find ways to occupy my time with something other than building models.

Phase 1 - Build in progress
Phase 2 - Priming
Phase 3 - Painting in progress.

I break out priming and painting separately since I tend to let models build up here I have enough to make priming worth while or I'm ready for the next item in line. Oh and I'm only including the Rubicon Kits in this list.

Currently:
Phase 1 - Resin M32B1, Jagdpanther
Phase 2 - M4A3E2 (conversion kit), M4A3/76,
Phase 3 - StuG IIIGs (3) and StuH 42

Your M4A3E2 reminds me of a few years back when “cobra king” was re-discovered outside a base in germany serving as a gatekeeper, it looked exactly like that.  No EEC and the 76mm with the MB on it, did you build it like that on purpose?  Last i heard they had shipped the tank to the US and it was being restored to look like the iconic photo “first in bastogne”

I did not deliberately build as Cobra King. Since that shot was taken I have removed the muzzle brake and replaced it with the regular 76mm cannon to better fit in with the tank battalion I’m modeling.

Nice.

I have been wanting to try the Mig Ammo paints. How do they compare to the Vallejo paints (Model Color & Model Air)?

At this point I prefer the Ammo paints over Vallejo for airbrush work. I like Vallejo’s Model Air quite a bit but find that it usually still needs a little thinning. Not a problem for me since I typically add thinner to Ammo as well just to make it a bit easier to use. I rarely use Model Color through the airbrush unless it’s a color I have had to mix or need it for large jobs, like base coating ACW infantry, colors that’s I can’t find in dedicated airbrush paints. I use Model Color and Reaper Master Series (MSP) for brushwork though.

Model color just takes a lot of work to get the ratios right and my painting time is to precious to spend mixing when I can use it straight from the bottle.

[neffer38]

I find the opposite with Vallejo and Mig.

Vallejo is my go to brush on paint for figures. But its a pain to thin down and the range doesn't really suit AFVs. I cant stand their airbrush range as I find the paint is to thin and just washes over models and pools.

Mig I stopped buying completely Same problem with their air brush range and I find the quality of their products is lacking. Chipping medium doesn't work well at all (i used the vallejo chipping now and works great). Primers seem to separate within an hour or so and have poor coverage. Their large pots for things like washes and filters I've notice are a cheaper soft plastic which it think arnt as air tight as the AK ones and consequently paint inside dry's up quickly so ive had to bin a few =(

AK i get the same problem with their airbrush paints. But every thing I buy from AK and tamiya, I just thin my own paints and I have no problems. Love the rest of the AK interactive range.

So As I've mentioned in general I have issues with the pre-thinned/airbrush ready paints. They just come out like water and flow all over and pool? I run at around 18-22 psi. I asked my mate who loves all ranges so he has a range of mig AK etc what he recons and he told me is, he works at 8psi! I tried that and the paint just spits out. But like I say I have no problem with the Tamiya and AK real colour paints and I spend less time faffing with those then I do with the air ready paints.  I have a Neo Iwata, AK basic line, and mig Cobra air brushes and always the same issue. and run a descent compressor with air tank. If any one can point me at what i maybe doing wrong....please do haha

[Heisler]

Wow, it’s been awhile. Life has really been smacking me around. On the airbrush front and ready to go airbrush paints. Basically the thinner the paint the lower the PSI. I’m not familiar with the Cobra but I’m fairly certain it’s a badger design. The Cobra, or more properly the Air Cobra, is a fine detail airbrush which makes it pretty finicky, a .2 needle is really small. That means at low PSIs, which is what you need for thin paint, it has to be really clean. Any kind of debris in there will make it spit at low PSIs. I usually work in the 10-12 range and as low as 8 as needed.

The Ammo by Mig airbrush paints are by far my favorites and they work pretty well right out of the bottle with a paint brush. Any paint will work through an airbrush if you thin it enough, it’s just a question of it being worth the effort. The PSI you work at defines how much thinning is required. That’s why there is no magic formula, depends on the paint and the PSI you are comfortable using.

I use a Renegade Velocity for detail work and a Badger Patriot for bigger stuff.

[Heisler]

And here is some actual progress. These are the STuGs after the initial fading step. I’m still on the fence with this technique because it’s easy to lose through the rest of the weathering process.

[Heisler]

A little progress on the STuGs. Here you can see the “pop” between the two with a pin wash and the two without.

[Heisler]

The pin wash is finally done on the STuG fleet. I can move on to something a bit more entertaining now; chipping!

[neffer38]

Wow, it’s been awhile. Life has really been smacking me around. On the airbrush front and ready to go airbrush paints. Basically the thinner the paint the lower the PSI. I’m not familiar with the Cobra but I’m fairly certain it’s a badger design. The Cobra, or more properly the Air Cobra, is a fine detail airbrush which makes it pretty finicky, a .2 needle is really small. That means at low PSIs, which is what you need for thin paint, it has to be really clean. Any kind of debris in there will make it spit at low PSIs. I usually work in the 10-12 range and as low as 8 as needed.

The Ammo by Mig airbrush paints are by far my favorites and they work pretty well right out of the bottle with a paint brush. Any paint will work through an airbrush if you thin it enough, it’s just a question of it being worth the effort. The PSI you work at defines how much thinning is required. That’s why there is no magic formula, depends on the paint and the PSI you are comfortable using.

I use a Renegade Velocity for detail work and a Badger Patriot for bigger stuff.

YEs! It has been a while! Hard to believe we're in April all ready. I've been on a massive Napoleonic's binge. Painted over 300 figs since December  and I still have a half painted stuka zu fus on the desk since November and im yet to even look at the King Tiger kit 

Cheers, Ive not had an issue with the cobra, but I only put the tamiya or AK real colours through it and like you say I use it for more fine detail work. Make sense what you say about the thinness, I prefer thinning my own paint like I do with the tamiya and AK RC nd I dont thin as much maybe and with operating at 18-22 psi maybe that's why i find working with them easier...cheers I'll take that one board, I got a random paint shaking machine as a christmas gift so that might also come in handy!

[neffer38]

The pin wash is finally done on the STuG fleet. I can move on to something a bit more entertaining now; chipping!

Assuming we will see a nice bit of stowage collection in the back near the end 

[Heisler]

I have been accumulating stowage for the STuGs. I should probably start putting it together and getting them painted.

[Heisler]

I stole some time and started the chipping work on the STuGs. The skirts are basically done and the light chips are done on the hulls (not pictured). I tried to incorporate some long scratches on the skirts and they came out okay, not great. I don't feel the need to go back and try and redo them and some of its going to be obscured as the weathering steps continue anyway.

[Heisler]

Chipping is completed! The chipping is done with acrylics. In this case a light dunkelgelb and chips both from Ammo by Mig. I  used a piece of foam for this which is a good way to do it you just have to be cognizant of patterns and remember to rotate the foam a bit as you move around the vehicle. The process was repeated on the skirts where I also included some long scratches that run horizontally almost the full length of the vehicle (the front of the skirts with the horizontal scratches are shown in the previous post. I also did some chipping on the wheels. The tracks and wheels being a single unit, for each side, makes the painting process much easier.

I, obviously, still need some practice with this technique. In some places it looks great, in others it looks okay. I think I might skip the light colored chips on the next bunch of vehicles. Nothing came out so badly that I felt the need to go back and try and make some corrections. A lot of this work is going to be either covered by the stowage that will go on the back decks or by the weathering process itself so in the end I think these will look pretty sharp.

[Heisler]

I finally finished 1 STuG and the Stuh. Hopefully the other two STuGs will follow shortly.