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Vallejo Liquid Gold


Firepower

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So I see some of my favorite painters doing gold, and the consensus is largely that Vallejo Liquid Golds are the glittering awesome sauce.  Trouble is, I can't seem to find it anywhere.  Even looking online I am only able to find one or two colors, most of which are on ebay, and not US sellers.

 

So, does anyone know US sources for buying these paints?

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Ah.  Whenever I look around, the colors are simply listed as "Vallejo Model Color," rather than "Liquid Gold."  There was never anything to suggest that it was different than the rest of the line.  The bottles and names are quite different from the typical VMC drop bottles and formulas, so simple color swatches weren't enough to convince me that they were actually the same product.

 

Good news indeed. :)

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That's a good point; be sure to have some 95%+ alcohol on hand for when you work with it. Read the label, not all 'rubbing alcohol' from the Drug Store is the same; some can be as much as 50% water, and that's no good at all. 90%+ will do, 95%+ is better. Liquid Gold is an amazing product that really does produce some of the best out-of-a-bottle Gold and Silver finishes hands-down, but it takes a tiny bit of a learning curve to master, and requires only alcohol at all times.

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Ordered some off Amazon today while Christmas shopping for the family. smile.png

Another question- do the paints/alcohol hurt natural brushes? I've come to learn that it's best to use synthetic brushes with oil paints/washes because the spirits aren't nice to natural hairs, but I dunno about alcohol.

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Ah. Whenever I look around, the colors are simply listed as "Vallejo Model Color," rather than "Liquid Gold." There was never anything to suggest that it was different than the rest of the line. The bottles and names are quite different from the typical VMC drop bottles and formulas, so simple color swatches weren't enough to convince me that they were actually the same product.

Good news indeed. smile.png

Watch out, Brother. Vallejo have several separate lines of product, with the same color names in some of them. Vallejo Game Color and Vallejo Model Air "Old Gold" and similar are NOT your Vallejo Liquid Gold.

THIS IS THE ENEMY:

http://static.webshopapp.com/shops/007221/files/009672197/vallejo-model-air-gold.jpg

THIS IS FRIENDLY:

http://cdn.acrylicosvallejo.com/_temp/media/4d0277d238051000357fbeccbbdb3461.cms_1_1024_1_1024__.png

Get yourself a bottle of the IPA Cleaning Alcohol (isopropylene alcohol) to use as thinner / cleaner. It HAS TO be 96% proof or better or the water in it will kill the paint in the bucket. The infamous (because of teen idiocy) Polish Polmos Spirytus (96% ethylene alcohol) also works well. Do all the thinning on a pallette, not in the bottle. NEVER keep the bottle open, paint from what you poured onto a palette, mix and thin THERE. Use artificial hair brushes, natural bristles get destroyed by alcohol.

Carry on with the Crusade!

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Unfortunately I had no pictures of the bottles to go off of when ordering the Liquid Golds.  However, I made sure they were all 35 ml alcohol based paints, which I believe (or rather hope) is indeed unique to the Liquid Golds, rather than Model Air and such.

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To answer your brush question earlier up:

 

It's absolutely essential to get a couple of brushes to use solely with the alcohol based paints. A few cheep synthetic ones will do just fine, but you don't want that business eating away your good paintin' brushes :D

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And just for those not listening at the back; no brush licking!

It only has limited working time so you'll need to work quickly. I usually base coat brown before applying 2 thin coats.

You should use a separate brush for metallics in any case as they break brush fibres with their metal flakes. I have an Army Painter brush that is exclusively for this use. No way am I killing my Raphaels with 'Gold. msn-wink.gif

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Just got a bottle of Old Gold in the mail biggrin.png

Once I finally finish this (literally) damned XMas model for Eberious, I'll have to give it a whirl. A bit annoying really, seeing as I just painted all the gold on it two days ago...

Raphaels you say, DarkMark? I use W&N Series 7 myself. They've done right by me, but I'm always interested to hear more about other possibilities?

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I was using 91% alcohol and it still went to crap. I'd definitely recommend going with as high as you can find. Practice on some spare parts too before going to your real model. Large smooth surfaces are especially hard to get right with this stuff, but small details can be tough too because of how the paint clogs up brushes. Take some time to get the feel and you'll be rewarded with some gorgeous metallics.

 

Oh, and the alcohol old gold and game color old gold are not even remotely the same color, so don't even try to swap em.

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My local scale hobbyist guy got Raphaels in, so I thought I'd give them a whirl. TBH, unless I get given free samples of other brush types there's little chance of me swapping brand now. The size 1 is my work horse, and is so good I rarely need to use the other sizes. I probably use the smaller, size 0 or below, simply for the sake of. The size 2 feels like one of those jumbo brushes you get as a kid, sadly it doesn't hold its shape as well as the smaller ones. That's about my only gripe I have with the whole set I own. I haven't used them nearly as much I'd liked to have, but they still are in prima condition i.e awesome. A little twist as I take some paint is all I need to remove a perfect point.

So, money very well spend, and I still use cheaper brushes, generally AP, for rough work like bases and metallics.

Back on topic. Do use a cock tail stick to dig up the sediment even after a good shake. I use pure alcohol that I bought from a chemist. Do be sure to store it safely and well away from your kids. The smallest whiff makes my head spin. sad.png

Edit; if you fancy trying Raphaels then just pick up a size 1 and see how you go from there. About 12€/ $12? I very much doubt you'll be disappointed. smile.png

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Don't suppose you could find a link to the specific version of the Raphael brush?  There are a lot of different lines/series of brushes. 

 

Also, I now have Liquid Gold Old Gold, Copper, and Red Gold.  And a bottle of Vallejo Sepia Wash for good measure :D

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Probably Raphael 8404.

 

Personally, I much prefer W&N Series 7. The Raphaels have longer bristles for a bigger reservoir, but as a consequence I find they don't hold their shape quite as well. Accuracy is more useful to me than carrying a lot of paint.

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Raphael 8404.

Bingo!

I wasn't aware of the length difference. However, the brushes work for me, and that's whats important. Everyone should experiment, after all this hobby should be fun. happy.png

Its a shame you didn't pick up the silver as this is ideal for high lighting the gold.

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