The changing nature of hobby paints has been a source of never-ending consternation for me. At one time, I used nothing but Floquil lacquers. They thinned nicely and went on dense and smooth. Of course, there was the brain-eating odor and health hazards to deal with. When those became unavailable, I switched over to Model Master enamels. My life changed when I couldn't readily get enamels anymore and I was forced to switch over to acrylics. I think I tried every brand there was at the time and had little success. At one point I actually stopped building for about 6 months out of the frustration of being unable to get a consistent result with acrylics in my airbrush. Everyone I knew was getting good results with Vallejo, yet I was absolutely unable to get a decent finish with them. I finally discovered Tamiya and could get good results. Just in the last few months I have gotten some good results with Vallejo Model Air and Mission Model Acrylic paints. Just recently I had read some articles in some of the model magazines from the UK where the builder got really good results with AK Real Colors. This is a hybrid acrylic-lacquer. I have read that Tamiya is also a similar hybrid, but not an actual lacquer. An acrylic-lacquer seems like an oxymoron, but I guess it all makes sense. I'm an old airplane pilot, not a chemist, so I'm not going to burn too many brain cells trying to figure these mysteries out. I got a few bottles of the AK Real Colors and their lacquer thinner for my F-4 project, and found these paints have all of the good things about the old lacquer paints with none of the down side. It thins nicely, goes on very thin and dense, and dries quickly. The smell of the paints and lacquer thinner is very small compared to the old days. I did discover one very cool thing about these paints today. I had already painted all of the dark gray camouflage and then went back and masked off the gear wells and painted them white. A lot of acrylics wouldn't have done well painting white over a dark color, but one coat of these paints completely covered the gray underneath and gave me some really white gear wells. One of the best selling points for this line of paints is the massive selection of colors that are available. I haven't tried weathering over these paints yet, but I plan to do some weathering over these colors on the F-4. I will let you know how this goes. The way my luck usually goes, just when I really start liking this paint, they will stop making it, or there will be some sort of import restrictions, or someone will buy out AK & stop making the paints, etc, etc. I have my fingers crossed.

I used AK Real Colors gloss lacquer to add the gloss coat to the model in preparation for adding the decals. Had some interesting results. Thinned the paint just like I used for the previous color coats. It sprayed well for a minute and then started spraying thin threads of what I suppose is prematurely dry lacquer.

My first impulse is always to somehow fix the bad paint on the part immediately, which usually results in a much bigger problem. So, experience told me to let it dry and then see how bad the problem really was. The offending threads came off without a problem, leaving no trace on the part. I'm not sure what happened. I tried more pressure, less pressure, more thinner, and less. I checked the local weather for the humidity, which for south-central Texas was really low. I cleaned the airbrush. What I finally discovered was that a really thin mix of the clear lacquer, probably 50/50, and compressor pressure set at 20 psi. A couple of thin coats resulted in something shiny that I hope the decals will like.

I always have a recurring fear when I reach this point in a build that I will do something with the clear coats that will destroy the model (ask me why I worry). If anyone knows what causes these threads, please let me know. I am too old to have these kind of scares this deep into the build. My plan is to let the clear coat dry at least a day and then start on the decals. I plan a short ceremony to activate my karma with the decal gods before I start on the numerous markings for the F-4. :o)

Hmm - learning from how you are grappling with some of these issues. I just bought a whole set of the Vallejo metal paints (after watching some demos of them), and as I'm just entering into life as an airbrusher, I'm trying to absorb all wisdom and problem-solving ideas before I shoot too much stuff out of my brush!

Greg, you will probably learn a lot from me concerning what not to do when you are airbrushing. If you are entering into the airbrush world, you will probably never use anything else. I still grab a rattle can every now and then, but an airbrush is the way to go. I'm sure you have seen from my comments on this build that an airbrush can take you from the heights of modeling to the depths of despair very quickly. It is a source of sublime misery for me. Finding a place to work with your airbrush is a lot of the equation. I was lucky a couple of years ago when we were enclosing a patio to make another room. I asked the contractor if he could put a bathroom vent in the wall and I had a ready-made exhaust vent for my painting. You do need to be careful with your fan selection in case it sparks and ignites oil-based paint fumes, but since my fumes are acrylic I think I am OK. In keeping with the idea that I will show you what I do and you should do the opposite, here is a photo of where I paint. Hopefully you will keep your area a lot cleaner. Enjoy your airbrush!

It is a luxury to have the space to build a permanent paint setup like this. I started modeling in a small efficiency apartment, so I know about problems with limited space. I have always thought that airbrush painting is like any other art form in that you must practice to get better. I just retired a couple of years ago and now have time to actually build something, as well as practice using the airbrush. You would think I would keep my painting area clean and straight, but I tend to move from one model to the next and simply push the previous paints to one side. At some point, I run out of room and am forced to put all the paints away and clean the area, as well as put a new filter in the paint hood.

Keep on going there, George. Don't relax too much and mess up at the end as some of us do!

@gblair the Phantom is comin along rather well! I like your trackboard! - essential for the incredible amount of decals on this one I suppose - I will "steal" that idea right away!

Yowwee - that's a lovely Phantom! Great weathering - just right for this short-term scheme. Now that I've seen you build your Academy kit, I'm eager to get to mine (though it's a bit back in the queue...)